Customer Reviews

Life After Favre: A Season of Change with the Green Bay Packers and their Fans

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Life After Favre, despite the fact that Favre's name is in the title (probably for obvious marketing reasons...) is really about the town of Green Bay and Wisconsin, really, and in fact it goes beyond Wisconsin to talk about both where the players come from and where the fans go (there are zillions of Packers bars all around the country, and world, for instance -- who knew?), so it is about Packers lore and fandom and about the culture of the midwest, too, and what curious mixes you get of players and fans. Jamaican Atari Bigby playing in the snow, Mormon linemen, Favre's mississippi hunting roots played out in Wisconsin duck hunting.

Also, you learn that Green Bay is the only serious pro sports franchise with a community of fan ownership, which is cool, and there is a great chapter on Rodgers, and the stuff on Favre and the vikings -- written BEFORE Favre came back for the whatever-th time, of course -- is kind of prescient. Hanrahan even pictures a purple-clad Favre getting sacked by Kampman in the first Monday Night Football game...we'll see if Hanrahan got that right, cause the Pack and Vikes play twice this fall.

Anyway. It's ambitious and literary, and while there is football game and football season narrative from 2008, it's really the profiles of the town and the team and the weather and the individual fans that makes this book a contribution to serious fun sports writing, and makes it much more than an account of the 2008 season, per se.

It's really in the tradition of Plimpton and Halberstam. I hope to see more from Hanrahan, because he mixes a love for the game with great research and a light touch with the pen. Don't miss the section where he talks about Favre and the greek notion of "thymos" -- comparing him to Achilles, the epic, flawed hero! He also drops in to Ruby's Roadhouse in Bloomer, Wisconsin and meets Skeeter and Hooter, who tell some off-color jokes; a different kind of hero, the everyman. Fun.

As the previous reviewer said, this isn't a book about Favre. Yes, it's about the Midwest and Wisconsin, Green Bay and Lambeau field, and rookies and veterans. But really it's about identity and what it means to play for or (maybe more importantly) to root for the Green and Gold in its first year without its most recognizable face of the last two decades.

Hanrahan is an excellent writer, effectively navigating the intersection of professional sports and human interest. This is sports writing at its best--funny, literate, and truly moving at times. I challenge anyone not to feel chills as Hanrahan describes lifelong Packers fans watch Favre play his first game in Jets kelly green.

Favre fans, Packers fans, Jets or Vikings fans, football fans, and really anyone simply interested in people will find something to love in this book. Sure, we learn a lot about state of Wisconsin and the Midwest U.S., Lambeau field and the town of Green Bay, NFL veterans and NFL rookies, but in the end, what we know is that even in a year where they go 6 and 10, the Packers and their fans really are "No. 1."

I am not a raved Packer or pro football fan, but I do live in Wisconsin and after a ten year absence due to school and military service, I was happy to return over thirty years ago.

The last book I read about the Packers was Jerry Kramer's classic, Instant Replay.
When I was given Life After Favre I was told that it was more about the culture of the Packer fan, and in particular, those who live around those Sunday afternoons at the many taverns and bars that are such a large part of Wisconsin's culture.

The book lived up to that preview and then some. It's not so much as a rehash of the 2008 season, but it's about the inner operations of this hallowed franchise that became a national icon during the great Lombardi years, and then with Brett Favre.

This book is not just for those who are Packer fans, but for any sports fan that is curious regarding how this professional franchise has survived as the only publicly owned NFL team. The inner workings and politics have been well research by the author who really cares about his team and wanted to learn more about it.

It's a fast and easy read that can be read in small or larger doses. However, for me, once I got into it, I found myself focused into the book while baseball games were in the background. What a great gift for the fan and non-fan of the Packers, the NFL, and pro sports.
--Mick Faulhaber

The first copy of this book i received was missing several pages at the beginning, but of course Amazon took it back and replaced it at no extra charge to me. (With the thousands of books they sell, this has to happen sometimes.) Perfect Christmas present for my father, who is a die-hard Packer fan!!!

I ordered two...and my son and I have enjoyed this book enormously. Hopefully there will be more from Hanrahan as his writing style has an across the board appeal.

All too often diaristic year-in-the-life-of-the-team sports books are formulaic, dull, and lifeless. This is none of those; in fact, it's the exact opposite. Hanrahan finds numerous unmined corners in the well-traveled Packers mythology, and he draws an evocative portrait of the unique relationship between the team, the city, and its nationwide fanbase.

And I'll agree with previous commenters in saying that there are numerous chill-inducing scenes. It's a refreshing literary change in a genre filled with few great offerings.

I read this after the Superbowl victory, and the hindsight of knowing the future made this book even more enjoyable. While the 2008 season didn't work out so well, the writer did get lucky in some of the players he focused on - Jordy Nelson, Tramon Williams, and Aaron Rodgers - all of whom would go on to play huge roles in the Superbowl victory.

If you are a Green Bay fan, get it, you won't regret it!

I bought this book as a gift -- during long airplane delay, decided to read it. Totally enjoyed the story and appreciated the author's writing style! Have since gifted several times to rave reviews.