Customer Reviews

Offsides: A Novel

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Hilarious, touching, insightful. An impressive and wonderful first novel in the best traditions of American coming-of-age novels like "Catcher in the Rye." "Offsides" adds to the genre with its uniquely appealing protagonist who speaks with the insight and voice of an outsider who both longs for and is repulsed by what it means to be an insider. Liz Donegal is a complete and complex character, the subject of her own universe, aware that hers overlaps somewhat with that of her own family, yet she experiences the world almost wholly apart from their comprehension-from the very thin line which exists right at the the ever-shifting edges. Liz is a vulnerable yet scrappily perspicacious, intellectual yet hopeful, precocious but not yet cynical, girl-stretching-yearning-and-sometimes-stumbling-toward-independent-woman in the context (and epitome) of America's "boys will be boys" heartland-the world of college football. Even so, the voices of the other characters are distinct and memorable, particularly the enduring and often difficult to endure father of the clan, Coach Donegal whose recurring line is a snarlish "Get your ass in the car." You don't have to be female or a football fan to crack up in hysterics (often) or feel a few sniffles coming on while enjoying this jewel of a book.

I only began reading this novel because I was at a Writers' Conference where Kerry was an instructor, but I found that I couldn't put it down. I was staying up 'till 2 or 3 in the morning reading this book. The story of Liz and her moves is heartbreaking, yet she manages to survive in a way most people neer could. She is wonderfully funny and incredibly strong. Madden-Lunsford's characters are lovable, yet serious. But the novel's real appeal is the way in which we can all see elements of ourselves in Liz. Don't miss this book!

First, in the interests of full disclosure, I am the daughter of a football coach, so I related to a lot of the setup, especially quirks of the football family lifestyle like the change in wardrobe color schemes with every new job, and the coach's "rub some dirt on it" responses to his daughter's common adolescent traumas.

This book is everything I love in a light read: Characters are original and well-drawn, the pathos are balanced with humor and nobody and no situation is all good or bad. The narrator is likeable without being perfect, as are the rest of the family and friends introduced throughout.

I read it as an adult, but I'm sure teen girls in particular would get a kick out of this one, although there is some adult material--so Mom, read it first, and decide whether it is appropriate.