About this title: A departure from his acclaimed legal thrillers, Grisham's #1 "New York Times" bestseller about an American's introduction to Italian football and food is now available in mass-market paperback.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday Books
Date Published: 09/2007
ISBN-13:9780385525008ISBN:0385525001
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 262 p. Ex-Library expected imperfections. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday Books
Date Published: 09/2007
ISBN-13:9780385525008ISBN:0385525001
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Good, In good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 262 p. Ex-Library expected imperfections. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday Books
Date Published: 09/2007
ISBN-13:9780385525008ISBN:0385525001
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Good, In good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 262 p. Ex-Library expected imperfections. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday Books
Date Published: 09/2007
ISBN-13:9780385525008ISBN:0385525001
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 262 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday Books
Date Published: 09/2007
ISBN-13:9780385525008ISBN:0385525001
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 262 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday Books
Date Published: 09/2007
ISBN-13:9780385525008ISBN:0385525001
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 262 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday Books
Date Published: 09/2007
ISBN-13:9780385525008ISBN:0385525001
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Good, In good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 262 p. Ex-Library expected imperfections. read more
"When Grisham comes away from his cookie cutter legal works he shows an interesting skill as a storyteller. This is a fun and at times funny look at a has been NFL quarterback who chases his football dream to Italy. A fun and at times funny tale well told. Light and quick like much of his non-legal work but far more entertaining than the legal thiungs he writes."
"I liked this story more than a little. I'm no big sports fan, but I enjoyed hearing about the physical aspects of football as described in this book. I'm also a big food nut, and liked how that was the second focus of this book. There was plenty of good humor. So, if you want a happy feel good book that doesn't strain the brain but makes you wince when the character strains something else. This title should be on your gameplan.
Oh, I also listened to this in the car, and when I did dishes rather than read it. What? I'm multi-tasking."
"I really liked this book. I know very little about football, but I spent nine months in Italy and loved it. The descriptions of places and life in Italy really took me back there. That speaks volumes about the author and again I really liked this book and I know others that did too."
"I had never read John Grisham before and had never really thought to give him a try. Naturally, the one time I read him, I read something that's atypical of his usual work. It was my familiarity of his name that prompted me to pick him up at all, and then it was only because I anticipated a long wait at the doctor's office and needed something to read. I don't even read legal thrillers, and I'm really not that into football.
Logical reading choice, isn't it?
But the book had a cute premise: a third-string NFL quarterback really down on his luck plays for a team in Italy. Who even knew they played American football there?
I was expecting one of those Bad News Bears type of stories, with some romantic comedy thrown in, and while I did get some of that Bad News Bears vibe, I was a little thrown off by the romantic interest. Rick the quarterback didn't end up with the girl that I thought he would, and I wasn't convinced that the girl he did end up with was the love of his life. It disappointed me a little.
Plus, the football scenes kind of dragged for me. I was a cheerleader in high school and college, but that in no way helped me stay engaged in all the descriptions of the plays. I'm sure they would be exciting to any big football fan, but I found myself reading quickly over those passages just to gloss over the highlights and get on with the rest of the story.
Then there's the point of view. Grisham uses the omniscient point of view in this novel, and it was a little jarring at first for me. I've become accustomed to reading deep, true, and consistent third person point of view and started off expecting the entire novel would be in Rick's point of view, especially as it started out that way, and since there is not one scene that doesn't include Rick himself, I felt the omniscient point of view was really unnecessary. I saw everyone else's thoughts and feelings as kind of intrusive head hopping.
But the story was cute. I could see this working as a movie. I especially loved the food scenes, where each dish was lovingly described by the Italians -- made me ravenous for Italian food.
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