About this title: H.G. Bissinger, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, writes a stinging critique of small-town high school football. Zeroing in on Odessa, a small West Texas city, he profiles a season (1988) in the life of the Permian High School Panthers--the team that embodies the failing hopes and dreams of the citizens of a desperate place, formerly an oil boomtown but now deep in economic depression. With unflinching honesty that has reportedly gained him death threats, Bissinger takes a hard look at the town's fanatical devotion to its team and sees unbearable pressures on the players, blatant racism, ...
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Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Excellent condition. Very light edge and corner wear. No marks. Tight, square book. Lightly tanning pages. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 364 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Good to Very Good. No Jacket as Issued. Trade Paperback. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Some usage, mild corner curl, light yellowing. FEP through title page slightly wrinkled. Binding tight, pages clean. read more
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Highlighting/underlining. some ink and penciled owner notes. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 364 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Very Good. B000P2XNL6 **Softcover**--Exactly as pictured--EXACT ISBN MATCH--cover has shelf wear at tips of corners and minor cover crease or curl, minor Spine Creasing, No personalizations, No marks in the text at all. Tight and well bound. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Date Published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780060974060ISBN:0060974060
Description: Very Good. Previous owner's name appears on inside front cover. GoodwillnyBooks is committed to providing each customer with the highest standard of customer service. You may return new items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780306815294ISBN:030681529X
Description: Very Good. First printing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Moderate cover wear with scuffing to edges. GoodwillnyBooks is committed to providing each customer with the highest standard of customer service. You may return new items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. read more
"This book followed the 1988 Permian High School Panthers. They were a team from Odessa,TX. The team made a run at the high school state championship that year in there class. The book is based off true events, a lot of people compare it to Hoosiers. Really though its quite different. There are a lot of misplaced priorities in this town, racism becomes ugly, football was all that matter and academics were put on the back burner. it follows 4 main football players and the coach. The book talks about trials and tribulations that go with playing high school football in Texas. The town goes through a lot because its all based off oil, when oil is boosting the town goes crazy, but when oil goes bad, the town is held together by football and lives thru the team. The players have personal ladies that bring them gifts and decorate there houses before each game, the booster club also does a lot for the players which make them feel as though they are gods and they are treated that way. The panthers make a great run to the state semi finals, where they end up losing to perrenial power Dalls Carter in a close fought game. Dallas Carter goes on to win state that year. The book ends with Coach taking seniors off the board replacing them with juniors and another year is gone in Permian as the town looks forward to the Lights next season."
"I'm glad I bought this at Half Price Books so the author didn't make any money off of me. I always read the forward of any book and this one, the author tells you up front he is looking for a sport to bash to be the next "A Season on the Brink" and Texas makes an easy target. The writer tells you he has an opinion of Texas before he heads south and writes the story based on his preconceived notions, not anything he actually saw in Texas.
The writer finds negative stories about Texas history and writes like we are against educating our children. OK, public education isn't great in Texas but the same can be said for all 50 states.
The writer prints people's responses to his questions as if they came up to him and just started talking. If you read this book, keep in mind it is local people answering a writer's questions after he said he was writing a story about their historic football program. No one knew it was a smear job until the book came out.
The writer only covers athletes he can belittle in some way. For example, he barely mentions the biggest star on the team, Lloyd Hill. Hill only gets mentioned because he makes a big play in a big game. Lloyd Hill was a good kid, from a good family, and going to a big time college the writer never heard of, Texas Tech. But since Lloyd Hill was a good kid with nothing the writer could exploit and not going to a college non football fans knew, he wasn't worth writing about. The writer only focused on people he could mold into his preconceived notion of Texas being backwards and uneducated."
"H.G Bissinger's "Friday Night Lights" is a great book, from start to finish. It demonstrates how important football is to not only the school of Permian High, but the community around it. When reading this book it makes you feel the emotions the players and families feel. One of my favorite things about this book was it showed all the problems the characters were faced with, and how they worked through it. Such as Bobby Miles a running back who was supposed to have a outstanding season, until he was forced out with a leg injury. Along with the pressures and stress of football he faces problems of racism, which he must deal with. If you like a good sports story "Friday Night Lights" is the book for you. The book will take you on a roller coaster of emotions, and you won't want to set it down."
"My friends Matt & Cassie introduced us to the television show "Friday Night Lights" this past winter. I had only heard of it on blogs before then and never really paid any attention to it.
Wow, was I late to the party. The television show is excellent and I highly recommend it, even if you don't like football.
Being the bookworm that I am, I had to find the inspiration for the television show. I actually bought a copy of the book for my friend Matt for Christmas and the four of us eventually decided to read the book and have a little book discussion afterwards.
The book is a fast read and is mostly enjoyable. The parts that are not enjoyable are mainly because of the subject matter and now the writing. Reading about the town of Odessa, TX is very difficult because the society there is completely foreign to me. There are times when you want to shake the book and say, "What is WRONG with you?" Many of those moments happened, for me, when there were detailed descriptions of academics being flushed down the tubes in favor of football.
Overall, though, the writing is good. Bissinger can be a bit over the top at times, though. He uses hyperbole and metaphor a bit too much, but he creates a solid image in your mind of what this town, this school, this team is really like. The hard part is accepting the fact that there really is a place like Odessa that has all these problems."
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