BLEACHERS by John Grisham
John Grisham is famous for his legal thrillers but lately he has also been venturing into more personal novels. He did this with SKIPPING CHRISTMAS and also with THE PAINTED HOUSE. Now he has written his most enjoyable "personal" novel yet. It is titled BLEACHERS and it is a winner!
This short book (novella?) is centered around Neely Crenshaw, an All American football player who returns home when he learns that his high school coach is near death. Neely was a star athlete in high school and has always had a love/hate relationship with Eddie Rake, his coach. Now that Coach Rake is dying, Neely has to come to terms with his feelings for the man once and for all.
The book takes place over the course of a few days when Neely goes back to his hometown of Messina. There he meets up with some of his former teammates on the Messina Spartans and relives with them the glory days of his youth. He also goes to visit his long lost love and tries to reconcile their relationship.
Grisham paints a full picture of the men who played for Coach Rake's approval, and also for the glory he offered them. He digs inside their minds and their souls to try to explain the American obsession with the game of football. He gives both sides of the issue, focusing on its worst aspects and its best.
It is amazing how fully Grisham creates these characters in such a short time. And in doing so he tells a story that can pull emotion out of even the hardest heart. Those who played football will certainly relate to this story, and even those who didn't will find some facet of it, which will strike close to home.
With BLEACHERS Grisham shows there is more to his talent than just suspense writing. He is an author who can also create stories about relationships and emotions. In this one he writes from his mind, his heart and his soul. The result is one of his best stories ever and the one that shows he is truly a master craftsman with the written word.
BLEACHERS is published by Doubleday and Company. It contains 163 pages and sells for $19.95.