There is no doubt that Bleachers is not your typical John Grisham book. There is no legal intrigue. There are no courtroom heroics. Nobody is murdered. However, there is a good story here. At 163 pages, this book is closer to a novella than to a novel in length. I read the entire story in one day (I know, pretty lame) and it was a fun read. The story revolves around the return of football star Neely Crenshaw to his home town because of the impending death of his football coach Eddie Rake. Coach Rake made himself a town legend, but a controversial legend to be sure. Players from generations of teams migrate back to the field they played on – each for their own reason - to tell stories of their time in the program, both good and bad. Some see Rake as a hero while others can’t shake the man’s obvious flaws. But the real story is Neely trying to come to grips with his relationship with Rake – whether to hate him or respect him and the ‘incident’ kept a secret for 15 years – and the town’s reverence for both Rake and Neely over a ‘silly game.’ The book shines a light on the way sports can become far more than just sport and how people come to grips with their past when they are forced to come back to it. I think Grisham was wise to have written the story as such a short piece. It would have dragged if he attempted to turn it into a 350-page novel. But as it stands, it is a quick, fun read and I really enjoyed characters and the story. ( )

A good shot at literary fiction written by a talented writer of popular fiction. ( )

Bleachers by John Grisham is very much similar to "Friday Night Lights" and "Varsity Blues" while the players are taking the field, stretching in warm ups, or listening to a pregame speech by their coach. However, it is what goes on off the field and more so off the high school campus that makes this novel differ from the previously mentioned works.

In this novel, Neily Crenshaw is the apple of every person in this small town's eye. He is more than that. He is one of the few that is actually going to make it. BIG. His arm, his legs, and his mind are all in tune. He is a triple threat. He is headed to one of the nation's premier football programs. Everything is smooth sailing for Old Neily. Until irony strikes and his leg is smashed to bit. From here, he has to discover what life truly is. And fifteen years after this incident occurs it seems as if he still has not mapped this out. While returning to his high school community, because of the recent death of his high school coach he reaches out to the one girl he truly loved. The girl that he dumped for some cheap sex. Although she is married and has kids, Neily still reaches out for her. In the eyes of many, this scene may seem like rejection at its finest. But to Neily, it means hope. And hope is something that can never die. No matter what life throws at you.

Small town foot ball coach is dieing and team members return to bury him. ( )

I finally finished this tiny novel,. I guess
it's odd that it took me so long to finish such a small book, I was at it
for nearly a week. My only excuse is that it was a busy week. Plus, I'm
not a real sports fan, either, and the passages that detailed football games
were hard for me to read since I don't know (nor do I really care to know!)
much about the game.

Still, this was a good quality book. It's a character study of a character
who never appears in the book except in the recollections of others. It's
about a man named Eddie Rake, a legendary small town high school football
coach who had the best teams every year of his career. But the ruthlessness
of his training, the heartless way he drove the kids and his cruelty that
resulted in the death of a boy and his eventual downfall is the common
thread among all the remembrances. Digging deeper, though, the reader
learns of Coach Rake's tender moments and his humanity. He is a man that
his teams hate with a passion, yet love deeply even against all evidence to
the contrary.

For most folks, this would be a quick read, but I would advise you to eat
this thin book in small chunk and stop and think about it. It's not
Grisham's best work, by a long shot, and it doesn't resemble his typical
legal roller coaster rides in the slightest. But it's a good little book.
I'd recommend it. ( )