“Playing for Pizza” is a short novel which enthralls the reader about the culinary, cultural and architectural marvels of Italy through the fall and rise of a loser NFL quarterback. Rick Dockery cannot get any NFL team to touch him with a ten foot pole after blowing a 17 point lead in a championship game. His manager finds him a starting position in Italy with the Parma Panthers.

Along his journey Mr. Dockery discovers the passion he lost to football and loses his egotistical ways. Regardless or the sports theme, this book is a culinary delight as the fast food fed Quarterback discovers the culinary delights of Italy.

The Italian Tourism Board should send this book to everyone requesting information, along with their standard brochures. The book simply makes you want to hop on a plane and go.

I found this book charming. The pace is good, the story flows and the characters are likeable. This book is not a deep, serious, philosophical, preachy novel or legal novel, but it is cute, enjoyable and a wonderful read for a long airplane / train / car journey, the beach or just on a lazy weekend. ( )

The food sounded so delicious all I wanted to do was eat cheese and drink wine.

Good fun and an easy airplane read. Rick is the NFL quarterback who screws it up and winds up playing for Parma Panthers, discovers Italy, food, wine, culture ... but not up to Grisham's standard ( )

John Grisham takes a break from his legal thrillers with this quaint story of a fourth-rate American football player who gets a last chance to play from an Italian team in the virtually unnoticed Italian (American) football league.

Rick Dockery, a journeyman third-string quarterback, gets signed by the Parma Panthers as their starter. Knowing no Italian and virtually nothing about the country, but needing a quick way out of town, he takes the job and embarks on a culture shock, learning about food, opera, and architecture.

As far as the sports angle, the novel has about as many surprises as a Disney sports movie, though Grisham handles the football aspect adequately. It is obvious, however, that Grisham's real interest -- at least by the time he finished his "research" -- was describing the sumptuous multi-course meals and the ambiance of the northern Italian lifestyle.

Like all Grisham novels, it's a page turner with colorful characters, some action, and a tepid love story. It's not his best work, but it is enjoyable. ( )

This reads as though Grisham wanted a vacation in Italy and was looking for a way to get a tax write off. I think he probably got the desired deduction and was able to write a lot of tour guide descriptions of various locales and venues that he visited, ate in and obviously enjoyed that served as filler.

Also, he had a chance to draw on his high school quarterback experiences which add a lot of realism to the football scenes; but, this book is really only for those not in need of a vicarious vacation, or not suffering from NFL fatigue.

Grisham is a formidable intelligence, his understanding of the mass market is remarkable. For any one interested in becoming a successful author he should be required reading as there are a multiplicity of commercial nuances in his work and his discipline is to be admired. ( )

3rd string football quarterback finds himself in the Italian football (American style) league. The book was must have been a way for Grisham to write off holiday expenses to Italy. Not a very good read - too bad, because the plot had some promise. ( )

Rick Dockery is a washed up professional guaterback in the states. When he is released by his team after loosing an AFC championship game his only chance to play football is in Italy.He learns that he can be a first string quarterback and leads his team to a winning season. Along the way he learns much about life and friendship. ( )

It's amazing that so many disliked this story... "it's about football", "Dockery's a jerk", "Grisham should stick with law stories", etc. I think that's too bad, because in amongst all the eating and football lies a story of a young man finding and facing his own weaknesses, and learning to overcome them. I think this is one of Grisham's better stories. It makes me want to visit Italy... heck it makes me want to live in Italy, and become part of the culture, and not just for the food and drink, but for the comaraderie, the wisdom, and the challenges. If a story can make me feel that way, well what more can you ask for? ( )

My boyfriend gave me this as part of a birthday basket... what was he thinking?? Did he even read the cover to see what the book was about? Football, football, and more football. The main character isn't even that likable. This is my least favorite Grisham of all time. The ending was dumb, the girl was unlikable, too. Guys who don't read much might like this, don't know. ( )

Meh. I prefer Grisham's law books. But considering I'm not a fan of football--and I'm from Ohio, where OSU fever is a state religion--I could be biased. I AM a fan of Italy and other stories of living abroad, so that made up for my lack of sport-ish-ness.

A few funny parts--the pasta that almost made him cry, learning the thrills of trying to parallel park in Italy while fighting with a stick-shift (it made me feel proud that I am an expert stick-driver!), etc.

Not a lot of character development. Rick is still a 3rd-string jock named... Rick. He leaves a cold note to the woman who I thought treated him pretty well--"I've been ditched by better women"--and who I liked much better than the art history student.

For me, the look at Italy was the book's saving grace. I've always dreamed of going abroad for awhile, and perhaps someday I will. Italy is near the top of my list, but Greece is my escape of choice. ( )

I admit that I only picked up this John Grisham CD in my library because I could not find another CD with a narrator I could easily understand (I am hearing impaired). After reluctantly placing this disc into my CD player, what I found was a most engaging story. Agreed that some of it was not totally realistic, but, in exchange for a well-written literary novel, what I got was a surprisingly entertaining story. It was laugh-out loud funny in some places (driving that manually-controlled Fiat) and as exciting as a play-by-play (the football games themselves). Don't choose this book unless you want light entertainment and have at least an inkling of the rules of football. If you are okay with both, you'll find some fun reading here.

After reading this book, I was later delighted to find out that there is actually a Parma Panthers team that plays American football in Parma, Italy! ( )

New to Grisham, when my local library added the audio version of Playing for Pizza, it seemed like a quick way to get into him during commutes. I should've picked something else. Cardboard characters, a plot from the mirror of some frustrated Romance Writer trying to bring Three Coins in the Fountain up-to-date. Because other reviewers consider it atypical, I may have another go at Grishim; else he would be off my list ( )

Booklist; 1/1/2008, Vol. 104 Issue 9/10, p101-102, 2p ( )

This is a great book for people who love food and football. An older man with the knowledge of football would love this book because the could relate to this book as if they were in it. ( )

Playing for Pizza is a great novel. I would recommend it for people who love Football and good food. John Grisham's detail of the Italian food makes you hungry while you read it. Playing for Pizza is a rather quick and relaxing read. I liked Playing for Pizza very much becuase I am very interested in football. I also play quarterback so I can relate to some parts of the novel. ( )

Rick Dockery is a third string player for the Cleveland Browns. By fumbling a big play and causing the loss of the game, he is kicked off the team and no other team will have him....in the U.S. His agent finds him a new team, finally, with the Mighty Panthers of Parma, Italy, a country he knows nothing about. I got the book because I love pizza. Unfortunately I don't love football. ( )

When Grisham gets away from the legal side of things, he really loses a lot. Playing for Pizza was not a very exciting read, nor one that was overly rewarding. ( )

I just finished John Grisham's Playing for Pizza. It is a pleasant little book. I think this is a story of being open minded, setting priorities in life, and keeping commitments. In many ways, it’s a coming of age story – if that’s allowed for someone in his late twenties. I think Rick Dockery finally grows up in Italy.

But even though there may be some character values offering redeeming social benefit, to me the best thing about the book is that it's fun.

My complete review is on my blog, Nate's Library, specifically at: http://nates-library.blogspot.com/200... ( )

The last John Grisham book I read was The Firm. That was when it had just come out.

This is a marvelous little way to spend sometime before gameday. Perhaps the premise is a little far fetched. (Can the third QB get into that much trouble at a championship game?) But once our protagonist moves on and gets to Italy, we get a little of that Tom Selleck, Mr. Baseball thing going. It moves quickly and resolves well.

Ultimately it is a story of finding a way to marry what we love with reality and not superstar expectations that can never be true.

I would recommend it not only to my friends who like football, but also to those who just like a good story. ( )

A NFL player learns about playing football at the end of his career to find out what the game is really all about. ( )

pg (153/306) It's abou this guy who blew the championship game for the browns .So he ends up moving to italy and plays football for the parma panthers. But still wants to play in the NFL. Rick Dockery is the main character of the book. He was a 3rd string Quarterback who moved around from team to team. When he got his turn to shine he blew it. But he was accepted in italy where he became a starter. I related to the main character because I to play football. But I'm not a Quarterback. I'd recommend this book to people who like football and foreign cultures. I think Brooks Bollinger would play the main character because he's a third string Quarterback in the NFL.

pg(306/306) At the end Rick and the Parma Panthers win the Italian Super Bowl. Also, he stays with a girl named Livvy he met at a bar. Mr. Fine I did the other requirements in the first review.

Would I recommend this book to a friend? No. This is a book you have to discover yourself.

This is a very short novel about a failed football athlete who signs on to an Italian team for a season. Throughout the story he learns about Italy (it's food and culture), about taking responsibility, about being a good friend and a good boyfriend, and what he likes about football. It's about 'finding himself' written in a manner that doesn't make me gag.

I thought the book was well written and sweet. I'm hesitant to recommend it to friends though because it's so short and an unusual setting - American football in Italy - I'm afraid peoples expectations of a Grisham novel would not be met. It's far better to discover yourself, read the short synopsis on the back, and decide to take it or leave it.

edited to add: This book will make you hungry! On the day I read this book we went to an Italian restaurant that night to satisfy my cravings lol. ( )

You might find this hard to believe, but this is the first Grisham novel I've ever read. Having worked in a law firm for 5 years, I've never been one to want to keep revisiting that lifetime so although I would sometimes watch movies, I wasn't interested in the books.

Playing for Pizza was referred to me by a co-worker who thought I'd get a kick out of it and when he explained the premise, I agreed. And I loved it!

Sometimes it's just great to read a book with "just a story" in it. No high-drama, no high-crime... just a good, fun, and relaxing read. For me, PfP was it. I loved reading about how it took being completed ripped from his element and tossed into a whole new culture and experience for the main character (Rick Dockery) to find himself, to find his "way"... to give him a sense of belonging. Of course, being Italian myself, the joy and wonder I experienced while "walking" around Parma and experiencing it through Ricky (or Livvy's) eyes was just wonderful.

I thought all the characters were very well fleshed out and "real" and I looked forward to every chapter to find out what they were all up to. The interactions on and off the football field were well interwoven giving the reader a sense of being involved (as opposed to simply being an observer)

I'm not certain how die-hard Grisham fans will feel about this book, but for me it was a very satisfying read. In fact, if I find this book in a used bookstore, I will purchase my own copy because it's the kind of book I could see myself re-reading and relaxing to. ( )

Playing for Pizza is the latest in a long line of recent "novellas" released by some of the most commercially successful writers of our time.

In what has become a very annoying and borderline unethical practice, Grisham has joined Larry McMurtry and Stephen King in the habit of releasing EXTREMELY short works that they nonetheless fell comfortable selling for the same price as a standard length novel. I say unethical, because they almost uniformly disguise the length of these books by expanding the margins, increasing the type size and the spacing between lines. While this book might advertise as being between 250-300 pages, it is in fact a 200 page work at best and can be read in under three hours. In the cases of King (who has also experimented with different pricing models) and McMurtry, at least they have a history of providing value. Grisham, on the other hand, has always tended toward the skimpy in his admittedly captivating legal thrillers.

With respect to the writing itself, the plot is interesting enough. The subject of American style football played in Italy is handled well and there are no glaring inaccuracies or poorly researched areas that I could identify. It kept me occupied and entertained for three hours, and in my book, that translates to a two star effort. The equivalent of spending the night in a perfectly clean and utilitarian Motel 6 at a rate of $100/night. Nothing outstanding and little value. ( )

quick read, not really one of grisham's better books. descriptions of football, italy, and italian food were fun to read but plot seems to be lacking ( )