Touchdown!
Readers absent a Coach Rake character in their life experience probably won't realize the full impact of John Grisham's Bleachers. Only through that experience can one understand the influence such a man has on others. My Eddie Rake was a football coach as well, albeit a milder form and probably not as successfull. He had a tremendous direct impact, mostly good, on the lives of the hundreds of the young men who played for him. In Bleachers, John Grisham captures the essence of a unique bond between people that can only be fully understood by those who have been there and done that, one similar to the bond between soldiers forged in combat. Grisham's sense of humor bubbles to the surface frequently and I found myself smiling through most of the book and thinking, "I know these people!" I read it twice in the course of about a week and will probably read it again. A thoroughly entertaining book with a magnet-like attraction for those of us with an Eddie Rake in our past.

Grisham reminds us that people are not what they seem. Appearances can be and are deceiving as we see with Coach Eddie Rake. Inspiring each and every one of his players, Coach Rake's influence flowed into all of their lives long after the glory days of high school football playing was over.

It isn't until Rake's impending demise from cancer that most of his former players gather for the inevitable and reminiscent over their "glory" days and what Coach Rake has meant to each of them and to their small town as well.

Coach Rake has touched each life that was under his tutelage and more often than not, left an indelible and lasting impression. The former players also get to see a more compassionate side of Coach Rake that many did not know existed!

I found the book to be not only humorous, but uplifting and inspiring as well. Grisham reminds us that we all make mistakes throughout the course of our lives - what we decide to do with those grievous errors either makes us or breaks us.

Highly recommend!

Bleachers is a pleasant enough tale with a somewhat interesting, albeit annoyingly predictable storyline, I will give it that. But I'd be willing to bet that for those of us who remember the spell-binding and positively riveting storylines of his earlier novels, the fact that Bleachers is somewhat interesting is of very little solace.

Those of you who know his work, know just what I'm talking about. I don't know exactly when it started, maybe it was with Painted House, but Grisham's novels have become absolutely forgettable. I used to have no qualms with parting with my hard-earned dollars on hardbacks of his stuff so I wouldn't have to wait a whole year for the paperback to come out! Now, I feel like I got taken for the $5 I paid for the paperback version of Bleachers at my local WalMart! If Grisham's the next effort is as innocuous and cookie-cutter as Bleachers was, I'll keep my money and look for his next attempt as I'm sifting through the inevitable stack of unwanted books at my neighbor's future garage sale.

Review this book