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This is not your typical football story. Our guy looses the Superbowl at the last minute and sinks to the lowest possible rank in the NFL. John Grisham got the idea for this book while on vacation in Italy. Being the great writer that he is, Grisham weaves a tale of utter failure and ultimate redemption. The scene is set in Italy and gives insight to living in Parma and other towns in the Italian Football League. There is little money for American football with soccer being the country's craze. Sometimes the guys just play for the pizza. To say that the players are underpaid is an understatement. There are moments of suspense, failure and success. The book will make you hungry and want to visit these great local restaurants, even if they are fictional. This is not a cutting edge story for the author but it is a pleasant read that will reinforce your feeling for the good in mankind. The book was a gift from my sister who knows I love football. I purchased this copy for my grandsons in Massachusetts who play football for their high school and also love the game.Read full review
Rick Dockery had a very successful college football career and since then has bounced around in the NFL. Generally relegated to the third string or emergency quarterback, he has a powerful arm but is inconsistent. He is playing for the Cleveland Browns, and they are in the AFC Championship against the Denver Broncos. When the first and second-string quarterbacks are both knocked out of action, Rick enters the game in the final minutes and with the Browns having a 17-point lead. Rick then proceeds to have what is arguably the worst few minutes of any quarterback in NFL history and the Broncos win the game. The backlash is immediate and vicious, even though Rick ended up in the hospital after the game. There was so much anger that his life was threatened, and he needed a police guard while he recovered. Not wanting to give up the only life he knew, Rick asked his agent Arnie to find him another spot as a quarterback. Obliging beyond the call of duty, Arnie finds him a spot as the quarterback of a team in Parma, Italy known as the Panthers. While American football is a niche sport in Italy, those who play it do so with a passion. Each team in the league can have at most three American players, most of which were fringe players in the United States. The Italian players are generally not paid, although they are extremely well fed in the Italian style. After some thought, Rick agrees to go to Parma and be the starting quarterback. There is significant culture shock, yet nearly everyone goes out of their way to make him feel comfortable. The playbook is extremely simple compared to the NFL, but when he calls the play in the huddle, one of the Italian players must translate for the others. While the Italian backdrop is unusual for sports fiction, the sports action segment of the story is standard fare. After difficulties and setbacks, the Panthers play and win in the big game at the end and Rick emerges as one of the major instruments of the victory. In a nice twist, he also gets the girl at the end, so there is a double happy ending. The setting and description of the Italian environment for Rick is what makes this story work. It is amusing, from the actions of the police to the seriousness of the dining and drinking to the enormous number of historical places that Rick and the girl visit. There is also the Italian passion for opera. It would be possible to replace the sports aspect with many other plotlines and the story would still be interesting and entertaining. Read full review
Verified purchase: No
Playing for Pizza The Entertainment Critic Book Review, By James Myers PLAYING FOR PIZZA By John Grisham Published by Doubleday, an imprint of The Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group, A Division of Random House, Inc. Publication Date: September, 2007 Price: $21.95 256 Pages ISBN-13: 9780385525008 A NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER Author’s Books Include: The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Chamber, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury, The Partner, The Street Lawyer, The Testament, The Brethren, A Painted House, Skipping Christmas, The Summons, The King of Torts, Bleachers, The Last Juror, and The Broker) and all of them have become international bestsellers. The Innocent Man (October 2006) marks his first foray into non-fiction. Four Star Rating **** “Look, Kid, I’m onto something here, a spot on a roster, guaranteed starting position. Gorgeous cheerleaders. Wanna hear it? Rick repeated it slowly, certain that he had misunderstood the details. The Vicodin was soaking a few areas of his tender brain. “Okay,” he finally said. “I just talked to the head coach of the Panthers, and they will offer a contract right now, on the spot, no questions asked. It’s not a lot of money, but it’s a job. You’ll still be the quarterback, the starting quarterback! A done deal. It’s all you, baby.” “The Panthers?” “You got it. The Parma Panthers.” There was a long pause as Rick struggled with the geography. Obviously it was some minor-league outfit, some independent bush league so far from the NFL that it was a joke. Surely it wasn’t arena football. Arnie knew better than to think about that. But he couldn’t place Parma. “Did you say the Carolina Panthers, Arnie?” “Listen to me, Rick. Parma Panthers. There was a Parma in the Cleveland suburbs. It was all very confusing. “Okay, Arnie, pardon the brain damage, but why don’t you tell me exactly where Parma is.” “It’s in northern Italy, about an hour from Milan.” John Grisham is known for his hard-hitting courtroom thrillers. Every once in a while he makes a departure from his familiar genre, and ventures outside into the unknown. (Skipping Christmas, A Painted House, and Bleachers are examples). Recently, he has even tried his hand at non-fiction (The Innocent Man). When he does, the result for the readers is usually an eye-opening expose into matters we have not considered before. Playing for Pizza is just such an adventure. You will not find the tried and true expose` that you would expect to find from the master of courtroom suspense. No lawyers and tension between sides. This one is about American football in soccer-laden Italy. This is a totally new and refreshing slant on an unlikely idea, which brings about revelation. Rick Dockery was the third-string quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. Known for having a rocket arm, and having a reputation for throwing the ball so hard, that it was not catchable, had kept him from becoming a star. Worse yet, Rick does like to get hit; something a pro quarterback has to adjust to, or die. In a playoff game for Cleveland, Rick dies a slow death. With a 17 point lead and just minutes to go, Rick tosses 3 interceptions that result in a loss. Overnight, he becomes a laughingstock, causes riots, and even pickets at the hospital he ends up in. The Brown immediatRead full review
A great story about a Pro athelete who's damaged his career . He's offered a spot on the Italian team, however the salary is far from the excessive U.S. sports salaries and the fun begins. The cultural differences shape the sport, once tainted with money& accesses into the simple love for "PLaying". His new team players will play for the pizza he finds. A traditon of eating after the game, these new players have all the heart that's been lost along the way. Excellent little story that I bought 3 copies for teen as well as adult reading. No language or sex scenes here, but watching a ruined player do his best for the right reasons,as he negotiates the "City" in Italy is pretty funny. Can't go wrong with Grisham, face it.
i live on murder mysteries, political intrigue, espionage, etc. a friend recommended this book to me and said it's not like any of that. i told him "i dunno, all the GRISHAM books are lawyer books and i'm not really interested." he said it's nothing like that, just read it. i LOVED this book. my friends and i are all "foodies" (avid appreciators of good food and its preparation) and once this book started getting into the "italian eating experience," i was totally hooked. i finished it in record time (i'm usually a notoriously slow reader, but i was done in a week) and gave it to my wife. she, not being a sports fan (or a lawyer fan), hesitated at first. however she ADORED this. it's convinced us that we NEED to go to italy some time in the near future, particularly parma northern italy, for an "eating tour." we'd also talked about going during their AMERICAN FOOTBALL SEASON. in addition to the food aspect of the book, the characters were interesting and well developed, the villians were dispicable, and the overall reading experience was totally satisfying. even not being a sports fan, this book was awesome and engrossing and i enjoyed the HELL out of it.Read full review
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