With Bleachers John Grisham departs again from the legal thriller to experiment with a character-driven tale of reunion, broken high school dreams, and missed chances. While the book falls short of the compelling storytelling that has made Grisham a bestselling author, it is nonetheless a diverting novella that succeeds as light fiction.
The story centers on the impending death of the Messina Spartans' football coach Eddie Rake. One of the most victorious coaches in high school football history, Rake is a man both loved and feared by his players and by a town that relishes his 13 state titles. The hero of the novel is Neely Crenshaw, a former Rake All-American whose NFL prospects ended abruptly after a cheap shot to the knees. Neely has returned home for the first time in years to join a nightly vigil for Rake at the Messina stadium. Having wandered through life with little focus since his college days, he struggles to reconcile his conflicted feelings towards his former coach, and he assays to rekindle love in the ex-girlfriend he abandoned long ago. For Messina and for Neely, the homecoming offers the prospect of building a life after Rake.
Physically a narrow book, Bleachers is a modest fiction in many respects. The emotional scope is akin to that of a short story, with a single-minded focus on explorations of nostalgia and regret. The dialogue, especially that of Neely's friend Paul Curry, is sometimes wooden as characters recall Messina history in paragraphs that were perhaps better left to the narrator. But Grisham has otherwise written a well-made, entertaining--if a bit sentimental--story.
Fiction
Mystery, Thriller
A Member of the following hot Book Lists
People who listened to this Audio Book also listened to...
Most recent 5 reviews out of 78
Submitted by Patricia Smith
Boring. Weak suspense and plot. Unable to keep all of the names straight.
Submitted by Sandy Cooper
Unless your really into small town football - do not read this book. Very slow. I could not get past the first CD, and there are only 4 or 5 of them.
Submitted by Anonymous
I didnt think this book was ever going to end. Very slow. I did appreciate the last chapter. It took the whole book to understand the meaning behind it. Overall, I would not recommend this to anyone to read. Too drawn out to get to the point.
Submitted by Ellen Burnett
Bleachers was narrow and two dimensional with an eye to a screen play rather than a short story or novel. Good idea but poorly executed. The mystique of high school football in the south is a compelling topic and Grisham only scratches the surface.
Submitted by Anonymous
Very slow paced, but kept me interested thoroughout. Kind of makes you long for the good old school days. I really enjoyed this one. Wish it was a little longer. The end just kind of drifted off, but it was still an entertaining book to me.
Genres 
Biographies
