caldon4523's Full Review: John Grisham - Playing for Pizza
Imagine being an NFL quarterback, third string, and coming into a game with a comfortable lead. All the coach wants you to do is not turn the ball over and lose the game and a shot at the Super Bowl. Then imagine that happens, and not just in any NFL city, but in Cleveland where the Browns have not gone to the Super Bowl since, well, ever. This is what happens to Rick Dockery, a hapless third string quarterback whose previous claim to fame happened so long ago Pop Warner was still playing football. Well, okay, it was not that long ago, but it seems so to Rick. Rick actually did have moderate success playing in college but again seemed ions ago. Now after losing a game in which the Browns had a comfortable lead and suffering a concussion on his last play, an interception, Rick wakes up in a Cleveland hospital. Finding himself cut from his team and being made the biggest goat in NFL history, Rick talks to his agent to see if he could be signed by another NFL team.
Imagine Rick's surprise when not only will another NFL team sign him, they will make him their starting quarterback, and this team wants him now. Okay, it is not really an American NFL team but a team in Italy. With not many other prospects, Rick takes the job. Oh, did I mention that not only did the Browns not want him any more, the entire city of Cleveland wants Rick out of town. I think Eric Couch could empathize.
While in Italy, we meet some very interesting characters. Although many of these characters are not fully developed in the story, these characters are still interesting none the less. Along the way we are exposed to Italian cooking, opera, culture and several historical castles.
There are many funny moments such as when Rick wakes up in the wee hours of the morning so he can move his tiny, rented, stick-shift car. His rented car was provided by his the team owner but was parked in the street, parallel to the road and parked very closely between two other cars. With Rick not too proficient in stick shift driving, he decides to move his car when he will not attract too much attention. Like at 4 in the morning. This sounds like something I would do. Okay, now I can empathize. And of course he tries to move his car at this hour in the morning some lady decides it is a good time to walk her dog.
His romantic encounters are not written in an erotic fashion and are passable, but just barely. So, if you are into romance, this is not the book for you. Rick does meet an American girl who wants to travel around Italy, visiting castles and cathedrals.
The Parma Panthers, the team Rick ends up with, are one of several teams that belong to the Italian version of the NFL. This Italian league even has their own version of the Super Bowl. Because of strict rules each team can only sign up to three American players. And because American football takes a back seat to soccer, basketball and I think tittli-winks, team revenue is small so most players do not get paid but play for the love of the game, the glory and sometimes pizza.
The football that is played in Italy is very similar to American football with rules and referees but because there are not many football fields, sometimes games are played where there is just barely enough real estate. Sometimes the fields are 90 yards and not 100. In the book the games played are written in not too detail to bore non-football fans but detailed enough to give the reader a feel of the game.
Playing for Pizza has a little bit of everything, humor, romance, cooking, sports, and travel. So, you do not have to like football to enjoy this book.
A departure from his acclaimed legal thrillers, Grisham s #1 New York Times bestseller about an American s introduction to Italian football and food i...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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