Bleachers - John Grisham

Advantages: Well written, great characterization of the coach
Disadvantages: Difficult to relate too as deals with American Football

Background So many of my friends and family recommended I try a John Grisham novel, so I finally did. I saw this book in the market and at 50p so I thought I couldn't go wrong. About the Author John Grisham was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas in the USA in 1955. His first book called 'A Time To Kill' was written in 1989.Since then he has become recognised as one of the Worlds best selling novelists. So far he has written 18 novels, including 'Bleachers', ...
...The 'Bleachers' is about an 'old high school hero' Neely Crenshaw. Who returns to his old home town of Messina with many other former players to bury and pay their respects to their old coach Eddie Rake. At the High School fifteen years before Crenshaw was treated like a super star by the school and the town as he was a brilliant Quarterback in the Messina Spartans American football team. The book follows Crenshaw who has not been back since those ... Read review

Advantages: I an't think of anything positive about it.....
Disadvantages: Poor character development, disjointed story telling, Average story, Nowhere near Grisham's usual Standard

...They all sit in the Bleachers at Rake field discussing whether they love or hate Eddie Rake, whilst waiting for the lights to go out and signify his death. This is the third time that Grisham has veered away from his usual subject of lawyers and court rooms. To date I avoided his second attempt as it was aimed more at Christmas and I believe it’s been adapted into a film now. “A Painted House” was the first and I actually quite enjoyed that so I ...
...Unfortunately I found it to be boring and rather uninteresting. Perhaps this is due to my not liking American Football as a large portion of the book focuses on it. I don’t think that was the real reason though. I’ve managed to read numerous novels in the courtroom and although not being interested as such I’ve been hooked. It’s taken me almost 3 weeks to read the 180 pages as a lot of the time I just didn’t feel inclined to pick it up. This was ... Read review

Advantages: Interesting character study.
Disadvantages: Not a gripping story.

First and foremost, while this book is written is written by John Grisham, this is not one of his legal thrillers. So, if as a fan of John Grisham, you're looking for more of the same, forget it. This is apparently his third venture into a different genre, and while others have been disappointed, I rather enjoyed it. I'm not an avid fan, but I enjoyed the movies The Pelican Brief and The Client, so I thought I might enjoy reading some of his books ...
...disappointed. This one, being of a different genre, I had no high expectations of. I might consider reading some of his other books, but I don't really like reading the book after I've watched the movie. "Bleachers" is about and American Football team coming home to the small town of Messina, because their old coach is dying. Neely Crenshaw is foremost among these as he comes to terms with his demons. Once the star quarterback, his knee was irreparably ... Read review

Advantages: Written by John Grisham
Disadvantages: Dull

...a law plot. Sadly, Bleachers does not have a law story and in my opinion does Grisham no favours at all. If you were disappointed with Painted House (as I was) I would not recommend Bleachers either. In a nutshell it's the story of a baseball coach who is dying and many of his old players gather in his home town to reminisce about him and how he affected their lives. There's no real action and quite a weak plot. The characters are well-defined but ... Read review

Advantages: John Grisham
Disadvantages: poor read

...fan of his books but bleachers was a massive let down. The characters were not even recogniseable, there was no twist and no imagination. This was a book which merely went through an old school football team getting together to discuss their success as a young team through the guidance of their coach who is on his death bed. What happens??? He dies they go home, end of story!! I wonder if maybe Grisham got his dog to write this for him! ... Read review