Page Count:  176

Author:  John Grisham

Publisher:  Doubleday

ISBN:  0-38551-161-2

Category:  Fiction

Genre:  Drama

Dove's (Personal) Review:  A charming little book! Grisham, once again, breaks away from his usual "legal thrillers" and delivers Bleachers, a heart-felt drama.
     A football coach dies. When word of his death spreads, fellow alumni gather on the football-field bleachers, sharing stories in remembrance of their coach.
     An old flame is rekindled, football games from years ago and relived, secret game-plans in the locker-room are revealed, old arguments are brought anew, injuries are remembered in detail, and disagreements with the coach are rehashed... some fondly, some not so fondly.
     If you enjoyed highschool/college, had a favorite teacher, or you're just an avid football fan, this is a book for you! I did enjoy highschool (somewhat)... I definitely had a favorite teacher... and I am also a football fan (GO PATRIOTS!!!), so I happened to like it.
     However, if you plan on picking up a copy of it just because you're a Grisham fan, you might wanna think twice about it. This is definitely not your normal Grisham-type novel. If you don't understand the game of football, then large parts of this one could - quite possibly - bore you to tears.
     Also, another thing to be mindful of before diving into it: being that it's not a legal-thriller, the story lacks the climatic ending we're accustomed to, throughout Grisham's other work(s). If you look forward to books ending with a literary bang, you'll be disappointed at the end of this one. It doesn't really end, it sort've just "fizzles out," though somewhat gracefully.
     All in all, I thought it was a "good" book, but far from Grisham's best.