Rating: 
Summary: Too long for me
Review: I thought Bleachers was a law book based on the cover. ???Boy was I wrong. I couldn't have been farther from the truth. What a bunch of false advertising. Plus, I thought it was a bit lengthy at 176 pages. I mean, c'mon, If I wanted to read for weeks, I'd pick up an encyclopedia - catch my drift???!!I thought it was boring until I found out he got his knew blown out by a cheap shot when playing the sport of football. Serves him right. And, oh, am I supposed to feel sorry for the dead coach or the losers who continue to live out their high school glory and can't move on??? Well, Joseph O'Brien doesn't. No sir.
Rating: 
Summary: A perfect little story
Review: Bleachers, Grisham's latest, is by no means perfect or the best work he's ever done, but if you take it for what it is, it doesn't get any better than this. Bleachers is about a Neely Crenshaw who peaked in life during high school, and in his first visit back to his home town in 15 years, he struggles to come to terms with his past as a hero and his present as a divorced real-estate broker. The story revolves around high-school football, which might bore those who enjoy Grisham's legal thrillers. But Grisham tells this story well. Neely Cresnhaw was a great quarterback for the Messina Spartans, worshiped by all, whose career in college was ended because of an injury. I think everyone who reads this can relate because accomplishments in high school rarely translate to your position or standing as an adult. Grisham examines an entire town that views life as beginning and ending with high school football. I give this book five stars because of its simplicity. As stated above, this book is about Neely Crenshaw coming to terms with his hero status in high school, the girl he dumped, and the coach he thought he hated. Grisham had an idea for Bleachers and I think it was accomplished with brilliance. But that is also the problem with this story. It isn't worthy of being called a novel because it is so short and therefore somewhat of a rip off. Also, the premise of the book is so narrow that there aren't really any twists or turns or other characters other than Neely and Coach Rake. But when you are as successful as Grisham, I guess you've earned the right to write stories like this every once in awhile.
Rating: 
Summary: So Disappointed...
Review: This is without a doubt the most awful Grisham has ever written. Not only is it sloppy and poorly executed, it is immoral in its treatment of people of objects and an unborn that is merely an inconvenience that cost $300 to dispose of.
Rating: 
Summary: GOOD NOVEL, BUT ONE EXPECTS MORE THAN "GOOD" FROM GRISHAM!
Review: This is not the first time Grisham has taken a break from his usual forte -- thrillers veering around the legal profession. Both "Skipping Christmas," a holiday tale, and "A Painted House," a semi-autobiographical family saga, deviated from the legal themes, but they were compelling stories told with sumptuous passion and detail. Bleachers is also a good book but is unfortunately several clicks below the class you would expect from a writer of Grisham's cadre. It is lean. Both literally, you can finish the book in a couple of lazy afternoons, and figuratively -- the theme is a popular but now dying football coach, responsible for several victories in his (unnamed) southern state, being visited by his old players for final goodbyes. What follows is a now-touching-now-bland set of reminiscings about how a single-minded obsession and hero worship at a young age can affect many lives. The novel showed sporadic promise with some very fascinating narrative, followed by long patches where very little happens. Grisham novels are expected to be material that Hollywood producers drool on. Sadly, this isn't one of those materials.
Rating:
Summary: Walking back through the past
Review: This is a great story about looking back in the past, remembering those people who changed your life for better or for worse, and reliving old memories. Most importantly, you realize that, at some point you have to let it go and move on.... This book is more about the players than football; Players from different decades that played for a coach that affected them both negatively and positively. The coach is on his deathbed and his players young and old come together to retell old stories and replay old games before they have to say goodbye. He was their coach and had a profound impact on their lives.... but do they love him or hate him?
Rating: 
Summary: Bleachers
Review: A great book about much more than just playing football. John Grisham has done it again with this one. The moment I picked it up, I could not put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Regrets, We all have a Few
Review: Harsh memories assault Neely Crenshaw, memories he'd rather forget when he arrives in Messina after a fifteen year absence. His high school football coach is on his deathbed and Neely, like many of the coach's former athletes, is coming home to spend his nights at the Messina Stadium waiting for the inevitable. Neely hated Coach Eddie Rake during high school, but football offered him a future and under the coaches grueling demands, he became the team star with a promising career in the pros, but an injury playing college ball left him with a ruined knee. So why did he come back to Messina, to make up with a girlfriend he'd left long ago, to see old friends, or to make peace with the coach? That's a question that Neely probably couldn't answer, but it makes for a wonderful book. This is a story of paths not taken, regrets and forgiveness. I laughed, I cried and I wondered what my life would be like now, if I'd taken a different path. I loved this book. Reviewed by Vesta Irene
Rating:
Summary: Not his best; more like "Football with Morrie"
Review: Let's first off establish that this book is not one of John Grisham's best books. It doesn't hold a candle to "A Time to Kill" or "The Partner." This book, however, is best read by those who love and appreciate sports or who have had an influential coach in their life. Other wise, the passages describing games and plays will drone on for a little too long. After ten years Grisham still his own way of telling a story that is as comfortable as slipping on a favorite pair of pajamas. Bleachers is a quick romp, but not much to savor.
Rating:
Summary: A Football Story
Review: Those who are not football fans might not find this book interesting. The story is centered in a small Southern town. This is one of the many small towns where high school football is taken very seriously. Coach Eddie Rake is dying and many of his former players have returned to Mesinna to await his death. The story covers only a few days but there is much review of the past as the players talk of the glory days of Mesinna football. Coach Rake had led the school's teams to unprecedented success. In fact the school had at one time held the national record for consecutive victories. The author probably patterned his Coach Rake after some real life coaches. I found at least one similarity to one well known college coach. Neely Crenshaw is the central character of the book. He has returned to Mesinna for the first time in several years. As Quarterback, he had been one of the greatest stars for Mesinna. In the process of telling this story, the writer alludes to some high school related problems such as the emphasis placed on football at the expense of other school activities. Also, this being a southern town the issue of school (and football team) integration was addressed. Finally, you have the win at any cost syndrome so evident in some football programs. In this case, one result was the loss of the life of a young boy. This book unlike many of the author's earlier books has nothing to do with attorneys and the law. In general, his earlier law oriented books were more exciting reading in my opinion. However, I found this book to be an interesting light read and of course rather short.. So if you consider reading the book to be a waste of time, at least it will not be a lot of time.
Rating:
Summary: This book is so bad...
Review: ...it just makes me think of a whole generation of Al Bundy's dreaming of their lost youth.
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