Rating: 
Summary: One of the finest sports books written...
Review: For anyone interested in high school football, whether it's a player, parent, friend, or supporter, this book is must read. Even if you're none of the above you will come away with something from this book. One my personal favorites, it is gripping story about a small Texas town and the impact of high school football at all levels. Never a dull moment from start to finish, a book you will recommend to others without hesitation.
Rating:
Summary: The Book of Books
Review: I am in high school, I play football, and I'm from Texas. This book is my bible. I have read it six times, and I quote it daily. Putting this aside, this book might be the most inspirational and adrenaline-pumping book I have ever read. I have read the classics: Hawthorne, Poe, King, Twain, etc, but Bissinger speaks to me. He speaks to me with passages that relate to my life and what I want. The book depicts the life of a football player better than I, a player, could tell it. It stays near my bed every night and I plan to keep it there for the rest of its life.
Rating: 
Summary: A New View of Football
Review: H.G. Bissinger, an investigating reporter for the Chicago Tribune, feels the necessity to write an entire book on the traditions and segregation surrounding a single season with the Permian Panthers of Odessa, Texas. Being from a similar size school with a modified version of football madness, I felt a connection with the subject matter, but that is where my connection ended. Bissinger's background as a reporter is highlighted in his writing. The basic who, what, when, where, and why is covered in great detail. Bissinger sets out to prove some monumental point about the insanity of West Texas football but finishes with an extended new article. I left the book feeling let down as well as shocked by the actions of the town. Bissinger has done his research. With interviews with what seems like everyone in town, the reader has a better understanding of the feelings of all people. Everyone from the first Mexican- American school board member to the coaching staff is interviewed.I appreciate his throughness on such sensitive subjects like the obvious racism of the town. However, this style does not lend itself to an engaging plot. Bissinger has also uncovered an interesting side of what may seem to be a passionate oil town. Bissinger chose not to ignore the obvious racial undertones of Odessa. As a former Permian All-State running back commented on the destruction of the "Mojo" school spirit, "I blame it on the niggers' coming to Permian. People say you can't win without the blacks, but we did." This comment was made not in the 1960s but in 1988. The school was not actually integrated until the early 1980s. A divided community can only rally around one thing, "Mojo" football. This idea is beaten into the reader's mind by Bissinger's somewhat repetitive writing. Bissinger also chronicals the football season, game by game. He explains, hit by hit, the triumph and defeat of the players. I was amazed by his ability to cover all aspects of the game. Even when the events happen simultaneously. Bissinger records the Coaches' firery half time pep talk and the band's "hell- bent rendition of 'Gee, Officer Krupke'". I'm not sure if this made Bissinger a track star or if it hurt his credibility in the eyes of a reader. This book was interesting for me because it has been my brother's, a high school and college football player, favorite and revealed an exaggerated version of my own high school experience. This is not a book for everyone. The journalistic style did not grip my interest as other books have. If football isn't a topic of choice for you, or if you enjoyed Bissinger's newspaper style, try a Jon Krakauer book. (My personal favorite is Into the Wild.) Despite his blunt presentation, Bissinger effectively chronicals the life of a town, a team, and their dreams.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT!
Review: This true story was a taste of what texas football is like and the difficullties. Also how tough people can be when they wan't to win and don't care about peoples lives.
Rating:
Summary: A truly incredible read
Review: I finally got around to reading this book just recently; I wish I had read it when it came out in 1990. "Buzz" Bissinger pulls no punches in telling it like it is, how a high school football team can be the main rallying point of an otherwise isolated community, several hundred miles from the nearest large metropolitan area; a community whose residents are deeply religious, God-fearing, and shamelessly prejudiced and intolerant of non-whites. I remember the controversy this book caused shortly after its release. Having read it, I now understand why: In a community where there's otherwise "nothing to do," a local high school football team can unite people of all races, incomes, cultures, etc. I should know: I used to live in Lubbock, not too far from Odessa; the townfolks share the same conservative beliefs and euphoric passion for football. Bissinger's metaphor-rich style of writing really made me feel as if I was back in West Texas. The similarity of the two cities was uncanny. I began to read in search of something startling and controversial; instead it brought back a lot of memories. As I learned, the people of Odessa and Lubbock are strikingly similar (except Lubbock also has collegiate football, from Texas Tech University, to root for, as well as a few local high schools). I found Bissinger's descriptions totally accurate, if not downright eerie. In the end, I couldn't help but feel for the 17- and 18-year-olds who had to endure the pressure to produce one victory after another, and the supporters' shameless win-or-else attitude. Bissinger's ability to empathize with America's appetite and obsession for winning really drove home the point. When I finished reading it, I cried. This book was THAT soul-stirring. To Stephanie, a Permian High School grad who wrote a review of this book in May 1998: I'd advise you to read "Turning The Page - '88 Permian team still can't escape glare of 'Friday Night Lights,'" by Dave Caldwell (The Dallas Morning News, November 24, 1999). You called Bissinger "a liar," but Jerrod McDougal, whose loud Bon Jovi music was mentioned in the introduction, said "The Book [as it's known in Odessa] painted a pretty ugly portrait of the town, but there's not a lie in it." And Randy Ham, a Permian grad who works at a bookstore in Odessa, mentioned, "It is a bitingly accurate portrayal of the town. It really is." Mike Wallace, the "60 Minutes" correspondent, said that "'Friday Night Lights' reads like fiction; unhappily, it is fact." I feel that's all one needs to know to prepare for this truly incredible read.
Rating: 
Summary: An Outsider Often Has The Best Perspective
Review: Having grown up in the very real madness that is Texas High School football religion, I can unquestionably state that this book is a dispassionate look into my home state's unquenchable thirst for football. It reveals the dark side of hero worship, and in one of the most telling passages Bissinger finds that many of the female high school students were forced too "dumb down," so that they would not look smarter than their athelete boyfriends. The outcry over this book by the Permian Basin city boosters was loud and predictable. On the other hand, the book shows that for many down and out people inhabiting this bleak landscape, Friday football is the one salvation, the one escape from a life full of lost dreams. Is that any different from a drunken fanatic dressed as a dog sitting in the 'dogpound' in Cleveland swilling beer while his team goes down in defeat? Is it any different than Dennis Hopper's struggling alchoholic character -- ex-roundballer Shooter -- in the basketball-as-religion opus "Hoosiers?" Probably not.
Rating:
Summary: The Best
Review: I have read many great sports novels in my time, Fall River Dreams, A Season on the Brink, but this book is hands down the very best piece of work i have ever read. The story is awe inspiring, at times unbelievable, depressing, and humurous. Many people see football as nothing more than a game, but Bissinger does well in portraying football as a way of life in Odessa. Dreams are made and broken through Odessa football. Its a cycle with the children of Odessa being used as a vehicle by their parents to relive the glory days of their past. Football is worth more than gold there, and that is exactly what this book will make u feel.
Rating:
Summary: Friday Night Lights
Review: An absolutely awe inspiring book. This is a book that every football player can relate to. An excellent job by H.G. Bissinger.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing but 5 stars, for accuracy, honesty, and compassion
Review: I could hardly care less about football. After one season of playing in the marching band for my high school's games, I dropped out of the music program. I don't watch sports today. But I thought this book was incredible. The reviewer below who attacked the book for "not really being about football" missed the point. Several reviewers further back who grooved on the memories of playing the game may have missed it, too, but that they were able to do that shows what a fair and rich account this is. The book is really about economic realities, communal dreams, the way adults live through their kids and sometimes use them up even before they've grown, and how people can lose perspective in a crowd. I grew up on the south coast of Oregon, in a school which did not have quite the football dynasty that Permian does, but took the game almost as seriously (still does). I think people from almost any corner of the country would recognize the landscape in this book. Those of us who were not in the thick of such intensity missed something, yes ... but we're probably the better for it later on. On top of being rich and affecting, this book is simply beautifully written. It's poetic without being either flowery or preachy. And that's an achievement in itself.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing but 5 stars, for accuracy, honesty, and compassion
Review: I could hardly care less about football. After one season of playing in the marching band for my high school games, I dropped out of the music program. I don't watch sports in general. But I thought this book was incredible. The reviewer below who attacked the book for "not really being about football" missed the point. Several further back who grooved on the memories of playing it may have, too, but that they were able to do that shows what a fair and rich account this is. This book is really about economic realities, communal dreams, the way adults live through their kids and sometimes use them up even before they've grown, and how people can lose perspective in a crowd. I grew up on the south coast of Oregon, in a school which did not have the kind of football dynasty that Permian does, but took the game almost as seriously. I think people from almost any corner of the country would recognize the landscape in this book. Those of us who were not in the thick of such intensity missed something, yes ... but we're probably the better for it later on. On top of being rich and affecting, this book is simply beautifully written. It's poetic without being either flowery or preachy. And that's an achievement in itself.
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