Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, a Dream

Rating:
Summary: Jock culture at its worst
Review: A superlative example of investigative reporting and cultural critique, Friday Night Lights is also a highly entertaining read. H. G. Bissinger examines the manic football fanaticism of Odessa, Texas, home of the Permian Panthers. In Odessa high school football is god and nothing else comes close--certainly not academics, which is an afterthought at best. The portrait of Odessa that Bissinger develops is sad and disturbing: a town in the throes of a massive obsessive-compulsive disorder, a puerile daydream of gridiron glory that masks the emptiness of life in the oil fields of west Texas. But then Odessa is America writ small, a "culture" that worships winning, violence, and white boy privilege above all else. If you want to know why public education is failing in the U.S., read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: Being a high school football player as I am, this was one of the best books I have ever read. The title of the book almost explains it all. Even though the book doesn't tell a constant story and sometimes you may feel lost, in the end you'll be glad you've read it. It sets the standard in your heart for how much you should love a sport. This team is the winningest team in Texas high school football history. The town of Odessa which it takes place in is a high school football town, football is the only thing holding it together. Even all those of you that don't play or even like football will think this is a fascinating book considering how you never thought high school football could be this crazy. It is a true story that you'll remember forever. A great read, you'll be writing your own review!

Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: Friday Night Lights, by H.G. Bissinger is a great book for sports fans; especially football. I've never liked reading because I never can get into the book. This book was very interesting and I couldn't put it down. I read it for a book report in my high school English class and would recommend it to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: The Pinnacle of High School Football
Review: This book is testament to the fact that finding a good story is only half the battle when it comes to writing a good book. In this case, Bissinger takes an undeniably poignant story and reports it in the format of a 300-some page magazine article, full of editorial vigor but utterly lacking in emotional substance. I found myself forced to imagine the struggle of the town and the football players in my own words because the author's were clearly not doing it justice. Bissinger stepped away from raw narrative only to make incessant stabs at convincing me of how bad the situation is, and how important it is that it be understood. Perhaps, one might argue, he was simply doing this to ensure that his story be appreciated. In doing so, however, he neglected to expose the true emotion of the town and its beloved players, inundating me with depressing statistics and dry, bleak description to the extent that I became disenchanted with it and was immensely frustrated in my incapacity to gain some sense of the real feeling of the town. Having read this book, I know that Odessa, Texas is a struggling town. I know that a great deal of pressure is placed on high school football players in this town, and that a culture has developed around high school football which is in many ways disturbing. But I have no concept whatsoever of how the people involved in this particular situation, analyzed in great detail by the book, actually think and feel, and thus I feel that I have learned very little. A disappointing read.

Rating:
Summary: frustrating reading... a real disapointment
Review: This book is testament to the fact that finding a good story is only half the battle when it comes to writing a good book. In this case, Bissinger takes an undeniably poignant story and reports it in the format of a 300-some page magazine article, full of editorial vigor but utterly lacking in emotional substance. I found myself forced to imagine the struggle of the town and the football players in my own words because the author's were clearly not doing it justice. Bissinger stepped away from raw narrative only to make incessant stabs at convincing me of how bad the situation is, and how important it is that it be understood. Perhaps, one might argue, he was simply doing this to ensure that his story be appreciated. In doing so, however, he neglected to expose the true emotion of the town and its beloved players, inundating me with depressing statistics and dry, bleak description to the extent that I became disenchanted with it and was immensely frustrated in my incapacity to gain some sense of the real feeling of the town. Having read this book, I know that Odessa, Texas is a struggling town. I know that a great deal of pressure is placed on high school football players in this town, and that a culture has developed around high school football which is in many ways disturbing. But I have no concept whatsoever of how the people involved in this particular situation, analyzed in great detail by the book, actually think and feel, and thus I feel that I have learned very little. A disappointing read.

Rating:
Summary: Friday Night Lights
Review: This book takes a seemingly innocuous subject- high school football- and shows how it becomes intertwined with every aspect of life in a "typical" U.S. town. It is a pleasure to see an author know his subject so well. I would like to see a follow up ten years after the story to see where the characters are now and if the town has changed at all.

Rating:
Summary: The Pinnacle of High School Football
Review: This really describes an outstanding high school football atmosphere. Odessa, Texas, and the Permian Panthers what a place to play the great sport. If there is a down side it is how football comes before every thing else in the world but if thats what it takes to win then so be it. You do not accept the full impact of high school football unless you play in a place like this or read this book.