Because Ideas Matter...
The faculty and staff of Butler University's College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences presents
Recommended Readings
Playing for
Pizza
by John Grisham, Bantam Books 2008
Reviewed by Lacey Echols
If you are in need of some light reading and
like John Grisham's writing, you might consider reading Playing
for Pizza. This book follows a 3rd string quarterback, Ricky
Dockery, from a doomed position in the NFL to Italy where he tries
to revive his career. After being pummeled too many times, his body
says he should hang up the shoulder pads, but he is not ready to do
that. This is the story of a man who needs to redeem himself in his
sport when there is little left for him in the American NFL.
Grisham does a nice job of describing the Italian image of
football, from the fact that the men are not paid, but play for the
love of the sport. With mostly amateur players, supported by a few
American football professionals, they actually have a super
bowl.
Grisham incorporates the Italian countryside and gastronomic
delights with such gusto that football, food, and history become
extra characters in the story. He includes a little history of
different areas in Italy, with brief descriptions of many
cathedrals and cities. The descriptions of the fictional football
games incorporate just enough detail to provide a sense of the
game, without getting too wrapped up in all of the technical
details. For light reading, I recommend this book. The book has
just been released, and a hardback version might be available at
the library. Surely the paperback version will be out soon! On
second thought, this may not be worth your time, but it was sort of
a fun book to read. I know nothing about Italian football - and
almost as little about Italy!
- Lacey Echols is an instructor of mathematics at Butler
University.