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by James Patterson, Peter de Jonge
ISBN: 0316159786
Binding/Media: Hardcover - 400 pages
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Sold with pride. No writing, no highlighting. Copy in very good condition with minimal reading wear.
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Customer Reviews
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Beach Road
Rating  (3)
Date: 2010-07-23
I have never reviewed a book before but I just had to send a review on this book (Beach Road). I have read several of James Patterson's books and have always enjoyed them until now. I was so disappointed by the ending that I almost threw the book in the trash. When the killer and his accomplice was revealed, I didn't want to finish the book, but I did and it left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
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Save your money/time
Rating  (2)
Date: 2010-06-24
I am sorry to report this is the last Patterson I will buy. This book tries an unusual technique of telling the story in a series of first person chapters. I find it annoying and disruptive to the narrative. I felt grossly manipulated at the wrap up at the end.
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HORRIBLE BOOK!
Rating  (1)
Date: 2010-05-16
Book reads like all Patterson's book-- fifteen sentence chapters and plenty of fake suspense. Then, at the end, the writers literally SPIT IN THE FACE OF THE READER with an ending called "original" and explosive! I CALL IT STUPID! STUPID! Buy at your own peril! HORRIBLE!
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Interesting story destroyed by the silly, impossible ending
Rating (1)
Date: 2010-04-19
Tom is a second-rate attorney who goes against all odds to successfully defend a black teen basketball star against a multiple-murder frame-up with racial overtones. This gripping story is completely vitiated by two ridiculous twists:
1) a key character is shot and buried in a shallow grave but survives because he was wearing a protective vest--are we supposed to believe he feigned death while being buried and held his breath while underground until the "killer" left and the victim was able to dig himself out? Why would the victim expect to survive an execution with a vest when the previous 5 victims had all been shot in the head?
2) More fundamentally, it is abysmally bad writing to depict the main character as an idealist and then find out he is really the super-villain. Are we supposed to believe he framed the defendant and then defended him just to win his former girl friend back? She wouldn't have even cared about the case except that, unknowable to Tom ,and well after the frame-up has been set up, she becomes disillusioned with her plush job in a high-powered legal firm and impulsively quits it.
A good story trashed by a terrible ending is even more frustating than a poorly
written story. This reader couldn't help feeling horribly cheated. (The spoilers in this review are deliberate--I'm trying to save prospective readers from having the same disappointment.)
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Hard to Put Down Thriller with Plenty of Twists and Turns
Rating  (5)
Date: 2010-02-09
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
In the exclusive Beach Road section in East Hampton, New York, movie star T. Smitty Wilson has a regulation basketball court on his property and though he is often not home, he lets his friends -- and he has many, from ex-NBA players to promising high school and college players -- use his court. These games are often heated, as the players take the game very seriously.
High School player Dante Halleyville is a bright prospect expected to get a mega bonus when he graduates. He can play with the best of them and during a game with Tom Dunleavy, a former athelete who is now a defense attorney, Michael Walker is going in for a basket and a fight breaks out. Dunleavy tries to break it up, Walker pulls a gun, Dunleavy calms him down. This is basketball taken a little too seriously.
Later three of the players in that game are found murdered execution style, then Walker is also found dead and a gun is found with Halleyville's prints on it. Dunleavy thinks Halleyville is innocent, but he's not the best lawyer for the job, so he partners with an old girlfriend named Katherine Costello. Together they start sifting and digging into all the evidence they can find of the two shootings and as usual in all James Patterson books things are not what they seem. Twists, turns and danger abound in this thriller you'll be hard put to put down.
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by James Patterson, Peter de Jonge
ISBN: 0446619140
Binding/Media: Mass Market Paperback - 400 pages
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Sold with pride. No writing, no highlighting. Copy in very good condition with normal reading wear.
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Customer Reviews
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Beach Road
Rating (3)
Date: 2010-07-23
I have never reviewed a book before but I just had to send a review on this book (Beach Road). I have read several of James Patterson's books and have always enjoyed them until now. I was so disappointed by the ending that I almost threw the book in the trash. When the killer and his accomplice was revealed, I didn't want to finish the book, but I did and it left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
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Save your money/time
Rating (2)
Date: 2010-06-24
I am sorry to report this is the last Patterson I will buy. This book tries an unusual technique of telling the story in a series of first person chapters. I find it annoying and disruptive to the narrative. I felt grossly manipulated at the wrap up at the end.
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HORRIBLE BOOK!
Rating (1)
Date: 2010-05-16
Book reads like all Patterson's book-- fifteen sentence chapters and plenty of fake suspense. Then, at the end, the writers literally SPIT IN THE FACE OF THE READER with an ending called "original" and explosive! I CALL IT STUPID! STUPID! Buy at your own peril! HORRIBLE!
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Interesting story destroyed by the silly, impossible ending
Rating (1)
Date: 2010-04-19
Tom is a second-rate attorney who goes against all odds to successfully defend a black teen basketball star against a multiple-murder frame-up with racial overtones. This gripping story is completely vitiated by two ridiculous twists:
1) a key character is shot and buried in a shallow grave but survives because he was wearing a protective vest--are we supposed to believe he feigned death while being buried and held his breath while underground until the "killer" left and the victim was able to dig himself out? Why would the victim expect to survive an execution with a vest when the previous 5 victims had all been shot in the head?
2) More fundamentally, it is abysmally bad writing to depict the main character as an idealist and then find out he is really the super-villain. Are we supposed to believe he framed the defendant and then defended him just to win his former girl friend back? She wouldn't have even cared about the case except that, unknowable to Tom ,and well after the frame-up has been set up, she becomes disillusioned with her plush job in a high-powered legal firm and impulsively quits it.
A good story trashed by a terrible ending is even more frustating than a poorly
written story. This reader couldn't help feeling horribly cheated. (The spoilers in this review are deliberate--I'm trying to save prospective readers from having the same disappointment.)
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Hard to Put Down Thriller with Plenty of Twists and Turns
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-02-09
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
In the exclusive Beach Road section in East Hampton, New York, movie star T. Smitty Wilson has a regulation basketball court on his property and though he is often not home, he lets his friends -- and he has many, from ex-NBA players to promising high school and college players -- use his court. These games are often heated, as the players take the game very seriously.
High School player Dante Halleyville is a bright prospect expected to get a mega bonus when he graduates. He can play with the best of them and during a game with Tom Dunleavy, a former athelete who is now a defense attorney, Michael Walker is going in for a basket and a fight breaks out. Dunleavy tries to break it up, Walker pulls a gun, Dunleavy calms him down. This is basketball taken a little too seriously.
Later three of the players in that game are found murdered execution style, then Walker is also found dead and a gun is found with Halleyville's prints on it. Dunleavy thinks Halleyville is innocent, but he's not the best lawyer for the job, so he partners with an old girlfriend named Katherine Costello. Together they start sifting and digging into all the evidence they can find of the two shootings and as usual in all James Patterson books things are not what they seem. Twists, turns and danger abound in this thriller you'll be hard put to put down.
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by Ann Patchett
ISBN: 0060934417
Binding/Media: Paperback - 336 pages
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Sold with pride. No writing, no highlighting. Copy in very good condition with minimal reading wear.
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Customer Reviews
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Really Different
Rating  (4)
Date: 2010-07-23
I really enjoyed this book. It was very different and thought provoking. The author has a wonderful view of the human spirit.
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great book
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-07-22
When I was reading this book I thought to myself -'this woman is a genius'. I could hear the characters thinking! I could see them as if they were right in front of me! I loved this book and could not wait to escape into this world! Wonderfully written piece.
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Bravissimo !
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-06-30
Bel Canto - Ann Patchett
5 stars
In a poor South American country an unlikely, international group of people convene for a birthday celebration that includes a private recital by a famous opera diva. The party takes place in the luxurious home of the country's vice-president. It is a perfect evening; until the lights go out, and the room is filled not with music, but with shouts and guns. As a result, an even more unlikely group of people begin a prolonged and inevitably tragic siege.
Less than sixty people, one third of them terrorists, multiple languages, enormous cultural differences. This book is fascinating on so many levels. The character development is strong. The writing is simple, direct and beautiful. There are so many themes played out in these pages: the nature of authority, the serious division between the haves and have-nots, friendship, love, and over all the transcendent power of art.
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One of my Favorite Books!
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-06-13
I absolutely loved this book! It was so unique. The characters were amazing, I got really attached to all of them. The author takes you into their lives and their relationships to such an extent that you feel like you are in the house with them. I, like the characters, was shocked by the ending. This is one of my top 5 favorites books. I recommend it all the time.
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Different entertaining plot
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-05-15
I haven't finished the book yet, however, I must admit I am finding it a unique story, very well written. Quite a different pace from other novels. Recommend its light and interesting reading. So many different characters slowly uniting in feelings while surviving in an unusual hostage modern situation. Looking forward to the next chapter and learning what Ms Patchett's vivid imagination describes so eloquently.
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by Ann Patchett
ISBN: 0786247924
Binding/Media: Hardcover - 552 pages
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. LARGE PRINT. Light reading wear, light shelf wear. EX LIBRARY copy in a very good condition. Usual library marks present.
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Customer Reviews
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Really Different
Rating (4)
Date: 2010-07-23
I really enjoyed this book. It was very different and thought provoking. The author has a wonderful view of the human spirit.
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great book
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-07-22
When I was reading this book I thought to myself -'this woman is a genius'. I could hear the characters thinking! I could see them as if they were right in front of me! I loved this book and could not wait to escape into this world! Wonderfully written piece.
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Bravissimo !
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-06-30
Bel Canto - Ann Patchett
5 stars
In a poor South American country an unlikely, international group of people convene for a birthday celebration that includes a private recital by a famous opera diva. The party takes place in the luxurious home of the country's vice-president. It is a perfect evening; until the lights go out, and the room is filled not with music, but with shouts and guns. As a result, an even more unlikely group of people begin a prolonged and inevitably tragic siege.
Less than sixty people, one third of them terrorists, multiple languages, enormous cultural differences. This book is fascinating on so many levels. The character development is strong. The writing is simple, direct and beautiful. There are so many themes played out in these pages: the nature of authority, the serious division between the haves and have-nots, friendship, love, and over all the transcendent power of art.
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One of my Favorite Books!
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-06-13
I absolutely loved this book! It was so unique. The characters were amazing, I got really attached to all of them. The author takes you into their lives and their relationships to such an extent that you feel like you are in the house with them. I, like the characters, was shocked by the ending. This is one of my top 5 favorites books. I recommend it all the time.
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Different entertaining plot
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-05-15
I haven't finished the book yet, however, I must admit I am finding it a unique story, very well written. Quite a different pace from other novels. Recommend its light and interesting reading. So many different characters slowly uniting in feelings while surviving in an unusual hostage modern situation. Looking forward to the next chapter and learning what Ms Patchett's vivid imagination describes so eloquently.
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by Martha Moody
ISBN: 1573229350
Binding/Media: Paperback - 496 pages
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Sold with pride. No writing, no highlighting. Copy in very good condition with normal reading wear.
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Customer Reviews
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A Valentine card perhaps, but nothing sweet inside.
Rating (3)
Date: 2010-06-28
I tried so hard to love this book, especially as it was given to me by my best friend as a summer read. She and I agree that although it is somewhat painful to get there, the realization at the end is worth the journey. I am referring to (stop reading now if you don't want to know what happens) the fact that Sally is always looking to be part of a unit through her various relationships with men. At the end she finally realizes that the unit she is part of is the connection between her and her best friend. This is a valid point for many women, as it is for my best friend and I.
That being said, I did not like the odd possessiveness Clare feels for Sally, it did not ring true for me at all. I also did not understand the complete lack of moral structure the women seem to share while judging the other continuously. The whole story of Ben just gave me the creeps. I certainly felt the twist--if there was supposed to be one--was obvious. As soon as one hears the term "magazine distributor" one knows it's going to be porn, at least I did.
I guess I'm saying I liked the message, but didn't get much out of the medium. I'll pass on her other books. The excerpt from Office of Desire didn't leave me wanting more. Thanks for the card, but next time I want candy, too.
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Entertaining and human!
Rating (5)
Date: 2009-09-15
I found this novel very entertaining and human. The main theme is about the friendship between Clare, a native of Ohio, and Sally, a native from LA. Both are first roommates at Oberlin College in the early 1970s and form a friendship that lasts many years. I was completely drawn in reading about these two women's characters, the family turmoils, marriages, divorces, children and also about the many topical issues of the 1970s through the 1990s, e.g. the drug use, gay rights movement, HIV/AIDS, suicide, pornography, etc.
Joyce Akesson, author of Love's Thrilling Dimensions and The Invitation
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An engrossing novel of enduring friendship
Rating (4)
Date: 2009-08-24
I'm surprised to see the many negative reviews of this novel; I found it quite engrossing and thoroughly enjoyed it. The book centers around two women, Clare, a native of Ohio, and Sally, who is from LA but who looks more like a mid-westerner herself. The story is told from Clare's perspective, starting with when she is first introduced to Sally as one of her three roommates at Oberlin College in the early 1970s. Initially, Clare finds Sally a bit odd, but the two somehow find their way past their differences to form a connection--one that lasts beyond college and through various factors which threaten to draw them apart, including actual distance, family turmoil, marriages, divorces, and children.
First-time author Moody does a nice job in carving out the characters of Clare and Sally. At times, both women make decisions that are frustrating, and both can come across as unlikeable, yet both maintain a basic relatedness that is likely to drawn forth empathy from most female readers. Moody also has a habit of foreshadowing plot elements in advance--there are times when she actually tells the reader what is going to happen before it does, a writing device that some members of her audience may not appreciate. Yet there were times when I found myself to be completely surprised by twists of the storyline as well. One final objection that some might have with this book is that virtually every topical issue of the 1970s through the 1990s--for example, drug use, the gay rights movement, HIV/AIDS, Karen Carpenter's death, suicide, the pornography industry--finds its way into this book somehow. Personally, I thought Moody handled these cultural references well, but others might think she tried to do too much.
Overall, I enjoyed this book very much, and even though it was a bit long for a novel of this type (almost 500 pages!), I found myself engaged until the very end. My final rating is 4 1/2 stars.
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Incredibly Depressing
Rating (2)
Date: 2009-07-26
I like reading about friendship between women but this one was too long, too heavy and too much going on with not enough substance regarding the friendship. You have one girl, Clare, from the Midwest, who just is an enabler for her best friend, Sally, a rich girl from California. Sally's family falls apart and Clare is always there for her but she never tells her friend to stop dealing with drugs, enabling her brother then her father and more.
What started out to be a promising premise of a novel became this snare trap of so many subjects: unfaithful men, children, drugs, heroin usage, pornography, AIDS, gay/bisexual sex/relationships, and absolutely nothing positive or redeeming of these two women especially by the end of the book. Like an idiot, I kept plodding through the book hoping for something positive ... and nope. It was just not a good book to read. This book is definitely going into the good will bin.
Don't get me wrong. I love lengthy novels and love reading them but this one failed to interest me at all. It was just too long and too far from the point that I am still struggling to remember what it is about those two women who had everything at their feet in college only to wind up single, divorced, harried mothers so far removed from their dreams of their youth. It is one of the most depressing novels I have ever read. Definitely not recommended.
7/25/09
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Flat Characters
Rating (2)
Date: 2009-06-25
A book about enduring friendship through the years sounded like my kind of summer read! I really wanted to like this book, and really tried to.
My biggest issue was that the characters were flat. I don't know that I even liked the main character, but honestly, I felt like I hardly knew her. I don't know if I've ever read a book where I've walked away feeling like I couldn't relate to the protagonist in some small way. Even though I read the entire book, Claire is still a stranger to me. I never warmed up to her.
Secondly, the book tries to pack in a lot of "issues" to keep the plot moving and interesting. Sex, drugs, AIDS, murder, homosexuality, single parenthood, divorce, suicide, STDs, dementia, infidelity...it's all there. And it's too much. The driving force of the plot was not the characters and their relationship to each other, but various crises strung together.
Lastly, I'm not even sure why Claire and Sally are friends. There are no touching scenes between them that give the reader a glimpse at their bond. It seems to be a friendship of convienence...neither seems to have any other real friends besides each other.
I was hoping this book would be like Judy Blume's Summer Sisters. If you're looking for a book about the bonds of female friendship, try that book instead.
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by (Editor: M. Christian)
ISBN: 1562015095
Binding/Media: Paperback - 256 pages
Condition: New
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. New, unread copy.
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by Vicki Lynn
ISBN: 0741432072
Binding/Media: Paperback - 117 pages
Condition: Used: Like New
Comments: Sold with pride. Gently read copy in like new condition.
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by Jeffery Farnol
ISBN: 1417916605
Binding/Media: Paperback - 376 pages
Condition: Used: Like New
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. Gently read copy in like new condition. No reading/ shelf wear.
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Customer Reviews
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An Even Better Sequel?
Rating (5)
Date: 2008-09-06
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
The two reviews preceding mine are excellent and I will not venture to dismiss either in any manner. But let me add this: Martin Conisby's Vengeance - the sequel to Black Bartlemy's Treasure - is said by some to be even finer than the first. Indeed they were originally meant by Farnol to be published as one book but his publisher decided to split the tome in two so as to garner more loot. Seemed like a good idea at the time but this has driven many readers nuts in the pre-Internet Era. Some forty plus years ago, for instance, it took me five years to find Martin Conisby's Vengeance. Now I keep two copies of each on my shelf just as insurance. And, oh yes, for you diehard treasure seekers out there Farnol wrote a prequel to both called Adam Penfeather, Buccaneer. Happy cutlassing!
The Yuletide Kid
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A Great Adventure Story
Rating (5)
Date: 2008-08-07
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
I loved this adventure story. The previous reviewer did a good job of summarizing the storyline. I found wonderfully diverse characters, a rollicking story of the high seas, pirates, love, vengeance, courage, survival on a deserted island, and more. I was shocked to have the story end "in the middle" with no resolution!! I immediately found "Martin Conisby's Vengeance" and for another 80 cents I had it in my Kindle in minutes and continued. His writing style reminds me a bit of Robert Louis Stevenson, particularly Kidnapped, with the bond between David Balfour and Alan. I will write a review of the second book, but if you like adventure stories (Haggard, RL Stevenson) you should find this a roller coaster of adventure filled with cliffhangers. Accurate historical details (they prime their flintlocks, patch their musket balls) and ships, ships, ships and life (and death) aboard ships. Courage, fighting, honor -- all in wonderful profusion.
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A great find ;)
Rating (5)
Date: 2005-10-15
10 out of 10 customers found this reveiw helpful
"The Frenchman beside me had been dead since dawn. His scarred and shackled body swayed limply back and forth with every sweep of the great oar as we, his less fortunate bench-fellows, tugged and strained to keep time to the stroke."
Mr. Farnol brings back the pirate days of the Spanish Main in this stirring book filled with picturesque characters. It is a full-blooded, wholesome novel that captivates the reader.
Martine Conisby, Lord Wendover, embittered by his five years of slavery on the Spanish galleon Esmeralda, escapes during a sea fight to an English ship and makes his way back to England, determined to avenge himself on Richard Brandon, who was the cause of his father's death and his own ill-treatment. Broken in body and spirit, he arrives home one night disguised as a tramp, just in time to save from the hands of robbers a beautiful girl, Lady Jane Brandon, the daughter of the man whom he has sworn to punish. In a tavern he meets a pal, Adam Penfeather, who unfolds to him the story of Black Bartlemy, an infamous pirate, and his treasure buried on an island-- treasure of fabuous value that has been the dream and hope of roving adventurers along the Spanish Main for many years.
The engrossed reader will eagerly follow the adventures of the treasure seekers who set sail on the good ship Faithful Friend and the unique experiences of Martin and the fair Lady Jane - whose family the hero hated - as they found themselves alone on the island which contained the buried treasure. He will encounter some rogues as bloodthirsty as any pirates who ever sailed the Seven Seas, and discover love episodes that stir the emotions. Mr. Farnol has never made a wider appeal than in this, his first sea story.
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by John Grisham
ISBN: 0385511612
Binding/Media: Hardcover - 176 pages
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Sold with pride. No writing, no highlighting. Copy in very good condition with minimal reading wear.
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Customer Reviews
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Bleachers
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-07-28
The book arrived in very good condition although there was a name sticker inside the cover. I will just place my own name sticker over it so it will be okay.
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Outstanding
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-07-26
When students ask for an exciting book to read, BLEACHERS, enters my mind. My recommendation comes from personal experience at having read the book at least three times myself and would be anxiously willing to read it again. The two great lessons which the book looks at shows how coaching sports extremely, toughly can teach a person values he/she can use later in life and it asks how far a person can push someone else physically in athletics to learn or achieve a goal. Many young people can relate to football in this small town because I teach in a small town. However, they do not always see the consequences of those who cheat or take the easy way. BLEACHERS tries to provoke some of the questions that we do not always want asked. This book took Grisham away from the expected lawyer subject into a field that I love, football. We all accept the fact that the disciplinarian should discipline the player, but who disciplines the disciplinarian when he crosses the chalk line? Does this book begin to ask how far are we willing to let sports dictate our lives?
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Is the game over so soon?
Rating (3)
Date: 2010-06-28
It is disquieting to finish a novel in less than 24 hours....I read Bleachers in 10. The New York Times Book Review proclaimed that Grisham is "A sure-footed storyteller with an undeniable mastery of plotting, pacing and tone." Fair enough; he takes you quickly to the end of the book. But you think, shouldn't this have taken longer?
This is not to say that John Grisham missteps with this non-legal thriller. Others, such as The Testament suffered from Rachel, a character who proved to be unconvincing in her goodness. Skipping Christmas was tedious, but the Painted House and Bleachers convince outside a courtroom. It was a good read....but too short.
Neely Crenshaw comes back to his southern home town 15 years after high school for the funeral of Eddy Rake, his larger than life, tyrannical football coach. Many former football players do the same as Rake's shadow still falls over their lives. What sets Neely apart from many is that, while he was one of the greatest players in the school's history, he doesn't want to live in the past, in glory days that peaked too early.
It is difficult to say the story is character driven. Some do stand out: Neely, Mal, Nat and Eddy Rake, whose good side comes to light as the story unfolds, but the novel is too short and we are left more with sensations than depth. The book's achievement, understated so that it is easy to miss, is that it ends without a bang or climax. Neely does not come to peace with Cameron, the high school sweetheart who he dumped and never forgot: she moved on and is happy without him. His eulogy, the third of three at the funeral, is the weakest and tepid at best. His real estate business will continue to be aimless, much like he is, and he is now open to returning home more regularly to be with old friends. Small pleasures in a small town for one whose glory days peaked at age 19.
Bleachers is good, and Grisham is "A sure-footed storyteller with an undeniable mastery of plotting, pacing and tone." But the game ends too early; we hardly had a chance to cheer.
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Bleachers...
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-06-17
Former football players have come to sit in the bleachers of the stadium named for their former coach. The coach is now dying. Neely Crenshaw was one of the coach's finest players. Crenshaw sits and reminisces about his senior year. He has to forgive his coach for the past, but he can't forgive himself.
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A great sports book because it is not all about sports
Rating (5)
Date: 2009-11-26
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Most sports books involve a team that is struggling, there is conflict, both internal and external and then they manage to rise up and win "the big game at the end." Fortunately, and that is one of the most powerful features of this book, that formula is followed, but largely in reverse. There was a big game that the team managed to win, but that was years ago, yet it is still a powerful memory in the participants and the town where the team was from.
Neely Crenshaw was an outstanding quarterback for the Messina Spartans, he went on to play at a major college and was on his way to All-American status and perhaps even the Heisman Trophy when he suffered a career-ending knee injury in his sophomore season. Since then, he has bounced around, never enjoying any significant success; Neely was never able to psychologically recover from the drop from major sports idol to the minimally competent at life.
Legendary football coach Eddie Rake is dying of cancer, so many of his former players are coming back to Messina for the funeral. They are joining a town in deep mourning, under Eddie high school football was a local religion and Eddie was extremely successful. There were long winning streaks and multiple state championships and during that time Eddie was close to a semi-god in the eyes of many of the people. Known to many but tolerated because of his success, Eddie was a sadist in his treatment of the players; most of them hated him but could do nothing about his abusive policies. Finally, when a player collapses and dies during a workout, Eddie is fired by a powerful local political figure, an act which leads to deep divisions within the town.
The past is no longer the past as people begin to come together for the funeral, the former players gather together to share stories about their football careers and their lives. Eddie Rake is a constant topic, but in this case their big game is one that they relive. The divisions in the town, past relationships and regrets all come to the surface as everyone tries to come to terms with their successes and failures, both in and out of football. The funeral allows many to experience closure as they get a long-delayed grip on their feelings for the man that took them through hell in order to win football games.
This is one of the best sports books ever written because it is about sports intertwined with life. In the modern world, Eddie Rake would have been in prison for his actions and his success provides the perfect backdrop for the "what have you done since high school" story. There is something in this story for every person that graduates from high school and then ends up living a life that is completely unexpected.
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by John Grisham
ISBN: 0385511612
Binding/Media: Hardcover - 176 pages
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Sold with pride. No writing, no highlighting. Copy in very good condition with minimal reading wear.
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Customer Reviews
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Bleachers
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-07-28
The book arrived in very good condition although there was a name sticker inside the cover. I will just place my own name sticker over it so it will be okay.
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Outstanding
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-07-26
When students ask for an exciting book to read, BLEACHERS, enters my mind. My recommendation comes from personal experience at having read the book at least three times myself and would be anxiously willing to read it again. The two great lessons which the book looks at shows how coaching sports extremely, toughly can teach a person values he/she can use later in life and it asks how far a person can push someone else physically in athletics to learn or achieve a goal. Many young people can relate to football in this small town because I teach in a small town. However, they do not always see the consequences of those who cheat or take the easy way. BLEACHERS tries to provoke some of the questions that we do not always want asked. This book took Grisham away from the expected lawyer subject into a field that I love, football. We all accept the fact that the disciplinarian should discipline the player, but who disciplines the disciplinarian when he crosses the chalk line? Does this book begin to ask how far are we willing to let sports dictate our lives?
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Is the game over so soon?
Rating (3)
Date: 2010-06-28
It is disquieting to finish a novel in less than 24 hours....I read Bleachers in 10. The New York Times Book Review proclaimed that Grisham is "A sure-footed storyteller with an undeniable mastery of plotting, pacing and tone." Fair enough; he takes you quickly to the end of the book. But you think, shouldn't this have taken longer?
This is not to say that John Grisham missteps with this non-legal thriller. Others, such as The Testament suffered from Rachel, a character who proved to be unconvincing in her goodness. Skipping Christmas was tedious, but the Painted House and Bleachers convince outside a courtroom. It was a good read....but too short.
Neely Crenshaw comes back to his southern home town 15 years after high school for the funeral of Eddy Rake, his larger than life, tyrannical football coach. Many former football players do the same as Rake's shadow still falls over their lives. What sets Neely apart from many is that, while he was one of the greatest players in the school's history, he doesn't want to live in the past, in glory days that peaked too early.
It is difficult to say the story is character driven. Some do stand out: Neely, Mal, Nat and Eddy Rake, whose good side comes to light as the story unfolds, but the novel is too short and we are left more with sensations than depth. The book's achievement, understated so that it is easy to miss, is that it ends without a bang or climax. Neely does not come to peace with Cameron, the high school sweetheart who he dumped and never forgot: she moved on and is happy without him. His eulogy, the third of three at the funeral, is the weakest and tepid at best. His real estate business will continue to be aimless, much like he is, and he is now open to returning home more regularly to be with old friends. Small pleasures in a small town for one whose glory days peaked at age 19.
Bleachers is good, and Grisham is "A sure-footed storyteller with an undeniable mastery of plotting, pacing and tone." But the game ends too early; we hardly had a chance to cheer.
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Bleachers...
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-06-17
Former football players have come to sit in the bleachers of the stadium named for their former coach. The coach is now dying. Neely Crenshaw was one of the coach's finest players. Crenshaw sits and reminisces about his senior year. He has to forgive his coach for the past, but he can't forgive himself.
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A great sports book because it is not all about sports
Rating (5)
Date: 2009-11-26
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Most sports books involve a team that is struggling, there is conflict, both internal and external and then they manage to rise up and win "the big game at the end." Fortunately, and that is one of the most powerful features of this book, that formula is followed, but largely in reverse. There was a big game that the team managed to win, but that was years ago, yet it is still a powerful memory in the participants and the town where the team was from.
Neely Crenshaw was an outstanding quarterback for the Messina Spartans, he went on to play at a major college and was on his way to All-American status and perhaps even the Heisman Trophy when he suffered a career-ending knee injury in his sophomore season. Since then, he has bounced around, never enjoying any significant success; Neely was never able to psychologically recover from the drop from major sports idol to the minimally competent at life.
Legendary football coach Eddie Rake is dying of cancer, so many of his former players are coming back to Messina for the funeral. They are joining a town in deep mourning, under Eddie high school football was a local religion and Eddie was extremely successful. There were long winning streaks and multiple state championships and during that time Eddie was close to a semi-god in the eyes of many of the people. Known to many but tolerated because of his success, Eddie was a sadist in his treatment of the players; most of them hated him but could do nothing about his abusive policies. Finally, when a player collapses and dies during a workout, Eddie is fired by a powerful local political figure, an act which leads to deep divisions within the town.
The past is no longer the past as people begin to come together for the funeral, the former players gather together to share stories about their football careers and their lives. Eddie Rake is a constant topic, but in this case their big game is one that they relive. The divisions in the town, past relationships and regrets all come to the surface as everyone tries to come to terms with their successes and failures, both in and out of football. The funeral allows many to experience closure as they get a long-delayed grip on their feelings for the man that took them through hell in order to win football games.
This is one of the best sports books ever written because it is about sports intertwined with life. In the modern world, Eddie Rake would have been in prison for his actions and his success provides the perfect backdrop for the "what have you done since high school" story. There is something in this story for every person that graduates from high school and then ends up living a life that is completely unexpected.
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