By John Grisham
Being quite a fan of John Grisham and the books which made him really popular, like The Jury and The Firm, it is interesting to see how he is finding his way in the field of football. After having read one of his other books about this topic, I was interested in how he is putting the story together in this one.
It is a nice and easy read and tells the story of Rick Dockery, an ex NFL Quarterback who never really made it and whose hopes for a million-dollar NFL career are on the decline, moves to Parma, Italy, to play for the local team to escape bad press and angry fans. A different world for him, but still the same game. Rick gets in touch with the local habits, the love of the Italians for great food, culture and women, of course. But despite the stadiums are much smaller and the players have regular day jobs and normally don’t get paid, they love the sport at least as much as their (over-)paid idols from the United States. For Rick it starts out as a short detour until one of the famous NFL teams makes the call, but turns out to be an adventure and experience of a lifetime - and a chance to win back the pride and prestige he once had.
Besides the story of the football player Rick, Grisham uses various characters throughout the story to introduce the reader to the city of Parma, Italy as a country with all its cultural and culinary richness and, most of all, the people who live there. The story is easy to follow, full of more or less detailed descriptions of plays throughout the football games of the Parma Panthers with their new star Quarterback, but also many stories on the side which describe the life in Parma, the lifestyle, the way Italians tick and their values. It is a very interesting to see Grisham describing local habits and what there is to see in Parma and throughout Italy - almost like in a tourist guide.
Easy read for the beach or a cosy evening in. The story might want you to consider a trip to Italy next time you think about going on holiday.
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