3rd string NFL quarterback finds his only option to play is for an Italian league made up of amateurs. Good story.

(2007)This wan't very good. Seemed to be more travelogue than novel and no conflict or reason to like the main character, Rick, very much. Rick is drummed out of Cleveland after coming into the AFC championship game as 3rd string QB and gives up 3 interceptions that results in the Browns losing. He has no prospects in North America so winds up on a team in Parma, Italy in their version of American football, As a sports novel, not very exciting and unable to convey the drama of a game. Of course, Rick leads the team to the Super Bowl championship of Italy but I didn't really care. (PW) Grisham's charming tale of touchdowns and tortellini. Rick Dockery, a 28-year-old third-string NFL quarterback, is playing for the Cleveland Browns. In the final minutes of a decisive game, Rick is brought off the bench to disastrous results. The Browns lose the game and a chance at going to the Super Bowl. After he is unceremoniously dumped by the team, the quarterback agrees to play for a small but tenacious team called the Parma Panthers¥whose playing field is in Parma, Italy. Rick, the young quarterback painfully adjusts to the strange new world he's thrust into. He brings to life Rick's discovery of Italy, with all its history and colorful characters. Especially delicious are the descriptions of the rich Italian foods that Rick and his teammates seem to constantly consume. By the end of the book, listeners will be seeking out the nearest Italian trattoria.

A nice light read. Grisham's love of Italy comes through in his descriptions of its people, foods and customs. ( )

this isn't, like, dangerously bad or (mostly) overtly offensive or anything, but it's not good. i mean, by the end of 300 pages i literally didn't know if i was supposed to like the main character or not. i don't know him, or anyone else, at all. there is no development of character or even really of place. a fine (i guess) story of sport but otherwise not much here. ( )

Maybe I enjoyed this book so much because this year I’m been enthralled with all things Italian, especially my 20 day trip there. It’s very much a fairy tale story of a man who couldn’t find success at the highest level of a game that he loves and found that success at a lower level that comes with other, deeper things is more satisfying. Ciao! ( )