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Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 796.3326209764862 EAN: 9780306809903 ISBN: 0306809907 Label: Da Capo Press Manufacturer: Da Capo Press Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 400 Publication Date: 2000-07 Publisher: Da Capo Press Studio: Da Capo Press Editorial Review: Amazon.com: Secular religions are fascinating in the devotion and zealousness they breed, and in Texas, high school football has its own rabid hold over the faithful. H.G. Bissinger, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, enters into the spirit of one of its most fervent shrines: Odessa, a city in decline in the desert of West Texas, where the Permian High School Panthers have managed to compile the winningest record in state annals. Indeed, as this breathtaking examination of the town, the team, its coaches, and its young players chronicles, the team, for better and for worse, is the town; the communal health and self-image of the latter is directly linked to the on-field success of the former. The 1988 season, the one Friday Night Lights recounts, was not one of the Panthers' best. The game's effect on the community--and the players--was explosive. Written with great style and passion, Friday Night Lights offers an American snapshot in deep focus; the picture is not always pretty, but the image is hard to forget. Product Description: Return once again to the timeless account of the Permian Panthers of Odessa--the winningest high-school football team in Texas history. Odessa is not known to be a town big on dreams, but the Panthers help keep the hopes and dreams of this small, dusty town going. Socially and racially divided, its fragile economy follows the treacherous boom-bust path of the oil business. In bad times, the unemployment rate barrels out of control; in good times, its murder rate skyrockets. But every Friday night from September to December, when the Permian High School Panthers play football, this West Texas town becomes a place where dreams can come true. With frankness and compassion, H. G. Bissinger chronicles a season in the life of Odessa and shows how single-minded devotion to the team shapes the community and inspires--and sometimes shatters--the teenagers who wear the Panthers' uniforms. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - long readSince I am not into football, this book was a long read for me. It could have been halved and the story complete. Rating:  - Not sure what was worse Not sure what was worse, reading this 'item' or pounding my head against a concrete wall. It has received much fan-fare, and I don't know why, it's best described as...trite. Rating:  - Friday Night LightsFriday Night Lights A Town, A Team, and A Dream By H.G. Bissinger By Cael Kiess H.G. Bissinger spent over a year getting to know the people of Odessa, Texas. During that year he spoke with Permian football players, their families, and Odessa citizens in his attempt to write a book that told the story of how one team of teenage kids could inspire an entire town. Bissinger, an American journalist, has won the Pulitzer Prize, the Livingston Award, the National Headliner ... Read More Rating:  - Focus on football, not personal opinionsThis book is good, but not great. Listening to the rants and raves of Bissinger's politics is painful, but it can be battled through if you're patient. I was excited to read this book, to learn about the lives and the environment of football in a completely different context than the rest of us can witness. The excitement quickly dwindled as the author lost track of the actual story, and puts his own "journalistic" spin on the entire story. In the epilogue Bissinger claims that he had to report ... Read More Rating:  - Book provides "Hoop-Dreams" insights for the gridiron setBissinger, the author, came to Odessa to follow the Permian Panthers thru their entire 1988 season, attending practices as well as games, spending time with several of the key players and their families, reading the newspapers, interviewing the movers and shakers in the desolate, tapped-out landscape in the middle of Nowhere, Texas. Most of us have heard that Texans regard their high school football with the reverence of a born-again religion--remember the story about the mother of a cheerleader ... Read More |
