Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team and a Dream - Softcover

Bissinger, H. G.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060974060 ISBN 13: 9780060974060

Publisher: HarperPerennial, 1991

Synopsis

A profile of the town of Odessa, Texas, and its high school football team--the Panthers, the high school team with the best winning record in Texas history--chronicles its dramatic 1988 season and focuses on the bitter struggle between sports and education

About this title

Review

"Dallas Morning News," "Top 50 Sports Books," 3/15/15
"Dallas Morning News," Top 50 Sports Books, 3/15/15"

"Dallas Morning News," Top 50 Sports Books, 3/15/15
Off the Shelf, 5/19/15
[A] sports literature classic.
"

Praise for "Friday Night Lights"
"Friday Night Lights" offers a biting indictment of the sports craziness that gripsmost of American society, while at the same time providing a moving evocation of its powerful allure. "New York Times Book Review"
[Bissinger writes] with empathy, and he writes superbly. "Houston Chronicle"
Riveting. Reads like a suspense story, a page-turner. "Oakland Tribune"
Superb and disturbing. More than a sports book, it s a search for the America of ordinary people. "Newsday"
A pressure-cooker of a book, it scalds. Bissinger touches the real boy in American manhood when he writes. "Christian Science Monitor"
A brilliant look at how Friday-night lights can lead a town into darkness. "Sports Illustrated"
Not only one of the best sports books in recent years, but one of the most revealing looks at America s small-town valuesgood and badyou are likely to read. "Denver Post"
A clear and chilling depiction. An athletic "Common Ground." "Boston Herald"
"Dallas Morning News," Top 50 Sports Books, 3/15/15
Off the Shelf, 5/19/15
[A] sports literature classic.
TouchVision.com, 8/5/15
A genre-defining work that deftly examine[s] the role of sports in societyThe book is, along with "Ball Four" and "Moneyball," one of the most influential sports books of all time. It s actually reductive to call "Friday Night Lights" a sports book. It lives on in college sociology courses for its searing look at sport, race and classScores of writers have tried to duplicate Bissinger s efforts, but few, if any, have managed to capture a story from every angle of societyBissinger s work holds up because of his exceptional writing and shoe-leather journalism.
Shelf Awareness for Readers, 8/28/15
Ostensibly a chronicle of the 1988 season of the Permian Panthers high school football team, "Friday Night Lights" is also a social history and expose of an economically depressed and shockingly racially divided city of 90,000 in West TexasA riveting account of a community and an obsession that every year turned teenage boys into unwitting sacrifices to a strange and powerful god.
"Antelope Valley Press," 8/28/15
Few books in the sports genre have left the cultural impact of Bissinger s bestseller.
"Austin Monthly," 9/17/15
The new edition includes updates on some of the most compelling people from the book.
"Fort Worth Star-Telegram," 9/19/15
"Still relevant, popular at age 25."
"Midland Reporter-Telegram," 9/13/15
25 years later it s still an intriguing story.
Literary Hub, 9/25/15
To read "Friday Night Lights" merely as a football bookis a mistake. It is a seminal piece of American reportage that uses the lens of football to examine the larger political and philosophical divides that still fracture our country. Our most important books are timeless and "Friday Night Lights" feels as alive and relevant today, if not more so, than when it was first published.
"Men s Journal," 10/2/15
May well be the best book about American football ever written.
KERA News, 10/2/15
Conjures up a very specific image of Texas, of football, of high school. Lights rising over a stadium, bleachers filled with fans so loyal it almost feels surreal.
"The Daily Beast," 9/20/15, The Best Books Ever Written About Football"
The classic "Friday Night Lights" vividly spotlights one Texas high school s championship season. It spawneda keener understanding of how deep football runs in many small towns and communities across the country.
Signature, 2/4/16
A must-read for any fan interested in understanding the deep-seated roots of football in communities across AmericaIn "Friday Night Lights," Bissinger, more so than perhaps any other writer on the subject, delves into the core of America s fascination with the sport and all that fascination carries with it.
"

"Groundbreaking."?Austin American-Statesman


"Groundbreaking."--Austin American-Statesman


"[An] inspiring story about a small town and it's unbelievable football team. Starring unforgettable characters in a setting you'll never want to leave, this is a must-read for true fans."--Bustle.com

From the Publisher

A classic of sportswriting - about a season spent following a town and a team's hopes and shattered dreams - and now a major Hollywood film

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperPerennial
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0060974060
• ISBN 13: 9780060974060
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 368