December 24, 2007
Christopher Evan Welch kicks and scores with his engaging narration of 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. Welch perfectly captures the tone for this humorous and often touching fish-out-of-water story. Welch brings the listener along with Rick, as 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. Simultaneous release with the Doubleday hardcover (Reviews, Sept. 24).
March 1, 2008
Unlike anything else Grisham has written, this almost whimsical novel will baffle many of his devotees. However, it may delight other listeners, particularly die-hard football fans and lovers of Italian cuisine. The story traces the fall and rise of National Football League (NFL) quarterback Rick Dockery, who after a spectacularly bad performance in a playoff game signs with a team in the Italian professional football association. How he adjusts to life in northern Italy and struggles to succeed on the field would make for a charming story if he were drawn more sympathetically, but he's not. What appeal the book does have lies mostly in Grisham's loving explorations of Italian cuisine and culture and in his surprisingly acute analyses of how Americans and Italians play American football. Unfortunately, Christopher Evan Welch's unpolished narration adds nothing to the book's appeal. Recommended with reservations.R. Kent Rasmussen, Thousand Oaks, CA
Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
September 24, 2007
Third-string Cleveland Browns quarterback Rick Dockery becomes the greatest goat ever by throwing three interceptions in the closing minutes of the AFC championship game. Fleeing vengeful fans, he finds refuge in the grungiest corner of professional football, the Italian National Football League as quarterback of the inept but full-of-heart Parma Panthers. What ensues is a winsome football fable, replete with team bonding and character-building as the underdog Panthers challenge the powerhouse Bergamo Lions for a shot at the Italian Superbowl. The book is also the author's love letter to Italy. Rick is first baffled and then enchanted by all things Italian-tiny cars! opera! benign corruption!-and through him Grisham (The Firm) instructs his readership in the art of gracious living, featuring sumptuous four-hour, umpteen-course meals. The writing sometimes lapses into travel-guide ("most Italian cities are sort of configured around a central square, called a piazza") and food porn ("[the veal cutlets are beaten with a small bat, then dipped in eggs, fried in a skillet, and then baked in the oven with a mix of parmigiano cheese and stock until the cheese melts"), but it's invigorated by appealing characters and lively play-by-play. The result is a charming fish-out-of-water story.