Synopses & Reviews
With a new afterword by the authorReturn once again to the timeless account of the Permian Panthers of Odessa—the winningest High School football team in Texas history. Socially and racially divided, Odessa isnt known to be a place big on dreams, but every Friday night from September to December, when the Panthers play football, dreams can come true.
MO-JO! MO-JO! The haunting cheer rocks the stadium filled with 20,000 fans, who are there not only to cheer on their beloved team, but also to reignite their own aspirations and dreams through the young men on the gridiron.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author H. G. Bissinger unforgettably captures a season in the life of Odessa: the coaches, parents, fans, and—most of all—the players, who carry an entire citys self-respect on their shoulders. From the prayer that opens the Watermelon Feed before the first game, through the heart-stopping season and its dramatic ending, Bissinger renders a taut, indelible scene: the stale sweltering air, the demanding play on the field, the exhilarating wins, and the punishing—sometimes devastating—losses.
Friday Night Lights is both a deeply moving story and a deeply disturbing one. It is a startling examination of the role of high school sports in America—but it is about much more than just sports. As David Halberstam writes: By choosing to write about something small—the culture of high school football in a Texas town—Bissinger has ended up writing about something large: the core values in our society.”
Review
Dallas Morning News, Top 50 Sports Books,” 3/15/15
Review
Dallas Morning News, Top 50 Sports Books,” 3/15/15Off the Shelf, 5/19/15
[A] sports literature classic.”
Review
Praise for Friday Night LightsFriday Night Lights offers a biting indictment of the sports craziness that grips
most 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, its 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 Americas 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 society
The book is, along with Ball Four and Moneyball, one of the most influential sports books of all time. Its 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 class
Scores of writers have tried to duplicate Bissingers efforts, but few, if any, have managed to capture a story from every angle of society
Bissingers work holds up because of his exceptional writing and shoe-leather journalism.”
Synopsis
Named Sports Illustrated's best football book of all time and a #1 NYT bestseller, this is the classic story of a high school football team whose win-loss record has a profound influence on the town around them.
Return once again to the timeless account of the Permian Panthers of Odessa -- the winningest high-school football team in Texas history. Socially and racially divided, Odessa isn't known to be a place big on dreams, but every Friday night from September to December, when the Panthers play football, dreams can come true.
With frankness and compassion, Pulitzer Prize winner H. G. Bissinger unforgettably captures 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.
The inspiration for the hit television program and film of the same name, this anniversary edition features a new afterword by the author.
Synopsis
The 25th anniversary edition of the classic, best-selling story of life in the football-driven town of Odessa, Texas.
Synopsis
Return once again to the enduring account of life in the Mojo lane, to 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, Bissinger chronicles one of the Panthers' dramatic seasons and shows how single-minded devotion to the team shapes the community and inspires--and sometimes shatters--the teenagers who wear the Panthers' uniforms.
Synopsis
The classic, best-selling story of life in the football-driven town of Odessa, Texas, with a new afterword that looks at the players and the town ten years later
Synopsis
The 25th anniversary edition of the #1 New York Times bestseller and Sports Illustrateds best football book of all time
About the Author
H. G. Buzz” Bissinger is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of five books, including the
New York Times bestsellers
Three Nights in August and
Friday Night Lights, the classic that inspired the acclaimed movie and television series. He is a longtime contributing editor for
Vanity Fair and has written for the
New York Times, the
New Republic, the
Daily Beast, and many other publications. He divides his time between homes in Philadelphia and the Pacific Northwest.