Synopses & Reviews
With a new afterword by the author
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.
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 city's 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
Friday 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
Review
[Bissinger writes] with empathy, and he writes superbly.” Houston Chronicle
Review
Riveting
.Reads like a suspense story, a page-turner.” Oakland Tribune
Review
Superb and disturbing
.More than a sports book, it's a search for the America of ordinary people.” Newsday
Review
A pressure-cooker of a book, it scalds
.Bissinger touches the real boy in American manhood when he writes.” Christian Science Monitor
Review
A brilliant look at how Friday-night lights can lead a town into darkness.” Sports Illustrated
Review
Not only one of the best sports books in recent years, but one of the most revealing looks at Americas small-town values — good and bad — you are likely to read.” Denver Post
Review
A clear and chilling depiction
.An athletic Common Ground.” Boston Herald
Synopsis
The 25th anniversary edition of the classic, best-selling story of life in the football-driven town of Odessa, Texas.
Synopsis
The 25th anniversary edition of the #1 New York Times bestseller and Sports Illustrated s best football book of all time, with a new afterword by the author
Return once again to the timeless account of the Permian Panthers of Odessathe 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, 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 inspiresand sometimes shattersthe teenagers who wear the Panthers' uniforms.
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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.
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.