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Summary: Friday Night Lights- Odessa: The Temprary Utopia
Review: Friday Night Lights, by H.G. Bissinger, is a true story about a town, Odessa, and its obsession with football in the fall of 1987. Bissinger mainly focuses on Permian High School, which is the home to one of the best high school football teams in Texas. Being a football player at Permian High School has its pros and cons. As a football player at Permian High, those four years may seem like a utopian experience. First, every starting football player there is assigned his own cheerleader for the season. Before every game the cheerleader decorates his yard thoroughly. The cheerleaders would act as their slaves. Second, since the high school concentrates so much on football, every player on the team is very skilled. Every player will most likely be asked to play for at least one college. Lastly, the majority of Odessa loves the football players at Permian High, especially the authorities. The police are very lenient toward the players and will let them get away with just about anything, such as under-aged drinking. However, with every pro there is a con. There are many negative reasons for being a Permian football player. Most of the players on the team were not the smartest people. Many of the players took minimum requirement classes and would have a hard time passing those. Some players would ask the teachers to raise their grades in order for them to play college football. If the teacher did not do so, he/she would be hearing from the principal. The Permian football team thought thinks that they are untouchable. When some of the players are exposed to the harsh realities of life they are not as content as they used to be. Permian High School represents a temporary Utopia for football players attending that school. The players love life until they find out that if they cannot play football in college they have almost no future ahead of them. Permian football has its good side and its bad side.
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Summary: Fantastic Story. Author With A Death Wish ?
Review: In 1970, having won district and bi-district championships, my high school football team played the Odessa Permian Panthers for the regional crown -- and they creamed us. Most frightening was the crowd that came to Abilene from Odessa to watch the game. They wore solid black (Panther colors) and they were FANATICS. When the Panther band spelled "MOJO" on the field (I'd never encountered that term before) they went absolutely NUTS. I finally understood the program a little better after reading Friday Night Lights, a terrific examination of the semi-pathological football infatuation in Odessa. And I can't believe the author would ever return there, if he valued his life, because he certainly did not paint a flattering picture. This book is WELL worth reading. Everyone who ever went to high school will glean something valuable from it. Most touching and telling, I thought, was the scene at the end of the book, after the season had ended, wherein the coach took down the slips of paper showing the names of the seniors who were on the team that year, and unceremoniously dumped them into the trash can. That metaphorically demonstrated the entire town's ethos toward its high school football heroes. After they no longer played for the team, they were just plain trash like everyone else.
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Summary: Great Story about the new American pasttime - Football!
Review: I was given this book to read by my daughter's boyfriend, who was a starting player on the Permian High School football team during the 1990s. Living in Michigan, I had heard about "Texas Football" but never understood the passion before reading this book. I loved it! I knew that football was a very important part of his life, but now I truly understand why. I also was able to learn more about the town of Odessa where he grew up. I can only attest that this is one "fine young man," with impeccable manners who treats my daughter with much kindness and respect. If growing up in Odessa, Texas, and being a part of "MoJo Football," contributed to that, then kudos to them. Thank you, H.G. Bissinger, for writing a wonderful book which includes not only the story of football itself, but an insight into the feelings of players, coaches and citizens of a community that shares many of the emotional and economic struggles of communities across the nation. You do not have to possess a love of football to learn some of life's lessons provided "between the lines" in this book. Excellent read!
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Summary: Do yourself a favor and read this book. Highly Recommended.
Review: If you are not familiar with the tradition behind Texas high school football then you owe it to yourself to read this book.
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Summary: A fascinating account of American high school football
Review: Even if you couldn't care less about football--like me--this is an utterly fascinating account of the role football plays in American high school life, and by extension, in American society. H. G. "Buzz" Bissinger's "Friday Night Lights" takes a look at one school year in Odessa, Texas, and how high school football saturates everything in the town, from church to school to home to teenage romance. Bissinger and his family actually lived in Odessa for the year he covers, and his immersion in and knowledge of the subject shows. He stays on the sidelines, reporting only, never commenting or being subjective. The result is simultaneously fascinating and repellant. Take, for instance, the Pepettes--high school girls who are each "assigned" a member of the football team. They are expected to care for and wait on these boys in ways that seem almost like something out of ancient Rome: "As part of the tradition, each Pepette brought some type of sweet for her player every week before the game. She didn't necessarily have to make something from scratch, but there was indirect pressure to because of not-so-private grousing from players who tired quickly of bags of candy and not so discreetly let it be known that they much preferred something fresh-baked. If she had to buy something store-bought, it might as well be beer, and at least one player was able to negotiate such an arrangement with his Pepette during the season. Instead of getting a bag of cookies, he got a six-pack of beer. "In addition, each Pepette also had to make a large sign for her player that went into his front hard and stayed there the entire season as a notice to the community that he played football for Permian [High School]. Previously the making of these yard signs, which looked like miniature Broadway marquees, had become quite competitive. Some of the Pepettes spent as much as $100 of their own money to make an individual sign, decorating it with twinkling lights and other attention-getting devices. It became a rather serious game of can-you-top-this, and finally a dictum was handed down that all signs must be made the same way, without any neon. "A Pepette also had responsibility for making smaller posters, which went up in the school halls at the beginning of each week and were transferred to the gym for the mandatory Friday morning pep rally . . . These were the basic Pepette requirements, but some girls went beyond in their show of spirit. They might embroider the map of Texas on towels and then spell out MOJO in the borders. Or they might make MOJO pillowcases that the players could take with them on road trips. Of they might place their fresh-baked cookies in tins elaborately decorated with the Permian colors of black and white. In previous years Pepettes had made scrapbooks for their players, including one with the cover made of lacquered wood and modeled on Disney's 'Jungle Book.' " The level of commitment by the Pepettes to their players is reflective of the energy the entire town puts into football. Odessa is a small town, and failing economically, and the Friday night lights of the title are one thing over which everyone seems to bond. Bissinger does a dead-on job of nailing both the subtle racism and the near abuse the players go through via their coaches and the other teams--it's telling that the team colors are black and white. He also vigorously details, to devastating effect, the difficulty these boys have adjusting to life after high school, when their football exploits are no longer what defines them. "Friday Night Lights" is an all-around superb rendering of a microcosm of American society.
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Summary: Take it with at least a small grain of salt?
Review: I was introduced to "Mojo" in the early '70's, when my high school's team played Permian in a quarter- or semi-final game, which Permian narrowly won en route to the championship. This is a fascinating account. It's one of those rare non-fiction books that is so skillfully written that one doesn't even need to have any interest in the subject matter to enjoy the book. The grain of salt I referred to is this: undoubtedly there is racism in West Texas. How prevalent it is, I don't know. But it is pretty much a given that the author would focus on it as much as possible for dramatic effect -- even if it weren't all that pervasive. It's important to remember that even in a non-fiction book, events and sentiments are "spun" by the author to present the picture he wants to paint.
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Summary: A great sports book.
Review: I bought this book for my little brother (a high school football player.) I read the first few pages and decided to read it myself. This is the best "A Season with the Team" book I've ever read. Bissinger shows the dark side of the 'Texas football culture' which is a thing of myth to many of us in the northeast.
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Summary: Great Book
Review: I dont even like reading usually but this book was so good and ingrossing that I could not put it down. HG Bissinger makes you care about the individual boys on this football team. This book is full of twists and turns and is well worth reading.
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Summary: Friday Night Lights
Review: An excellent book. Well written, the author presented both sides of a complex isssue fair handed. I found it to be a quick read, and the whole book kept my interest. Sports fan or not you will enjoy this book.
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Summary: great book
Review: "Friday Night Lights" is one of the best books I have ever read. I have lived in Odessa, Tx all my life and in the fall I will be attending Permian High School. I was raised with Permian football in my blood, and have been exposed to hardcore MOJO fans all my life, like everyone else that grew up here. I thought it was the coolest thing when I found out that there was a book about Permian football and just had to get it. At the time I was only 9 but I was openly excited and anxious to read the thick book. After that my whole life has been about Permian, I think its the greatest school in the world and I'm really excited to be going there in the fall. Hopefully this season Permian will go all the way to win state, maybe even nationals again.
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