Whatever happened to the thrillers Mr. Grisham used to write? The last two books of his have done nothing for me, I guess I am expecting the same kind of excitement as in "The Firm" "Pelican Brief", etc.

I'm not a huge Grisham fan and find myself only really reading his departures, Skipping Christmas, and now Bleachers. I have to say that I truly did like both novels. Bleachers is not merely a sports story and I would disagree that you need to be a football fan to enjoy this book. Bleachers is much more. It's a story of shattered dreams, potential, regret, and coming to terms with one's past. The story's central character Neely Crenshaw deals with a love that hurts 10 years later, a coach dying whom he is unsure if he loves or hates. Bleachers makes you think back to the one person that affected your life more thn anyone. Bleachers is not a great character study and is certainly not going to blow your mind, but Bleachers is a great escape and will make you think back to the days when you were 18.

You've read Bleachers, John Grisham's newest bestseller, many times in a thousand other books, many of them better than this somewhat undersized novel. The general atmosphere of high school football which consumes an entire town has been told better in Friday Night Lights. The harsh treatment of young football hopefuls coaches was brought into cruel focus in the non-fiction Junction Boys, about Bear Bryant and a legendary sweatbox training camp for his players during his first summer at Texas A&M. And, of course, keeping vigil for an impending death has been literally done to death many times, notably in Edward Albee's Pulitzer-Prize winning play All Over. So, why read Bleachers? Because, once again, the fresh, newspaper-like quality of John Grisham's minimalist prose draws us into the story and makes us love and, in our own ways, relate to all the characters, saint and sinner alike. Here, we have Neely Crenshaw, the gifted ex-quarterback who can't forgive Coach Eddie Rake for one moment of lockerroom abuse; Cameron, the ex-girlfriend whom he jilted in high school and who cannot fully forgive him; Mal, the ex-player turned lawman who has his own chilling tale to tell; and finally, the ex-teammates who meet spontanously in the bleachers of the old stadium awaiting news of the coach's impending death. They meet shyly, hesitantly at first, then start to drink and tell stories while listening to a tape broadcast of their most famous game. (Their shared stories as they relive this game are the undisputed high point of the book.) Yes, we even have the memorial service in which our ex-quarterback and (believe it or not) our dearly departed coach get the chance to have a final say. We know the outcome of this story as surely as Friday night football in the South. Why retell it? Because it is a very touching and human story and like all the best stories, deserves to be told again and again. (Besides, it'a a short book, and quick readers will finish it in a matter of hours.) In short, a good reaffirmation of life, the human spirit, and football in all it's glory.