I couldn't put this book down. I grew up in a small town in Texas, and was in high school in the early 2000's. It's really amazing in 25 years how attitudes and priorities surrounding athletics and football have not changed - and I love football!

Bissinger's observation are one too many of us overlook and need to be reminded of, his writing is unbiased with a rhythm of storytelling that won't let you leave the book for a second. A beautiful compilation of sociology, economics, history, and passion.

The book is gritty, and true, and leaves the city of Odessa vulnerable - very powerful report and writing by Bissinger.

OK, so even though this book is 20+ years old, I felt as if it were written yesterday. I pulled this one out of a pile of books that my sister-in-law had marked to donate to the library (I promise to put it back in the pile now that I'm finished) and thought it would be a good read for the beginning of high school football season. Wow. This could easily have been written about the school system that I worked for here in the Miami Valley. Texas and Ohio may not be so different. And, small town football still trumps academics every time.

What is it like in a community in which the life-blood is high school football?

In some ways, this in-depth look at high school football in the Texas town of Odessa in the late 1980s is timeless-I'm sure most of us have been to a high school football rivalry game and can appreciate the vibe that Bissinger describes during the games. But the passion and the inexplicable notion that the game is bigger than it is was always a factor in every game in Odessa. Because of this, this story will always be a bygone history, the glory days of Permian football, that will never be replicated quite the same again.

I enjoyed reading about the great lengths the players, their families, coaches and the community took to keep the football culture sacred. Some of it is downright shocking how absurd it gets and it can be easy to be quick to judge and think oneself more rational than these people. Bissinger reminds us that football was a way of life and permeated into the community far beyond the field, and was the source of hope that many of the downtrodden clung to during a period of socioeconomic troubles. A worthwhile read.

"... and treated the memory of each game as a crystal prism that looked more beautiful and intricate every time it was lifted to the light..."

"There is no integration, there is desegregation."

"They liked George Bush in the same way they absolutely worshiped Ronald Reagan, not because of the type of America that Reagan actually created for them but because of the type of America he so vividly imagined."

"It had nothing to do with entertainment and everything to do with how people felt about themselves."

ugh so deep i love the way he writes about the experiences the kids faced this was my favorite book i’ve ever had to read for a class

I had somewhat mixed feelings about this book.

First off, let me say I came to this book a HUGE FNL TV series fan. #tamitaylorismyspiritanimal So mostly I was interested in the source material for one of my favorite TV shows. Let's start off by saying the book and the TV are very different. The "plot," per se, of the TV show is not the same as the book, but the spirit of the book is definitely there. Little moments or overarching concepts from the book appear in the show, i.e. moving signs in Coach's yard, the town's obsession with the team, what it's like to be in a small town, to some extent - race relations. So I would definitely say the TV is loosely inspired by the book. Additionally, I honestly think the TV show does a better job of fleshing out the "characters," and narrative of the whole thing. I will get to more of that in a moment.

Now that we've cleared the TV stuff up, let's take about the book. The book is about a 50% mix of a "background and characterization of people and the '88 Permian football season" with descriptions of key players, coaches, former player, and play-by-plays of gems from that season, and the other 50% was more of a historical and societal background, fleshing out the oil boom/bust economics of Midland-Odessa, the history of the town, the outrageous racisms of the town, misplaced priorities on football over academics on the HS level, etc.

I found the sections about the players, people, and the actual games a bit of a yawn. To some extent I enjoyed remembering my time as a TX high-schooler who actually went to Arlington Lamar (plays a small role as an opponent team) and attended games against Arlington High, Irving Nimitz, Dallas Carter, etc. And I remember traveling to playoff games across the state when Lamar went all the way to the state semi-finals in 2003, so I could identify with the fervor. But overall, I didn't care about the people in this book. In the TV show, you're constantly rooting for Matt, Tyra, Landry, Coach, Tami... in the book, I could take the guys or leave 'em.

This may have been in part because of the exposé of the "dark side" of Odessa and their football obsession in the other half of the book. The racism was shocking and the treatment of football players as gods who didn't need to go to class to pass was really sad. The tales of washed up former players who could never really move on in their lives was also really sad. But all of it was informative and interesting. It made me actually feel things (anger, confusion, horror, intrigue...) So those parts of the book actually made me enjoy the read more.

So, TLDR: I didn't care about the characters, but as a Texan, I could identify with the overall spirit of the bigness of HS football. The "setting the scene" parts of the book over the Odessa history, community, race issues, educational issues, etc. were the best parts for me.

I thought Friday Night Lights was going to focus solely on football (like the movie) but it didn’t. It was about so much more.

I read this book as part of a new book group, Books into Movies, I found at my local library. The book group itself was interesting enough, regardless of the book read. It was a mixture of 55+ individuals and about four of us in our 20s/30s. One guy pontificated, one woman knit, and the rest of us just sort of meandered about. I’ll definitely go back as I enjoyed the diverse opinions and perspectives, but I also like the idea of comparing books and films.

Prior to reading the book, I knew nothing about the story other than the film and the film was incredibly stunted compared to the book. In thinking about the book and what it means, Bissinger provided a perfect description of the book,

“Permian football had become too much a part of the town and too much a part of their own lives, as intrinsic and sacred a value as religion, as politics, as making money, as raising children. That was the nature of sports in a town like this. Football stood at the very core of what the town was about, not on the outskirts, not on the periphery. It had nothing to do with entertainment and everything to do with how people felt about themselves.” (237)

Click here to continue reading on my blog The Oddness of Moving Things.

Unlike the movie, this book isn't just about football. Also unlike the movie, this book isn't terrible.