This book is terrible! But kinda fun. As a Clevelander and a football fan, I was intrigued by the premise and surprised that such a book was written by Grisham. I do not regret reading this book as it was just funny as a concept. Like not actually funny, but funny just to say I read it--which is the main reason I "read" (more like skimmed) this book. It was not very good or clever or informative. But it was breezy.

All that said, it might not be a stretch to say that this book walked so Ted Lasso could run. Though Ted Lasso handles this potentially comic premise much, much, much better!

Decent sports fiction from Grisham, based on an Italian football league playing "American" football

Not your typical Grisham book. More on the lines of Skiping Christmas or Bleachers. Football fans that aren't Grisham readers would enjoy this one. Lots of football action, but even if you aren't a football fan there is a lot of story to enjoy. I felt the relationship with Gabriella could have come into play a little more. Problems with her boyfriend were eluded to, but nothing more. I really think developing this a little more would have added something to the book. Neverthless, a fun book. Worth reading.

A complete departure from Grisham's usual work. Playing For Pizza is the story of a disgraced NFL quarterback whose agent can only find him a team in Italy's football league where the majority of the players play for the love of the sport....and pizza! A nice light piece about finding joy in the people and places we are surrounded by. The narration was very good with the exception of glaring mispronunciations of Saskatchewan and Regina.

Decent book, different from other Grisham books, predictable. Fast read.

i've never read john grisham before because all he books looked completely formulaic. i was honestly surprised t osee his name on this.
it's a funky little sports novel, though "funky" is probably the wrong word. it was nice (this is the minor-sport athlete in me talking) to have the main character transplanted to another country where his "major" sport becomes one of the minor ones. football is one of the biggies in the US, along with basketball , baseball, and more recently nascar. everywhere else in the world...well, it exists in some places...but it's fairly small.
one can do a lot with a little, if you have the right mindset. and surprise surprise, the parma panthers do that (the book ends exactly the way you think it will).
an easy, fun read, though the writing was often disorganized.

I really wondered about how to rate this book. My dad was the recommend it, and as the person who would read to me before bedtime, I figured I'd try it out. I called him several times going "is that all men think about?? Football, food and cheerleaders?" I wanted to punch Rick in the face a lot and for that reason, I debated on rating it way lower than I did. I think I've spent far too long reading books about men written by women, and now I'm reading about a man written by a man. However, Josh did a superb job of describing football plays to the point where I-who watches football when it's on in the background while my dad is watching-could understand and see. A mixed bag of emotions, but I think I'll stick in the middle.