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I would not normally tackle a book written in a foreign language without benefit of translation into English -- however John Grisham usually writes in American, a language with which I am reasonably familiar. Thus, I picked up BLEACHERS and began reading with no sense of trepidation whatsoever. Before I had read too many pages I discovered, to my horror, that, by rights, I should never have begun. Not only was the tale written in American, it was also written in American Football! Followers of the work of Grisham understand that his customary output is within the confines of the legal thriller such as, for example, THE CLIENT. He has several times strayed outside of this subgenre as he does with BLEACHERS. The story is told from the point of view of Neely Crenshaw, former child football prodigy and star of the Messina high school football team, the Spartans. Despite his loathing for his former coach, Crenshaw has returned to Messina after a 15-year absence because he has heard the coach, Eddie Rake, is dying. Crenshaw is no longer actively involved in football -- at the beginning of his so-promising university career, he sustained a malicious injury which put paid to his hopes forever. Now, in a narrative covering only a few days (and the scant number of pages comprising the book reinforces the brevity of the time span), Neely joins with former team mates in the bleachers of the ground that saw his most impressive triumphs. As the past players gather, an insight into their careers -- from successful banker to convict -- is given. More to the point, a complex portrait of Eddie Rake is painted. The man is depicted in black, white and shades of grey. As former players examine their history, the pendulum of the evaluation of Rake's character swings from bad to good to in-between. Grisham is a past master at doling out tiny pieces of information and thereby increasing suspense. In the hands of a lesser writer, this fragile plot would have come to grief. Even so, Grisham is hard put to it to maintain the reader's interest. The emphasis is on the games and glory of the past with the time of dying told in doleful counterpoint. The impression given is that the present time of the book may cause Neely Crenshaw to raise himself out of the aimless rut into which his life has sunk since his injury. The narrative provides an insightful glimpse into the sports-orientated careers of many American university students and makes the reader aware of the futility of the adulation such stars receive. One can trust that students with more of an academic bent than the sports stars have more enduring and less fragile careers.
Reviewed by Denise Pickles, July 2004
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