Playing for Pizza
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3.6 • 34 Ratings
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
Playing for Position
Rick Dockery is an NFL quarterback who can’t catch a break. One huge mistake makes him a national laughing stock overnight, and no team will touch him.
Playing for Pizza
But all Rick knows is football, and he needs to find a team. Against all odds, Rick gets his break – as star quarterback for the Panthers… of Parma, Italy.
Playing for Pride
Rick doesn’t speak a word of Italian, and the crowds there aren’t exactly NFL-standard. But football americano is about more than fame, and home comes in the most unlikely of packages.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Third-string Cleveland Browns quarterback Rick Dockery becomes the greatest goat ever by throwing three interceptions in the closing minutes of the AFC championship game. Fleeing vengeful fans, he finds refuge in the grungiest corner of professional football, the Italian National Football League as quarterback of the inept but full-of-heart Parma Panthers. What ensues is a winsome football fable, replete with team bonding and character-building as the underdog Panthers challenge the powerhouse Bergamo Lions for a shot at the Italian Superbowl. The book is also the author's love letter to Italy. Rick is first baffled and then enchanted by all things Italian-tiny cars! opera! benign corruption!-and through him Grisham (The Firm) instructs his readership in the art of gracious living, featuring sumptuous four-hour, umpteen-course meals. The writing sometimes lapses into travel-guide ("most Italian cities are sort of configured around a central square, called a piazza") and food porn ("[the veal cutlets are beaten with a small bat, then dipped in eggs, fried in a skillet, and then baked in the oven with a mix of parmigiano cheese and stock until the cheese melts"), but it's invigorated by appealing characters and lively play-by-play. The result is a charming fish-out-of-water story.
Customer Reviews
Playing for Pizza
I am from UK with no knowledge of American football, but this was a most enjoyable romp!
Playing for Pizza
Have just finished reading this and have to say what a disappointment ! No substance to story , unless you are an American football fan. Got a bit fed up half way through but kept waiting for it to get better which didn't happen. And the ending , what can I say ! Expected much better as I have read a few of his books and this one just didn't come up to standard.
Playing for pizza
Very disappointing. Not at all up to Grisham's usual standard. Appeared to have been written by someone who had never travelled more than a few miles from their own front door. Gave up reading it halfway through as bored of turgid blow by blow accounts of football games and the sentimental description of Italians and Italian life.