Synopses & Reviews
The classic, best-selling story of life in the football-driven town of Odessa, Texas, with a new afterword that looks at the players and the town ten years later.
Return once again to the timeless account of the Permian Panthers of Odessa the winningest high-school football team in Texas history. Odessa is not known to be a town big on dreams, but the Panthers help keep the hopes and dreams of this small, dusty town going. Socially and racially divided, its fragile economy follows the treacherous boom-bust path of the oil business. In bad times, the unemployment rate barrels out of control; in good times, its murder rate skyrockets. But every Friday night from September to December, when the Permian High School Panthers play football, this West Texas town becomes a place where dreams can come true. With frankness and compassion, H.G. Bissinger chronicles a season in the life of Odessa and shows how single-minded devotion to the team shapes the community and inspires and sometimes shatters the teenagers who wear the Panthers' uniforms.
Review
"A biting indictment of the sports craziness that grips...most of American society, while at the same time providing a moving evocation of its powerful allure." The New York Times Book Review
Review
"A remarkable book, fascinating from start to finish, full of surprises." David Halberstam
Review
"An engrossing story....Exciting, funny and, above all, horrifying." Tracy Kidder
Review
"[Bissinger's] language...echo[es] the mythical proportions of...a season that will render the rest of the players' lives a dull denouement. Fascinating even for those, or maybe especially for those, with no interest in football." Library Journal
Review
"[A] superb, if disquieting, portrait of heartland America." Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
Return once again to the enduring account of life in the Mojo lane, to the Permian Panthers of Odessa -- the winningest high school football team in Texas history. Odessa is not known to be a town big on dreams, but the Panthers help keep the hopes and dreams of this small, dusty town going. Socially and racially divided, its fragile economy follows the treacherous boom-bust path of the oil business. In bad times, the unemployment rate barrels out of control; in good times, its murder rate skyrockets. But every Friday night from September to December, when the Permian High School Panthers play football, this West Texas town becomes a place where dreams can come true. With frankness and compassion, Bissinger chronicles one of the Panthers' dramatic seasons and shows how single-minded devotion to the team shapes the community and inspires-and sometimes shatters-the teenagers who wear the Panthers' uniforms. Includes Reader's Group Guide inside. Now a an NBC TV weekly drama series.
Synopsis
Return once again to the enduring account of the Permian Panthers of Odessa -- the winningest high school football team in Texas history.
About the Author
H.G. Bissinger has won the Pulitzer Prize, the Livingston Award, the National Headliner Award, and the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel for his reporting. He lives in Philadelphia.