#4
The first third of the novel is the background of the little town in Texas called Odessa. In this little town, it may not have big corporations or a booming economy, but I does have one thing, high school football. The local high school team, the Panthers, has a great tradition of succeeding in football. To the players on the team and even the locals of Odessa, their "American Dream" is to win state. As one of the largest states in the US, Texas is also one of the best at football. That tall challenge is exactly what the town longs for.
However, unlike other books we read, the struggles to achieve their dream is not through one individual. It is not even through one team. The entire town as a whole longs for their dream to be fulfilled. No matter how work is going or how bad things are at home, football is their relief from the hardships of life. All year the town as a whole looks forward to those friday nights in fall to see their Panthers win. And thats exactly what they plan on doing. In the first third of the book it is only preseason, but the team, like any individual in the books we read, has set a goal to win state. They plan on doing everything in their power to achieve that goal.

#3
Going along with what we are learning in class about the movements Martin Luther King Jr. started and such, this book gives more understanding of the struggles of African Americans in society. The second third of the book talks more about the racism and discrimination in society. I like to think that I understand that racism is barely evident in our society; however, even though MLK helped break down many barriers between whites and blacks, some still exist. This book has enlightened me that racism, even though not as bad as the beginning of the 19th century, is still happening.
It came to me as somewhat of a shock and even an embarrassment that things like racism still occurred up to the late 1980s and possibly even today. This book has given me a greater understanding and knowledge that racism is very evident in modern society, especially in the south. The southern culture, along with many older generations in the south, believe strongly that white people are better than everyone else. It is quite sad that in almost the 90s this was still happening. Fortunately for the town of Odessa, on the football field it doesn't matter your still color; football is all that matters.

First, having grown up in a small town in West Texas, I want to make it clear that Odessa is NOT a small town. It may be small compared to Philly, but in Texas, it is not small. Denver City, where I grew up has a population of less than 4,000. That is small!

I read this after reading Mitch Cullin's brilliant "Whompyjawed." Big mistake. Although Cullin's book is fiction, it captures the atmosphere of small town football so much better than this. I'm not saying that Bissinger's book isn't good--it's a fine read. It's just if you really want to know just how crazy small town West Texas people are about football, read Cullin.

This was a fun piece of non-fiction. Growing up in Texas, I am surprised I hadn't already read it. A lot of West Texas history was included, which I really enjoyed. This book was a learning experience and fun to read at the same time, and had made me want to visit Odessa to experience the Mojo.

I give exactly 0% of my brain space to football so this book caught me totally off guard because I loved it! It was a fascinating look at Odessa, a West Texas sister town to wealthier but just as mangled in its own way, Midland. Bissinger followed the Permian Panthers high school football team on their quest to become state champions and did a wonderful job showing the importance of high school football not just to the Odessa community, but Texas as a whole and the way it brought people together.

He also did an amazing job showing the cons - poor education (the food science chapter killed me), the sexism (omg the Pepettes / cheerleaders), racism (Odessa's schools weren't desegregated until 1982!), etc and the effect of an all-consuming sport on the young. The play by play football scenes were not frequent, thankfully, though I did find myself holding my breath during them and rooting for the team. He weaves all of this through a history of football in West Texas in addition to the boom and bust oil cycle that dictates the economics and social climate of Midland / Odessa. Plus, this edition gave a 25 years later look at what became of the players which was intriguing.

Really interesting stuff - highly recommend (and how I have to go watch the series!)

This is still one of the best non-fiction books I have read. It does such a great job of capturing small-town America and all of its economic, social, and cultural intricacies. It is about much more than football, and although the movie is good, the book captures so much more of the essence of this town, and this part of the country as a whole.

The most interesting part of this book is how the town comes together and support the Permian Panthers. I really enjoyed this book and I hope you will consider picking it up.

Another nonfiction that felt like fiction. I had only seen an episode or two of the tv show so I went into this pretty cold. The overarching story and background was almost more interesting than the football bits. Almost like a story about Texas itself rather than about football. I feel like this book can single-handedly explain the phenomenon of football.

If you love football, Friday Night Lights likely will be the best sports book you've ever read. If you don't love football, and aren't an avid nonfiction reader? FNL likely will be the best nonfiction book you've ever read.

FNL is about the stories communities tell themselves. It's about how we live our values, collectively, how we relate to one another, how we motivate ourselves, our priorities, how we rationalize public policy, spending, the ways we view and talk about race, high school. It's about how we vicariously claim the victories of others, whether they are athletes, politicians, entertainers, entrepreneurs - to give our lives seasons, meaning.

Yup. It's all of that. I'm still not generally a non-fiction reader, but I'm quite glad I took the time to get out of my reading norms and (finally) joined the ranks of Bissinger's appreciators.

Classic reporting, but needs more football and less patronizing social commentary on those poor ignorant Texans and how they "cling" to oil and football!

I think Friday night lights was actually a really cool book and I enjoyed reading it and didn't have to force myself to read it. Was a great sport about football and life in high school. Living in Texas how it's different living their in a small town that's so passionate about the sport they play and it means so much to everyone in the town. I wanted to feel like I was in the town and one of the football players.
"Clear eyes. full heart. Can't lose" - Coach Taylor I like this quote because it's the team motto and the players love saying it. This quote meaning be a proud Permian football player and putting pride into being on that team means that they can't lose if they play their hardest.
tThe essential question it relates to I personally think is. What turning points determine our path to adulthood? I think being a Permian football player means you are going to be in the town of Odessa for your life you just want to keep watching the team you played for. Their isn't much work in the city but the people take pride in what they do. Being on that team means everything to the town and the players who are on or used to be on that team.
tI recommend this book for kids that are in high school. I feel like that's the best time to read it when you are actually in high school you understand what's going on you have a better grasp on the book. It seems like the most appropriate time to read it, reading it at any other would just seem weird. So reading this book was at this time felt great for me.

Friday Night Lights was a book I didn't like at all. This was one of the worst football related books because first, the character development takes a long time. I think the book did too much explanation on who the characters were. The explanation on the characters were so long, that I started to get bored with the book. I never had that happen to me. The show was way better than the book in my opinion which was weird because usually the books be better than the show.
One thing I liked about the book is the realization of the book. I think the book so happens to be based on a true story & they talk about the racist things that go on in the neighborhood and how it impacts their lives everyday. What I don't like about the book is like I said before the character development.
I would recommend this type of book to all football players and especially to the ones that struggle at life sometimes. In the book they talk about how Boobie was a foster kid and he moved from home to home until his uncle took him under his wing. So this book is inspirational but in my opinion I did not enjoy it.

Really well done. Incredible how a book about football became a book about a community, racism, classism, and so many other things. The author has a way with words that made every snap feel like a live game. The 25 year anniversary afterword was a cherry on top.