Bleachers, by John Grisham

1377 Words3 Pages

In John Grisham’s, Bleachers, this fiction story takes us through a small town in Messina, Mississippi. Everyone who is anyone attends their local high school football games. Thousands of locals come to the Friday night football games to watch the Messina Spartans play each week. Bleachers takes place in a present time setting in which former players talk about past games. The legendary coach of the Messina Spartans is getting close to the end while the former players await his death. Former players from different years are sitting on the bleachers of Rake Field talking about past games and memories. Because this is a fiction story, none of the characters or events are real. There are characters in this book that could portray real people, because the things these characters go through are common in today's world. Characters like Neely Crenshaw, an all-American whose career ends up short with a career ending injury. Then there is Coach Eddie Rake, a coach that leaves a legacy in a small town by making an unbelievable winning streak during his prime years. Almost everyone who played for Coach Rake hated his guts. Fictional characters in this book are believable. Even events like a coach who hits their athlete, and starts a brawl seem believable. Although this book is fiction, the majority of the events and characters could exist and are believable. Neely Crenshaw was one of the best quarterbacks in Messina high school history. He led a memorable comeback in the 1987 state championship game along with his former teammates Paul Curry and Silo Mooney. People worshiped Crenshaw in Messina. Playing with the number nineteen jersey, he was unstoppable. All the boys wanted to be like him, and all the girls wanted to be his girlfriend.... ... middle of paper ... ...about himself, she says, “I’m sorry. I stopped thinking about you a long time ago. I can’t lie, Neely. You’re just not a factor anymore”(pg. 190). They were in a relationship when they were in high school, and for her to forget about him over fifteen years later is believable. This event is believable because it is possible for someone to forget a relationship that happened over fifteen years ago. Bleachers is a fictional story that has many characters and events that could exist. Events like the 1987 incident and the twenty-one mile marathon seem unlikely. Characters like Neely Crenshaw, the typical all-American, to the meanest coach around, Coach Eddie Rake are characters that portray characteristics of real people. This story is full of events and characters that seem believable, as well as the town they live in and the crowd that cheers every Friday night.

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