John Grisham, Playing for Pizza

In Playing for Pizza, Grisham returns to the genre of literature he explored in his earlier book, Bleachers. Like that book, football provides the backdrop. In this delightful little book, Rick Dockery, a struggling NFL quarterback near the end of his short and abortive career finds himeslf heading off to Italy to play American Football after a disastrous performance in a big playoff game for the Cleveland Browns (he was the third string quarterback, and came in after a couple injuries and threw away a big lead with three interceptions).

Dockery, even though he is pretty low on the NFL totem pole, and now even lower by blowing the big game, is still a pretty big shot in the sports world, being an NFL quarterback. He's used to finding places to play, people that want him on their team, all while waiting for his big break into the big time. His career is the big goal. But that vision slowly erodes away on him as he finds himself with no offers to play. His agent finally finds him this spot in the very obscure league in Italy and convinces Dockery to take it. Needless to say, it's a big change, playing in a converted rugby stadium, often in front of less than one thousand fans. But the Italians are excited to have him. The Parma team hasn't ever won the "Super Bowl" of Italy, and sorely wants to. Each team is allowed three American players, but during the course of the short season, the other two Americans for the Parma team leave, and Rick is left to make the best of the season. His performances have been pretty good, but he will need to step it up, as will the whole team, to win the Super Bowl.

Rick meets an American girl, Lilly, who is in Italy studying art and avoiding her familiy, and the two of them take up together. Rick is forced to explore the country with her, and also forced to open up to another human being.

Turning down an offer to return to Canada to play pro ball, Rick buckles down and diligently works with Sam to come up with a plan for a winning season. And his performances continue to improve. He goes from treating the Parma Panthers as the small time to putting all his energy behind his team, and it makes a big difference for the team, and for him. A trimphant Super Bowl win caps his transformation on and off the field, and we are with Rick planning to stay on in Italy for another year, content with where he is at.

Thought this book is a departure from Grisham's usual thrillers, it has the stamp of his quality pacing and interesting characters. His colorful pictures of Italy provide a great backdrop for this nice little tale of a troubled kid who explores the world outside his glitzy and self-centered NFL life. It's a great read and makes me want to spend a month in the Italian countryside. Someday.

Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer

In the spirit of summer, I recently reread Twain's classic tale of childhood, Tom Sawyer. The classic episodes like Tom convincing friends to pay him for the privilege of whitewashing his aunt's fence to showing up at his own funeral to being trapped in a cave truly convey the joy and adventure of childhood. From one idea to the next, Tom's world of dreams and his superstitious and clearly warped sense of reality make for great entertainment. And of course, the witnessing of murder, the pursuit of treasure, the honorable exoneration of an innocent man, the chase by Indian Joe, and the triumphant discovery of hidden treasure make for quite a plot. It's hard to imagine better summer reading. If you haven't picked up this book for a while, give it a shot. You'll remember why it is truly a classic.

William P. Young, The Shack

I've been very slow posting since we just finished moving and have been getting settled, but I'm finally trying to catch up on some books I've finished recently. The first is The Shack. This book has become quite well known, and I dare say notorious, over the past weeks, and there's been a lot of discussion on the Web about it: it's theological underpinnings, it's quality as literature, etc. Because it has been so much talked about, I won't either summarize the plot or give a detailed theological critique. Both of those things have been undertaken elsewhere. What I will do, though, is give a brief appreciation of this great little book.

I think Young has written a powerful and imaginative tale dealing with important questions many Christians wrestle with, especially concerning justice and suffering. I love his imaginative portrayal of the Trinity as Papa, Jesus, and Sarayu. Though I think what has been said elsewhere does ring true: this isn't a systematic theology text, it is fiction, so it shouldn't be expected to fully and completely flesh out the doctrine of the Trinity. But I think it does illumine one great element of it: the tri-personal nature of God and the beauty of the interrelation between the persons. God's unity may get a little neglect in this portrayal, but I think that is okay, especially because modern Christians seem to have no problem with the oneness of God, but often neglect the Trinitarian tri-personality. That said, I also think the main thrust of the book is spectacular in it's power to confront the reader with the deep questions of suffering, tragedy, and trust. I know for me, it was especially convicting to be reminded that it was only in believing that God is really good that I could really trust him. The insight seems so simple, but its presentation made it profound.

In all, I do highly recommend this little book. It's certainly not perfect, but I am convinced that it can be a powerful story of God's love and grace. And, hopefully it will insight curiosity and interest in the deeper theological issues it touches on.