Rick Dockery was the third-string quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. In the AFC Championship game against Denver, to the surprise and dismay of virtually everyone, Rick actually got into the game. With a 17-point lead and just minutes to go, Rick provided what was arguably the worst single performance in the history of the NFL. Overnight, he became a national laughingstock and, of course, was immediately cut by the Browns and shunned by all other teams.

But all Rick knows is football, and he insists that his agent, Arnie, find a team that needs him. Against enormous odds Arnie finally locates just such a team and informs Rick that, miraculously, he can in fact now be a starting quarterback–for the mighty Panthers of Parma, Italy.

Yes, Italians do play American football, to one degree or another, and the Parma Panthers desperately want a former NFL player–any former NFL player–at their helm. So Rick reluctantly agrees to play for the Panthers–at least until a better offer comes along–and heads off to Italy. He knows nothing about Parma, has never been to Europe, and doesn’t speak or understand a word of Italian. To say that Italy holds a few surprises for Rick Dockery would be something of an understatement.
Playing for Pizza: A Q&A with John Grisham

Q: American football in Italy seems like an unlikely subject for a John Grisham novel. What was the inspiration for Playing for Pizza?

A: Three years ago when I was in Bologna researching "The Broker", I discovered American football. One of my guides in the area played football for the Bologna Warriors for 10 years. I couldn't believe that American football actually existed there, but the more I heard about it the more intrigued I became.

Q: There is some great football writing in this novel. What kind of research was involved in capturing how this American institution is played in small town Italy?

A: The only way to research the book was to go to Parma and watch a game. The coach is an American who played at Illinois State, and he proved to be extremely valuable. I met many of the Italian players and the story simply unfolded.

Q: Speaking of research, you write lovingly of Italian food and wine in this book. What's your idea of the perfect Italian meal?

A: First course: prosicutto and melon; second course: stuffed tortellini; third course: roasted stuffed capon, all served with a great Barolo wine.

Q: Without giving away too much of the plot, your protagonist falls in love by the novel's end. Did you know when you started writing that Rick would get the girl?

A: Of course.

Q: You have a new legal thriller coming in January 2008. Can you give us any hints about what to expect?

A: I really don't like to talk about a book until it's finished. Sorry. But it will not be another work of non-fiction, nor will it be about football. Lots of lawyers in the next one.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Dull and pointless
Comment: Leaving the courtroom for the football field, John Grisham gives us Playing for Pizza, where we meet Cleveland Browns third-string quarterback Rick Dockery, who is lying in his hospital bed unconscious from a severe concussion. Rick, it seems, took the field at the end of an all-but-sewn-up game that would have propelled the long-suffering Browns into the Super Bowl. With Cleveland about to go bonkers, Rick throws three interceptions in the final quarter - the last resulting in the massive hit that sends him to the hospital and gives the game-winning touchdown to the Denver Broncos.

With his career at the crossroads, his agent decides a year out of the country may help Dockery. He sets him up in Italy, as the quarterback for the Parma Panthers -thus the novel already a football story, becomes a fish-out-of-water tale as well.

I had some huge problems with this book, as the many hallmarks of his - the tightly written, page turning scenes - where dropped for an almost parody take on those a Silhouette romance novels. It's that light and airy.

Plus, while this is suppose to be a football book, it resembles more part Tuscan Under the Sun style look at Italy, plus a culinary dictionary from the Food Network, and Frommer's travel guide to the country.

I'm unsure what Grisham was trying to do here, after all, I did enjoy is non-thriller novel The Painted House. I finished because I had too, but find it lacking in every regard.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Comment: I thought this book was awesome. I have recommended it many times and I do not really care for Grisham's usual stuff. I like something different and I enjoyed this. But you do have to be a football fan to understand what is happening and why. Why and or how, did the character end up in the situation that he did? He certainly found his career as a pro-football player in a whole new light. The ending was almost predictable but so what? I found it to be easy and refreshing.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: An interesting insight into a tiny part of Italian culture
Comment: John Grisham is best known for his legal fiction books, of course, but has written four fiction books devoted to other themes: A Painted House, Skipping Christmas, Bleachers and Playing for Pizza. As in all his books, Grishom's style reads almost as if it were non-fiction, and this book is no exception.

Charley Cray captures the essence of the book in his notes at half time of the Italian Super Bowl:

"-- Not a bad setting for a game; handsome stadium, well decorated, enthusiastic crowd of maybe 5000;

"-- Dockery could well be in over his head even here in Italy; in the first half he was 3 for 8, 22 yards, and no score;

"-- I must say, however, this is real foot ball. The hitting is brutal; tremendous hustle and desire; no one slacks; these guys are not playing for money, just pride, and it is a powerful incentive;

"-- Dockery is the only American on the Parma team, and you wonder if they would be better off without him. We shall see."

Grisham "stumbled across American football in Italy. There is a real NFL there, with real teams, players even a Super Bowl. So the setting of this book is reasonably accurate, though as usual, I did not hesitate to take liberties when faced with additional research." The book reads like a very detailed newspaper report of games played all over the United States, frankly a little boring except for dedicated fans.

Just for the record, there are about 50 football teams in Italy, the nine best members of the Italian Football League:

Ancona Dolphins
Bergamo Lions
Bologna Doves

Bolzano Giants
Catania Elephants
Milan Rhinos

Palermo Corsari
Palermo Sharks
Parma Panthers

The sections devoted to the wonderful foods of Italy, especially the incredible cuisine of Parma, really do come alive. We stumbled onto Parma having five hours to spare before flying home. The food was so delicious we came back and spent a week two years later. Grishom brought that part of the book alive for me.

Otherwise, Grisham's legal novels are much more interesting and entertaining for my money.

Robert C. Ross 2008

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Customer Rating:
Summary: New reader
Comment: I was not a big John Grisham fan until I read this book on the recommendation of a friend. Great for any sports enthusiast but the football references give way to more elaborate storylines and descriptions of small italian villages.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Grisham Should Stick to Law
Comment: John Grisham should stick to legal thrillers.

A friend recommended this book. As a Cleveland Browns fan coupled with the fact that I got the book for $1 at the used book rack of the libary I thought it was worth a try. Obviously I thought wrong. All of the critics who panned it were right on the money.

There's virtually no plot and a lot of lose ends. The end is predictable, the characters shallow, the entire situation is unrealistic.

Don't waste your time or effort.

Only a person with as many best sellors as Grisham could get any publisher in his right mind to publish this book.

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