Playing for Pizza - by John Grisham (Paperback)

About the Book

Originally published: New York: Doubleday, c2007.

Book Synopsis

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - After providing what is arguably the worst single performance in the history of the NFL, third-string quarterback Rick Dockery becomes a national laughingstock. Cut by the Cleveland Browns, and shunned by every other team, Rick insists that his agent find a team that does need him.

Against enormous odds, Rick lands a job--as the starting quarterback for the Mighty Panthers ... of Parma, Italy.

The Parma Panthers desperately want a former NFL player--any former NFL player--at their helm. And now they've got Rick, who knows nothing about Parma (not even where it is) and doesn't speak a word of Italian. To say that Italy--the land of fine wines, extremely small cars, and football americano--holds a few surprises for Rick Dockery would be something of an understatement.

Review Quotes

"Fans of John Grisham live for his legal thrillers, but now and then he serves up something unexpected. That's exactly what he does, with great success, in Playing for Pizza."--USA Today

"Enthralling."--People

"Score another one for Grisham. . . . This is a fish-out-of-water tale that perfectly suits his strengths as a storyteller."--USA Today

"A light-hearted story of football, food and love."--Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Football in Italy? Who knew? Grisham means to have a sweet time with this story of a fallen NFL quarterback. And he does."--New York Daily News

"Delightfully comic . . . a deeply satisfying story."--The Boston Globe

"Charming . . . the author's love letter to Italy."--Publishers Weekly

About the Author

John Grisham is the author of forty-seven consecutive #1 bestsellers, which have been translated into nearly fifty languages. His recent books include The Judge's List, Sooley, and his third Jake Brigance novel, A Time for Mercy, which is being developed by HBO as a limited series.

Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.

When he's not writing, Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and of Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system.

John lives on a farm in central Virginia.