John Grisham's latest hero starts over in Parma
Imagine opening a jigsaw puzzle box, emptying its contents on a table, watching (in amazement) as the pieces move around the tabletop's surface in a state of perpetual motion, and listening to dozens of experts simultaneously impart conflicting advice about what should be done in order to work the puzzle.
In the midst of such chaos, now imagine trying to fit the pieces together into something cohesive. This hypothetical scenario might conceivably be called "life."
In the midst of such chaos, now imagine trying to fit the pieces together into something cohesive. This hypothetical scenario might conceivably be called "life."
In his new novel Playing for Pizza (Doubleday 2007), which comes out on Monday, bestselling author John Grisham tells the story of Rick Dockery, a man who manages against the odds to assemble the disparate moving pieces of his life into an unexpectedly coherent picture.
At the outset, Rick is a total failure--a 28-year-old journeyman third-string NFL quarterback. He finds himself thrust into the limelight with the Cleveland Browns in the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship Game.
Single-handedly, he blows his team's seemingly insurmountable lead by throwing a series of bonehead passes that are intercepted and run back for touchdowns by the opposing Denver Broncos. Goodbye Super Bowl -- and goodbye Rick Dockery.
With ambivalent and complaining parents, millions of Browns fans who wish he'd never lived, no wife or girlfriend, and no viable business prospects, Rick still has a dream of being a professional quarterback that refuses to die. Rick's best option for continuing to throw passes for a paycheck is to join the Parma Panthers in the Italian semi-professional football league.
In Italy, stadiums are shabby, crowds are small, media coverage is minimal, and the players lack talent and make little or no money. For Dockery, playing for Parma (home of Parmesan cheese) is the exact opposite experience from playing in the National Football League.
His first reaction to the new environment is simple: How could playing quarterback in such squalid circumstances on a team whose members (for the most part) don't even speak English be a puzzle piece that fits into the game of life and the quixotic quest for happiness?
Yet it does. With Parma, Rick is a star and not a benchwarmer, and for the first time since high school he actually enjoys playing football. Off the field, he explores and embraces a multitude of Italian delights -- delectable food, fine wines, theatrical opera, and above all passionate people who love what they do.
Filled with this contagious joie de vivre, all of a sudden Rick has the confidence to connect with a gorgeous, smart, energetic American coed studying abroad, and soon they start ringing each other's chimes and progressing into a long-term relationship.
Laced with the author's characteristic biting humor, this warm-and-fuzzy story from master raconteur John Grisham delivers a timeless message. Life works best when someone finds the circumstances that fit his own specific needs and talents, instead of pursuing the place where conventional wisdom directs that he should be.
In any case, right now, puzzle pieces are moving. Advisors are giving us directions which may prove to be good or bad. Our time at the table is passing.
In the midst of this, maybe we put ourselves in the best position for living happily ever after if instead of playing for big bucks and society's notions of prestige and glory, we follow in Rick Dockery's footsteps, throw all caution to the wind, and play for pizza.