Friday Night Lights Book Report

In Odessa, Texas, only one thing matters. Not college, or politics, or work, but high school football. In the book Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, A Dream by H.G. Bissinger, the town of Odessa is placed under a microscope as the reader gets to experience the intersection of sport, race, and gender in a small Texas town. “Football stood at the very core of what the town was about, not on the outskirts, not on the periphery. It had nothing to do with entertainment and everything to do with how people felt about themselves.” (333) For me, this quote sums up what life in Odessa really is. The worth of the people in Odessa are put completely and entirely on the high school football team. On Friday Night’s between August and December, the Permian High School Panthers fight for everything they have, both on and off the field. African-American, Hispanic, and Caucasian males …show more content…
The boys come from different walks of life, however they all have similar struggles and have the same goal of being state champions. Tight-end Brian Chavez, linebacker Ivory Christian, running back Boobie Miles, and Coach Gary Gaines are all prominent figures throughout this book, each showing a different side of how life can treat you in Odessa, and how you can look at life. With the 1987 football season over and the 1988 season about to start, The Permian High School football team is the center of the town’s focus, as per usual. Boobie Miles is an African American athlete that comes from the poorer side of Odessa. Miles does not place any importance on school work, and can barely read. However, because of his outstanding athletic ability, Boobie

The way gender is viewed in this book is very clear-cut. Males are football players, while females are Pepettes, or cheerleaders. The women that attend Permian High School, if they expect to be anything, strive to be a pepette. As a pepette, you