Summary Of The Novel Friday Night Lights By H. G. Bissinger

In the novel Friday Night Lights, author H.G. Bissinger narrates his time spent with the 1988 Permian High School Football team in the small town of Odessa, Texas. Every individual involved with the team feels a certain pressure from the community to be as close to perfect as humanly possible, causing the game of football to feel a little more like a job than a sport.
Bissinger takes a break from his typical life in his Philadelphia home to quench his thirst of finding a town whose football team is the base of its foundation. In his deep search, Bissinger came across the desolate town of Odessa, Texas and knew that this was where he had to go. Once there, he told coach Gary Gaines his intentions and was able to spend the entire football season with these boys, who ended up like family to him, “I went to school with them, and home with them… because I was interested in portraying them as more than just football players, and also because I liked them.” Bissinger witnessed every fluctuation of these young boys personalities, such as the horrifying knee injury of Boobie Miles or the exciting moment of making the playoffs through a coin toss. The time spent with the football-loving community made Bissinger realize that he came …show more content…
It displays the emotional presence of a sport to an individual in high school. Bissinger does a great job of showing several different point of views from Coach Gaines, to the 6 main players talked about in the book. The stress, tears, enjoyment, and success that are all included in the community and in one football season are conveyed in such a way that almost touches the reader because of the vivid passion that was explained by each and every person included in the novel. The concern for football and the community in this book could perhaps relate to many people in their own day and age that has a town with an outstanding football program that means so much to the