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The Best There Ever Was
Thirty years ago football coach Harold Gravely won the national collegiate championship, but his recent teams have been losing ones, and now fans and alumni want him to resign or else be fired. When he is diagnosed as having lung cancer, Gravely opts to forego treatment. His impending death can then be used to shame his disgruntled fans, former players, university trustees, and even his wife into allowing him one final season. He may even be able to convince them he deserves a memorial statue.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1990
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May 11, 2023Bought this one blind from a used bookstore because I had heard good things about John Ed Bradley's memoir It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium and I loved the premise of an aging football coach choosing not to treat his own lung cancer because having a terminal illness makes him unfire-able.
It seems to tread water for a long time in the middle but there are a handful of Harry Crews-ian moments of viciously mean dark comedy that made it a fun read.
"I ain't never been of the nature to forgive...but a growed man on his knees might excite what pity's left in me."
It seems to tread water for a long time in the middle but there are a handful of Harry Crews-ian moments of viciously mean dark comedy that made it a fun read.
"I ain't never been of the nature to forgive...but a growed man on his knees might excite what pity's left in me."
Displaying 1 of 1 review