Instead, he merely describes the coach’s speech. The fish-out-of-water premise often devolves into stereotypes - Italians like to eat amazing food and drink amazing wines - while Rick’s transformations and the outcome of the Panthers season are predictable.Īnd Grisham avoids tackling perhaps the ultimate challenge for a sports novelist or screenwriter: writing an original halftime tongue-lashing by a coach. In “Playing for Pizza,” Grisham is content to keep it light. His courtroom scenes crackle with page-turning tension he layers his plots just as a lawyer builds a case. In such books as “The Firm” and “The Pelican Brief,” Grisham displays bravado and a familiarity with his terrain. He rallies the scrappy Panthers on offense and - warning: spoiler alert - leads Parma to greater glory. Meanwhile, far removed from ESPN’s endless replays of his gaffe, Rick regains his quarterbacking mojo and some redemption. Alas, in the land of Parmigiano-Reggiano, Grisham cannot locate one authentic Cheesehead. And he beds an American undergrad studying abroad who, post coitus, drags him on sightseeing excursions to 15th century cathedrals. He bonds with his teammates, who get together to devour pizza and down mugs of Peroni beer. He savors the delights of culatello (Parma-style salami) and Lambrusco. He attends an opera even though he can’t understand a single syllable. Rick learns to wrestle a stick-shift Fiat into impossibly tight parking spaces. Grisham’s fish-out-of-water scenario has promise: When in Parma, do as the Parmigiana do.

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