Bleachers Audiobook By John Grisham cover art

Bleachers

A Novel

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

Bleachers

By: John Grisham
Narrated by: John Grisham
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $13.93

Buy for $13.93

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel
High school all-American Neely Crenshaw was probably the best quarterback ever to play for the legendary Messina Spartans. Fifteen years have gone by since those glory days, and Neely has come home to Messina to bury Coach Eddie Rake, the man who molded the Spartans into an unbeatable football dynasty.

Now, as Coach Rake's "boys" sit in the bleachers waiting for the dimming field lights to signal his passing, they replay the old games, relive the old glories, and try to decide once and for all whether they love Eddie Rake or hate him. For Neely Crenshaw, a man who must finally forgive his coach - and himself - before he can get on with his life, the stakes are especially high.

©2003 Belfry Holdings, Inc (P)2003 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, A Division of Random House, Inc. Fiction Football Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Sports High School Football Thriller

Critic reviews

"[Grisham]'s a sure-footed story-teller with an undeniable mastery of plotting, pacing and tone." (The New York Times Book Review)
Nostalgic Storytelling • Emotional Depth • Rich Southern Voice • Well-developed Characters • Authentic Atmosphere
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
I loved it!! I loved it, not because the lawyer was missing but because it is such a great story and because the author read it so well. My son hopes to be a high school history teach and coach soccer. What a noble ambition. I called him up and told him he needs to read this book. I think I?ll read it again. I rarely read books twice.

Where is the Lawyer?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Like The Painted House, this book is different than other Grisham books. While I hated The Pained House, Bleachers wasn't bad. I still prefer the fast pace and twists of Grisham's "lawyer" books, but Bleachers was a nice break. I was somewhat disappointed in Grisham's reading.

Not Grisham's best, but a good audiobook.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
this narrator is one of the most amazing story tellers if ever heard. He is comforting... real....true to the story.

this narrator is the most

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is a great read for anyone who played high school football or just high school sports in general!

Great Read!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This novelette was well wriitten. It seems like one of those good YA stories that hold up for an adult audience. The reader is kept in a state of suspense that is just about right. Many coming of age themes are visited. I like Grisham's narration & the guest narration was excellent.

Well done

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Good writing and story telling but it is nothing more than your regular former athletic star from a small town gets injured and then returns when he didn’t want to B movie type book.

Stereotypical former athlete from a small town book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A story many can identify especially if one is from a small town. A love of football resonates life lessons for those whom enjoy the game.

Great Story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This has been one of my top 5 favorite books since it came out when I was a freshman in highschool.

This audiobook version being read by John Grisham works perfectly, I love when authors read there own work you really get the proper feel an emotions from it.

The addition of a different orator to perform as Buck Coffee for the radio broadcast parts worked so well, I had a grin on my face everytime because I could be on those bleachers listening to the radio just like the characters.

Fantastic book and fantastic audiobook.

Perfect

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I don't like sports. I don't like football, especially. I think people who are "stuck" in their high school or college years are silly and immature. BUT......it doesn't matter here. The story isn't just about football or sports or guys revisiting their youth. It's much more than that and the story of how one single man could influence the lives of so many was mesmerizing. Another wonderful story from John Grisham. The only negative was the narrator....John himself. He should leave the reading of the story up to a professional reader...one who can act, more or less. John reads in a very monotone like style and it made telling who was "speaking" in the story very difficult to figure out and it tended to tone down the emotion of the story too much. But a good story inspite of the reader.

Engrossing story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Probably not for everyone, but if you played high school football, especially in the south, it's a must read. I could relate to so much of this book. The description of Coach Raike and his methods took me back to my playing days in the 1970s and my old Coach. The character of Coach Raike could've been based on my old Coach, minus some of the dramatic elements. The players feelings about their Coach, as players and then after they'd gone on in life, mirrored my own, as well as many of my old teammates. It was uncanny, but then again maybe all old players feel the same nostalgia about their playing days and their Coach.

The author's reading of the text could've done with a little more excitement. He was a bit flat. it was as if he were reading a stock prospectus and was bored with it. But it was ok.

Great football book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews