The Mosquito Bowl Audiobook By Buzz Bissinger cover art

The Mosquito Bowl

A Game of Life and Death in World War II

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
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 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Mosquito Bowl

By: Buzz Bissinger
Narrated by: George Newbern
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $25.19

Buy for $25.19

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

“Buzz Bissinger’s Friday Night Lights is an American classic. With The Mosquito Bowl, he is back with a true story even more colorful and profound. This book too is destined to become a classic. I devoured it.” John Grisham

An extraordinary, untold story of the Second World War in the vein of Unbroken and The Boys in the Boat, from the author of Friday Night Lights and Three Nights in August.

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, college football was at the height of its popularity. As the nation geared up for total war, one branch of the service dominated the aspirations of college football stars: the United States Marine Corps. Which is why, on Christmas Eve of 1944, when the 4th and 29th Marine regiments found themselves in the middle of the Pacific Ocean training for what would be the bloodiest battle of the war – the invasion of Okinawa—their ranks included one of the greatest pools of football talent ever assembled: Former All Americans, captains from Wisconsin and Brown and Notre Dame, and nearly twenty men who were either drafted or would ultimately play in the NFL.

When the trash-talking between the 4th and 29th over who had the better football team reached a fever pitch, it was decided: The two regiments would play each other in a football game as close to the real thing as you could get in the dirt and coral of Guadalcanal. The bruising and bloody game that followed became known as “The Mosquito Bowl.”

Within a matter of months, 15 of the 65 players in “The Mosquito Bowl” would be killed at Okinawa, by far the largest number of American athletes ever to die in a single battle. The Mosquito Bowl is the story of these brave and beautiful young men, those who survived and those who did not. It is the story of the families and the landscape that shaped them. It is a story of a far more innocent time in both college athletics and the life of the country, and of the loss of that innocence.

Writing with the style and rigor that won him a Pulitzer Prize and have made several of his books modern classics, Buzz Bissinger takes us from the playing fields of America’s campuses where boys played at being Marines, to the final time they were allowed to still be boys on that field of dirt and coral, to the darkest and deadliest days that followed at Okinawa.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Buzz Bissinger (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers
Football Sports World War II Military War Heartfelt
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about The Mosquito Bowl

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    216
  • 4 Stars
    52
  • 3 Stars
    24
  • 2 Stars
    10
  • 1 Stars
    16
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    217
  • 4 Stars
    44
  • 3 Stars
    14
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    6
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    204
  • 4 Stars
    45
  • 3 Stars
    20
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    10

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Too much background info on characters

About 2 hours in...I don't need laborious page-filling background on grandparents living in Europe for every character. Hope he soon gets around to the title story.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

“Glad you read it?” Hmmmm good question

I was asked if I was glad that I read it. And I guess the answer is yes. I’m glad. But not normally glad. Glad in the same way I was that I saw Schindler’s List. A very well written book that should be required reading. Give this book a shot and you won’t regret it. Even if you’re not overly “glad”.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Reece Witherspoon buy the rights please

This is begging to be a movie. Was an interesting but somber story. An excellent reminder of what sacrifices have been made to be where we are and who we are.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Detailed account of Marines on Okinawa

Some will criticize the author for too much detail, but I will not because this account of these marines and teenage or 20 something football players it’s just too gripping to trivialize into short story.

If I have one complaint about the very excellent narrator, George Newburn, it would be that I want him in future books about military in war time to correctly pronounce corpsman as COREMAN - no plural.

As a Marine from the Vietnam era, I unfortunately heard the cry for Corp(s)man all too many times - so it is soldered into my brain stem.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great read.

Great new perspective on WW2. What a great read about a subject where there are so many books and stories.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The mosquito bowl

Moving account of the battle of OkinawaI- I stand in awe of the greatest generation and ordinary American young men.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An eye opener

Excellent research and presentation. Eye opening insights. Incredible bravery and sacrifice. Worth the read.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Okay book

I thought it too long for the story line even though covering WWII and real people.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent WWII history.

Graphic, heartbreaking and noble account of US Marines preparing for and battling on Okinawa. The football game is the backbone to the histories of the men, many of which died in the fighting.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Compelling stories

Well-written, learned some history, and got to know some heros. The narrator was excellent.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!