War Story Interrupted Briefly by a Football Game

This is an 11-hour story that spends about five minutes highlighting a football game. The book highlights the lives of a dozen or so soldiers, sailors, and Marines who were star college football players, enlisted in the military during the Second World War, and saws their lives come together on a makeshift football field in the middle of the Pacific.

If you're looking for a description of t his most improbable gridiron contest, you won't find it here - or presumably anywhere else.

If you want to learn more about coming of age in the 1930s and the structure of college football in the pre-war years, you won't be disappointed. The author has meticulously researched the lives of his main characters and brings them to life in the context of their times. He overlays these biographies with an historical description of college football during this era - a time when the Ivy League, Marquette University, and Washington University in St. Louis produced All-American gridiron stars.

I rarely find audiobooks annoying. (Quick aside: I find it amusing that the Audible site, of all places, flags "audiobooks" with a red underline as a misspelling!) But there were times when the narrator - true to his mission of reading the book in its entirety - spent several minutes listing the last names of casualties (and, in some cases, their cause of death) in alphabetical order. The names are remarkably unimportant. It's enough to say that 78 Americans died in that battle, without listing them. Yes, it's a small criticism. But to this listener, it was like fingernails on a chalkboard. I ended up doing what I do when the Liberty Mutual or Kars for Kids jingles play on their ads - I simply turned the volume off for a minute or so. Sure, I may have missed a few sentences of the next section, but it was worth it for my peace of mind.

I usually listen to audiobooks at 1.5X speed and find that flow easy to follow. I set it to 1.8 and 2.0 on this book and it didn't seem rushed. Thus, the narrator is a slow talker. Adjust your speed accordingly.

3 people found this helpful

Bait and Switch

The title sounds intriguing but it is highly misleading. This is a perfect example of bait and switch. A better title would be How Racist America Won WW II and Soldiers Playing Football in the Army. I knew something was up when he use the term “White Privilege” very early in his book. I don’t go to movies anymore for the same reason I am returning this book. I'm very well versed in World and American history and I’ve read enough about the evils of mankind. If the author wishes to engage in virtue signaling (the action or practice of publicly expressing opinions or sentiments intended to demonstrate one’s good character are the moral correctness of one’s position on a particular issue) about the unjust action of The United States in WWII, it would have been nice to know this before I bought the book. I know about the inequities throughout world history and the United States. I bought this book to acquire knowledge about soldiers who played football during World War II and hoping for an enjoyable listen. But instead, the author resorts to a history on racial injustice of the American army and America during World War II. I did not buy this book for a history lesson on this topic. And that is why I am returning it

2 people found this helpful

A real disappointment.

I was so excited to read this after hearing the author talk about it on NPR I purchased it the same day. I won’t finish it. I’m the son of a 7th infantry Army veteran who fought on Okinawa AFTER fighting on Attu, Kiska, the Marshall Islands, Guam and the Philippines. This is a story of privileged jocks who avoided the draft in every way possible by playing college football and getting shady exemptions from the service. I think he’s looking for another TV series.

1 person found this helpful

best in audio

This book is probably best done in the audio version. The book focuses on the marines, i.e. the individuals that fought in the Pacific, primarily Okinawa. It also is probably a good example of why most combat vets don’t talk about their combat experiences. We’ll worth the read or listening to.

Narrator

The narrator does a masterful story here. Absolutely brilliant. The story starts slow but once it gets going it’s hard to stop listening. Unbelievable courage and story of our young men.

Sacrifices Remembered and Celebrated

Five years of research and growing intimate with its subject matter, Bissinger does the veterans of the Mosquito Bowl good service and reverent respect making the read challenging yet deeply worthwhile. As the aging son of a deceased WWII army officer who served in the European theater, much of what Bissinger relates rings true especially for those who returned and tried to move past the horrors of war they participated in. I am thankful to spend time in these pages to catch a glimpse of what made that Greatest Generation truly great. We need such heroism today to preserve the freedoms that generation died to preserve. Thank you for a great read and journey into the heart of true heroism.

Got tired of the continual flogging of America for its racism

It had interesting moments, but it seemed the author has a bone to pick with America on our racism. He seem to Slippin a few paragraphs every chapter. He may not know that America is the least racist country on earth yet there is still racism. From what I understand, now, in the army it’s hard to get up the ranks unless you’re black. Is that better or just a different type of racism?

It’s also way too detailed. He liked to pretend that he was accurate by taking percentages to the 10th or hundredth. I suppose that’s OK in the written version but to listen to it let me board. I suggest the author do a study on significant figures.

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.

Great WWII Read

A very good book about the final days of the war in the Pacific that follows the life’s of the men that played in the Mosquito Bowl. If you like WWII history & football check it out .

Misleading title

So little football. Not much intertwining of stories. Hard to keep all the characters figured out.