Two a Day, the Twelfth Man, and the Cotton Bowl are just a few of the iconic landmarks of Texas culture and, by extension, Lone Star literature. books about soccer could there be any place other than texas where stories about a game could almost create their own literary genre?
You are reading: Texas high school football books
When our readers hear about Texas football titles, their first response is to assume we’re talking about the memoirs of notable players and lonely coaches. or perhaps, non-fiction works on how to play or train the game. but a surprising number of these books are novels in which soccer defines the culture of the characters. Some of these titles may not take place in Texas, but their authors are so synonymous with Texas football that we’ve included them.
number 10.
jim dent, the junction boys: how ten days in hell with bear bryant forged a champion team
st. martin press (2000), 978-0312267551
the 2001 jim dent classic tells the story of the “survivors” of texas a&m aggies football coach paul “bear” bryant’s ten-day summer camp in junction, texas, beginning september 1, 1954. The ordeal achieved legendary status and has become the subject of a book by Jim Dent and a television movie produced by ESPN.
number 9.
peter gent, dallas north forty
Sports Media Publishing Hall of Fame Edition Series (2003) 978-0973144338
Ex-Dallas Cowboy Peter Gent’s look at the sordid underbelly of the pro game recounts eight days in the life of Phil Elliott, an elderly catcher for Team Texas. Running on a mix of painkillers and cortisone while trying to keep his ailing legs strong, Elliott tries to squeeze every ounce of pleasure out of his last glory days, living the life of sex, drugs and football. gent’s book was adapted for the big screen in 1979.
number 8.
dan jenkins, semi-resistant da capo press (2006) 978-1560258599
See Also: Laura Childs – Book Series In Order
Recently named number seven on Sports Illustrated’s list of the 100 Best Sports Books of All Time, Semi-Tough is Dan Jenkins’ masterpiece and is considered by many to be one of the funniest sports books ever written. The novel follows the outsized adventures of Billy Clyde Puckett, star running back for the New York Giants, whose team has come to Los Angeles for an epic duel with the spurned Jets in the Super Bowl. But Billy Clyde faces a double challenge: a New York book publisher has also commissioned him to keep a diary of the events leading up to, including, and following the game.
number 7.
emily giffin, the only one
ballantine (2014) 978-1444799002
emily giffin’s literary novel about the fortune of (fictional) walker university sports publicist shea rigsby blends a september/may romance, sports scandals and personal drama into a story that creates an insider sensation in the world of college football. Giffin’s depth of understanding of the history of the game and the execution of the sport turns all conventions about soccer books on their head.
number 6.
jeff wilson, home field: texas high school football stadiums from alice to zephyr
university of texas press (2010) 978-0292721999
This coffee table book has all the drama and suspense of any of the novels. On the local field, photographer Jeff Wilson has created a unique photographic portrait of nearly eighty Texas high school football stadiums, ranging from the bright lights, artificial turf, and seats for thousands at Southlake Carroll to the lonely bleachers. under the open sky at veribest accompanying the photographs are reminiscences on the fields of players, coaches, team doctors, athletic directors, sportswriters and broadcasters, school superintendents, principals and teachers, band directors, maintenance workers, club parents fans, students and fans. Whether funny, nostalgic or heartwarming, his stories reveal how important high school football is to Texans and how it creates an unforgettable sense of community and camaraderie.
number 5.
john eisenberg, cotton bowl days: growing up with dallas and cowboys in the 1960s
mcgraw hill professional (2010) 978-0809223930
A look at a boy, a team, and a city, this portrait of Baltimore sports columnist Sun Eisenberg will strike a chord with those who grew up sports-obsessed hero worshippers. Raised in Dallas, Eisenberg dates his knowledge of sports to 1960, when he was four years old and the Cowboys were playing their first dismal season, going 0-11-1. the team didn’t have a winning year until 1966, so in a sense, the kid and the cowboys grew up together, coming of age as local residents endorsed the team as a positive force in eradicating the image their city had acquired after the kennedy. murder.
number 4.
See Also: The Best Books on Overcoming Insecurities – Five Books Expert Recommendations
ben fountain, billy lynn’s long part-time walk: a novel
harper collins (2012) 978-0060885618
This National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award winner and National Book Award finalist is a crisp satire set in Texas during America’s war in Iraq, exploring the enormous national disconnect between the war at home and war. Foreign. Ben Fountain’s remarkable debut novel follows the surviving members of the heroic Bravo Squad through a grueling stop on their media-heavy “victory tour” at Texas Stadium, Dallas’ football mecca. cowboys, their fans, promoters and cheerleaders.
number 3.
larry mcmurtry, the latest imaging program
simon and schuster; thalia trilogy series (1999) 978-0684853864
Although not a book about football per se, the last image shown is the novel that a generation of Texans grew up reading and the film that captured the impact of football on pulitzer prize winning mcmurtry high school, showed in the novel. In fact, Friday Night Lights author Buzz Bissinger cites the book as one of the influences on his writing about Texas football.
number 2.
jim dent, Kids Got It Right: How Texas Stars Tore Down Racial Walls
st. martin’s, reprint edition (2014) 978-1250053954
one of the proudest moments in the texas gridiron tradition was its first high school football integration effort by winning the 1965 big 33, a great all-star game show in its day. Following a blowout by a Pennsylvania all-star team the year before, coach Bobby Layne met with then-governor John Connally to request that African-Americans be included on the team, noting that black opposition players had made a difference. . Connally approved but demanded a win. Dent accurately provides the stark backdrop of Jim Crow’s Texas against which the three black players were cast: Jerry Levias, James Harris and George Dunford. The book focuses on the strong bond between Levias and his white teammate, quarterback Bill Bradley, a partnership that dispels the legacy of hate to succeed in the 1965 big game.
number 1.
h. gram. bissinger, friday night lights: a city, a team and a dream
da capo press (1990) 978-0306809903
The classic and best-selling story of life in the football-driven city of Odessa, Texas, with Pulitzer Prize winner Buzz Bissinger chronicling the season, fortunes, and fates of the mojo high school football team. permian in the late 80’s.
See Also: 36 Books to Read on the First Day of School | Teach Starter