My Book Report
My book report is about The One & Only by Emily Giffin. It says it is a New York bestseller, and maybe people from New York liked it, but I did not. I heard it was about football. College football to be more exact. It is about a fake college somewhere in Texas called Walker and the mascot is a Bronco. I am thinking SMU and Peruna or whatever the pony’s name is because it takes place close to Dallas. Well, if you think a sentence like “We beat Baylor 21-0 to open the season and then I wrote my article” is about football, then read it. But there are many sentences that tell me it needs more football. For example, “the next week Walker prepared for Texas. I hate Texas.” OK that part is good. But how about sentences with Camp Waldemar and The Hockaday School as the descriptors of characters? Do they play football there? Here is one “I went to SMU and Barry went to Rice, but we both went to Highland Park High.” And then there are these. “We massacred UTEP to open our season at 2-0…” “…our first true test was Texas A&M next week. I hated the University of Texas the most, but in some ways I feared the Aggies more.” Well, the Aggies ran out of time in your story and Walker goes 3-0. At least you feared the Aggies. Oh yes, then there is the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys – a Walker All-American of course and Heisman runner up. Then they all go to “a little hole-in-the-wall bar on North Potomac called the Third Rail.” North Potomac? In Texas? Wouldn’t Mockingbird Lane be a better street for hole in the wall bars? The Potomac is in Washington DC.
The bottom line of my book report is that it is not really about football. I do not believe Ms. Giffin is from Texas. Otherwise, there would have been more high school football, more college football, more scandals and more NCAA investigation and less falling in love.
My recommendation is that if you find this book at a half-price book store – or even better at a garage sale for 25 cents – and have nothing else to do for a few days, then buy it. The End.
Here's What I'm Thinking 