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    The Throwback Special
    The Throwback Special
    The Throwback Special
    Audiobook4 hours

    The Throwback Special

    Written by Chris Bachelder

    Narrated by R.C. Bray

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Here is the absorbing story of twenty-two men who gather every fall to painstakingly reenact what ESPN called ldquo;the most shocking play in NFL historyrdquo; and the Washington Redskins dubbed the ldquo;Throwback Specialrdquo;: the November 1985 play in which the Redskins' Joe Theismann had his leg horribly broken by Lawrence Taylor of the New York Giants live on#160;Monday Night Football. Chris Bachelder introduces us to Charles, a psychologist whose expertise is in high demand; George, a garrulous public librarian; Fat Michael, envied and despised by the others for being exquisitely fit; Jeff, a recently divorced man who has become a theorist of marriage; and more. Over the course of a weekend, the men reveal their secret hopes, fears, and passions as they choose roles, spend a long night of the soul preparing for the play, and finally enact their bizarre ritual for what may be the last time. Along the way, mishaps, misunderstandings, and grievances pile up, and the comforting traditions holding the group together threaten to give way.The Throwback Special#160;is a moving and comic tale filled with pitch-perfect observations about manhood, marriage, middle age, and the rituals we all enact as part of being alive. #160;
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateMar 14, 2016
    ISBN9781681680057
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    Reviews for The Throwback Special

    3.5/5

    58 ratings8 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I'm not going to lie. When I read the premise of this book, I balked. I love me some college football, but pro-sports of any kind just don't appeal to me. Then I read a couple of friends' reviews, and it's part of this year's ToB (my March Madness), so I decided to give it a chance. I'm so glad I did. This was a pleasant, quick, fun read with some amazing insights into the middle-aged male brain (having never been a middle-aged male, I'm just going to assume that these insights are accurate). My generation most likely does not remember the play, but in 1985, in a Giants-Redskins game, Joe Theismann's career came to an end when his leg came in contact with Lawrence Taylor's thigh and promptly broke into multiple pieces. Do yourself a favor and DON'T Youtube the video (I did, and I'm really regretting that impulse). Anyway, the novel tells the story of a group of 22 men who get together once a year to remake the play, each man portraying a different character each year. In unique fashion, Bachelder has managed to create not just 1 or 2 great characters, as is typical for literary fiction, but 22 individuals, some of which get more "screen time" than others. My favorites are Charles, the psychologist (yeah that's not surprising); Derek, the only non-White member of the group; and Fat Michael, the only member of the group who has the physique and stamina to actually be a football player. Each man brings a set of concerns, fears, and bits of personality, some of which stand out more than others.There are moments that are touching, hilarious, and even thought-provoking, not an easy feat for a 224-page book with 22 characters. A couple of my favorite nuggets:"If your defiance reveals vulnerability, not strength, it's really not very effective defiance.""A sidewalk revealed no history, no desire. It yielded few traces of its use. A sidewalk was prescriptive, dogmatic. A path, though, was the expression, the record, of something vital and communal. An individual, no matter how determined, could not create a dirt path. The path expressed and served the aspirations of many. It represented a kind of bottom-up history - no matter what anyone thought people might do, this was what people had done, what they did, they walked here, the dirt now so compact it did not turn to mud in the rain." And this is precisely what the book represents, the idea that the sum of the whole is greater than it's individual parts. These 22 men, with their individual parts, come together year after year to do something that they believe is greater than themselves (yes, it's a bit melodramatic, but go with it). So, even if you aren't a sports book fan, you will find something to enjoy in this pleasant read. And, I'll be honest, I even enjoyed the sports parts. Just don't watch the video...
    • 4/5
      This book was a National Book Award nominee and was excellent. It has a very unique set up. 22 white middle class men(includes one mix-race) have been getting together once a year for 16 years to recreate a famous football play. This was on Monday night football in 1985 and it surrounds the terrible injury to Joe Theirsman, the Washington Redskins quarterback. He never recovered from this to ever play again. For most of us who are football fans this is about the worst injury we ever saw on the football field. There is no back story as to how this ritual developed. The story takes place over 24 hours and deals with all the rituals that these guys go through. You don't have to be a sports person to enjoy this. It gives you insight in the minds of middle aged white guys who really only see other once a year. It deals with the whole gamut of life experiences including kids, bad marriages, work, insecurities etc. We get a glimpse into all 22 people with a little more about 3 or 4 characters. Some people objected because the book(220 pages) didn't get deep enough into any character, but for me the set up definitely worked. Bachelder is an excellent writer with a real insightful way at looking at things. There are so many little gems in this book. A good read.
    • 5/5
      This book has one of the most unique premises ever. It is about a group of men who meet at a hotel every year to reenact a famous football play in which quarterback Joe Theismann suffered a terrible broken leg on Monday Night Football. This play lives in infamy. The have a lottery to choose which of the twenty two player's roles they will play. They have all the jerseys and equipment. On the surface this seems like a strange topic for a book but is so well written that it was a National Book Award finalist. There are all sorts of side stories that captivated my attention. Loved the book.
    • 4/5
      Read this book after it made the short list for Tournament of Books (Rooster) 2017 playoff. Published 2016, the story is about a bunch of older men who get together once a year to reenact the Throwback Special, a play in which Joe Theisman suffers a career ending compound fracture November 18, 1985. The author is Chris Bachelder, born in Minnesota and teaching in Ohio and this is not his first book. It is the first book I've read by this author. It's a bit of history of Monday night football and can be a walk down memory lane for football fans. It is an interesting tale of these 22 men who we get to know for this brief weekend and it covers male friendship and masculinity with humor and mostly good taste. Its not just about this one football game, it's more about each of these guys as they come together for this weekend. Some of the social aspects covered include fatherhood, work/business, the one man who is black deals with the issues of the possibility of a black man playing the role of black person (Lawrence Taylor), another who is thinking about his dad telling him that "people notice a job done well but in Robert's experience that had not been true, what people notice was tardiness, failure and moth damage." and Jeff's inner dialogue about marriage and that marriage is really about having someone in your life to watch you, to witness your life." And Charles who is thinks about things ending while they are starting. So the essence of the book is a story of men's inner life and somewhat also the external life men share with each other or of men's ways of relating. The characters were interesting. The reader is slowly introduced to the 22 guys as they arrive but various pieces are added as you go along but never a complete picture of any one character. I found this to be very effective character development. I think the author meant us to get these bits and pieces of each man's thoughts and life and for the reader to fill in the blanks. It was readable. The story was in sections with chapters within the sections; As far as cover and book, it was not anything more than a green cover with the title and author name trying to give the feeling of movement. I felt that the author did achieve what he set out to tell in this story. It is an act of communion. They eat together, share rooms. The weather is rainy and uninviting. It is quest of a sorts, a voyage and return and even rebirth. I thought the book was well written, the author used a creative way to tell a story about masculinity and men's lives.
    • 4/5
      22 middle-aged men get together annually to reenact, Washington Redskins, Joe Thiesman's career ending injury and Lawrence Taylor's reaction to it. The reenactment is really quite a big deal and taken very seriously, almost sacredly. Know that this book is not just about 10 seconds of football, it is about the lives and thoughts of the men playing their parts. I'd liken this story to entering the inner sanctum of a man cave and at heart, men are still boys. I wasn't keen on reading this book but so glad a gave it a chance.
    • 4/5
      Perfect portrait of a bunch of guys who annually convene to reenact the most gruesome injury in pro football history. Funny writing and authentic, distilled descriptions ; e.g. loved the rundown of the t-shirts that each man wore, the crappy 2 1/2 star hotel, the bad haircut ritual, the weird yearly events. Great for a quick autumn read. (Still excruciating to watch the old video from 1985.)
    • 4/5
      This is a short novel about a group of guys who have, for more than 20 years, gathered to re-enact the infamous Joe Theismann/Lawrence Taylor play from the 1985 NFL season. It's not really about football- how could it be when the play being recreated is 5 seconds long and the entire re-enactment is covered by a single paragraph in the book?

      As you might guess, when you're writing about a bunch of guys getting into middle age that don't seem to know each other very well but who voluntarily gather together once a year for a single, rather silly purpose, it's more about the individual guys. I guess you need to look at the 5 seconds of action the entire weekend is built around as a metaphor for something.... community? subjugation of self for a common goal?

      The 22 guys are a pretty homogeneous lot in that they're all white (well, 21.5 anyway. There's one bi-racial dude), seemingly middle class, and generally full of good cheer. Under the surface, we have guys who have bad marriages, bad kids, good kids, gay kids, divorces, bad jobs, strange thoughts about illustrations of female characters in the children's books he reads to them before sleep, insecurity..... the whole gamut of middle class, middle age white guy problems. How they choose to talk about, not talk about, and use the weekend to forget about their issues is, I guess, the point of the book. It's funny and sad at the same time.

      I love the writing, and the fact there's not much of a plot isn't that big a deal because Chris Bachelder hasn't written a conventional novel. The interactions of the guys as they use the 5 seconds of the game and the rituals leading up to it as releases from their insecurities and tension is fascinating in and of itself.
    • 2/5
      This book should have been so much better than it was. The story is about a group of guys who get together one weekend each year to re-enact the "Throwback Special" which is the play where Lawrence Taylor broke Joe Theismann's leg on Monday Night Football.This book seemed to be an exercise is showing everything the writer learned in an advanced creative writing course.Pros:1. The author can write. 2. Some of the thoughts the men have, are funny or ring true, but they aren't ever fully developed or explained.Cons:1. The group of men is way too big. You can't talk about 20+ characters in a book that is just over 200 pages and give the reader any real connection to any of them.2. The thoughts, beliefs, and situations effecting these men are rarely fleshed out, they are usually presented almost like bullet points steams of conscience.3. I never connected with any of the characters even the ones that the most time is sent on. Another critics darling writer whose book for this reader never went anywhere.