Will I love The Mosquito Bowl?

The Mosquito Bowl was a football game between two Marine regiments that was played on Christmas Eve 1944 on Guadalcanal. Only one brief chapter is devoted to the game itself, which, as one reviewer noted, “is both a pretext and an organizing principle for the book.”

Bissinger tells the stories of several of the players, many of whom were from big-name schools. The players came alive as I learned about their families and upbringing, achievements on the gridiron, how they became Marines, and their wartime experiences. I was reminded of the sacrifices their generation made. I cared about them and… show more.

Twenty years ago, I read Buzz Bissinger's high school football classic Friday Night Lights, and I've read everything he's published ever since.

At first, it appeared The Mosquito Bowl, the name refers to a game played between two Marine units on Guadalcanal at the end of 1944, would be another sports rouser with WWII as the backdrop. 

I quickly realized I had it backward. It's the story of young men at war: the families and dreams they left behind and the suffering they endured before, for far too many, death came for them, suddenly, painfully, senselessly.

Ultimately, it's… show more.