The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II
By: Buzz Bissinger / Narrated By: George Newbern
Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
Some decent writing about Okinawa, but… so very disjointed… and only 4 mins. of Mosquito Bowl…
Not a resounding Booooo!!! but really pretty darned close.
Here’s the deal. I’m of the staunch belief that while Buzz Bissinger is a dePLOrable human being (Based upon his irredeemably atrocious behavior with his family that he perversely, and proudly, chronicles in his woeful Father’s Day), he is indeed a pretty goshdanged decent writer, esPECially when it comes to sports writing.
So here we are for Memorial Day 2023, and whazzis? A tribute to fallen heroes who played a scrappy football game and then went on to fight well, to die tragically, all in the Pacific Theater? You’d better believe I did NOT wait for a Sale but chucked a full credit at this to get at it immediately.
And oh. my. gosh...
First, lemme give George Newbern his lumps before I pound on Bissinger and his rather questionable choices with structure and topics. George Newbern. Okay, he does a lot of some jolly decent Nonfiction, and he does well for the most part. It’s just that, we’re talking WWII, the Battle of Okinawa here. Death, sir, death everywhere. All after heated fighting, decomposing comrades, fallen friends, Last Stand Japanese foes, and well? Where’s the grit? Newbern has such smooth tones that even when our heroes from the (4-minute…) Mosquito Bowl start dying, there’s nary an emotion to be heard. And worse: There’s nary an emotion for the listener to FEEL.
I mean, Bissinger is fond of Lists here, and when he goes through such very lengthy Lists, such as the manner and causes of death for a horrifically high number of young men (Gunshot wound, gunshot wound, cause unknown, cause unknown, cause unknown, multiple gunshot wounds, cause unknown…), well, then Newbern’s voice works well. We’re left stunned at the reality, the horror, of the vast, so very vast numbers of dead and of just how they died. It’s so offhand as to be drop dead painful.
But when we get to pitched battles, hand to hand combat and the struggle to fight and kill to live another day in Hell? Well, gimme some emotion, please!
Okay, now onto Bissinger’s structure…: I mean whatthehey? I TOTALLY understand giving the historical reality to modern listeners, because I AM, well, I’m awake to the fact that Life wasn’t pretty and heroic and fair for all involved. Bissinger does long stretches of intros to various young men who will go on to play in the (4-minute…) Mosquito Bowl, and then? It’s of how Black servicemen were treated, unfairly at all times, brutally and murderously at many other times. I mean, I very much Get It. But how on earth does that Aside, which has Nothing To Do with his story, help it flow? I s’pose it illuminates, but good golly gosh, it does NOTHING to help with understanding Purpose of this story.
Very disjointed… and it’s not the only time Bissinger goes off on tangents, or he makes intros and bios hop all over the place to where an individual is mentioned, then brought up again, different, vastly different context, to where one is thinking: Huh? WHO’S that?!
But my loudest kvetching HAS to be that Bissinger chose to title this The Mosquito Bowl, thereby leading one to believe that he’ll be using his formidable sports writing chops to give us an exciting once-in-a-lifetime and before-all-hell-breaks-loose game of football. You know, played by individuals his writing has made us come to care about. Seriously? A single 18-minute chapter? That actually lists the players, ALL of them, and MOST of them mentioned here, in this single chapter, for the very first time? Not to mention: Writing about the makeshift radio station (Which takes up further minutes) calling the game, to go with (Further minutes…) the schedule for the proceedings (Blah blah time Band plays blah).
Okay, kvetching over and fine writing of the heated fighting on Okinawa. And a further List of all who fell from those two regiments on each particular day.
All in all, I just GOTTA let out a despairing Nooooo! Bissinger, nooooo! You had such great opportunities to make this a book pairing youthful exuberance and an exciting game with the horror show of a reality that decimated hopeful and dedicated young men in their prime. Men with families who loved them back Home. You know: A book worthy of Memorial Day Listening cuz it chronicled a seething Hell of a Reality, cuz it showed just what Sacrifice looks like, especially to a population who think Memorial Day means cookouts and great sales.
Okay okay okay. I HONOR that Bissinger set out to HONOR, that that was indeed his intent. It’s just that, Yikes! flawed execution, rambling tangents that had a certain set of reviewers SHRIEKING: This is Woke! This is Woke! How DARE you insert real history. Which I agree totally has a place in the national conversation; it’s just that I truly wonder how it came to pop up here and there, willy nilly, nothing to do with furthering the journeys of the young men.
Nope, not too terribly thrilled that I chucked a full credit at this, woulda been far happier picking it up at a Sale. Still, a worthy concept, and I applaud the attempt.
Still (Again), I canNOT elevate Buzz Bissinger to Wow, What A Writer with this book. You know, as a hopeful juxtaposition to mitigate my most DEFinite Wow, What A Crappy Dad status.
I’ll stop here, shall I…?
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