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Muck City: Winning and Losing in Football's Forgotten Town
In a town deep in the Florida Everglades, where high school football is the only escape, a haunted quarterback, a returning hero, and a scholar struggle against terrible odds.
The loamy black “muck” that surrounds Belle Glade, Florida once built an empire for Big Sugar and provided much of the nation's vegetables, often on the backs of roving, destitute migrants. Many of these were children who honed their skills along the field rows and started one of the most legendary football programs in America. Belle Glade’s high school team, the Glades Central Raiders, has sent an extraordinary number of players to the National Football League – 27 since 1985, with five of those drafted in the first round.
The industry that gave rise to the town and its team also spawned the chronic poverty, teeming migrant ghettos, and violence that cripples futures before they can ever begin. Muck City tells the story of quarterback Mario Rowley, whose dream is to win a championship for his deceased parents and quiet the ghosts that haunt him; head coach Jessie Hester, the town’s first NFL star, who returns home to “win kids, not championships”; and Jonteria Willliams, who must build her dream of becoming a doctor in one of the poorest high schools in the nation. For boys like Mario, being a Raider is a one-shot window for escape and a college education. Without football, Jonteria and the rest must make it on brains and fortitude alone. For the coach, good intentions must battle a town’s obsession to win above all else.
Beyond the Friday night lights, this book is an engrossing portrait of a community mired in a shameful past and uncertain future, but with the fierce will to survive, win, and escape to a better life.
The loamy black “muck” that surrounds Belle Glade, Florida once built an empire for Big Sugar and provided much of the nation's vegetables, often on the backs of roving, destitute migrants. Many of these were children who honed their skills along the field rows and started one of the most legendary football programs in America. Belle Glade’s high school team, the Glades Central Raiders, has sent an extraordinary number of players to the National Football League – 27 since 1985, with five of those drafted in the first round.
The industry that gave rise to the town and its team also spawned the chronic poverty, teeming migrant ghettos, and violence that cripples futures before they can ever begin. Muck City tells the story of quarterback Mario Rowley, whose dream is to win a championship for his deceased parents and quiet the ghosts that haunt him; head coach Jessie Hester, the town’s first NFL star, who returns home to “win kids, not championships”; and Jonteria Willliams, who must build her dream of becoming a doctor in one of the poorest high schools in the nation. For boys like Mario, being a Raider is a one-shot window for escape and a college education. Without football, Jonteria and the rest must make it on brains and fortitude alone. For the coach, good intentions must battle a town’s obsession to win above all else.
Beyond the Friday night lights, this book is an engrossing portrait of a community mired in a shameful past and uncertain future, but with the fierce will to survive, win, and escape to a better life.
322 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
29 people are currently reading
717 people want to read
About the author
Bryan Mealer
8 books26 followersBryan Mealer is the author of Muck City: Winning and Losing in Football’s Forgotten Town and the New York Times bestseller The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, which he wrote with William Kamkwamba, in addition to the children’s book of the same title. He’s also the author of All Things Must Fight to Live, which chronicled his years covering the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo for Harper’s and the Associated Press. His work has appeared in the anthology Best American Travel Writing and was chosen for an Overseas Press Club Award Citation. He and his family live in Austin, Texas.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
May 17, 2022
A Good One
Ryan Miller has written In-depth book about life in one of the poorest towns in Florida. It’s a town where the students are neglected academically but pushed into football.
The high school students are almost all incredible athletes and most are very poor academically.
Yet, colleges still recruit them, especially Florida and Florida State.
It is truly a shame but it is the state of high school football today.
Ryan Miller has written In-depth book about life in one of the poorest towns in Florida. It’s a town where the students are neglected academically but pushed into football.
The high school students are almost all incredible athletes and most are very poor academically.
Yet, colleges still recruit them, especially Florida and Florida State.
It is truly a shame but it is the state of high school football today.
January 15, 2014
Would've made a great Sports Illustrated article, not sure it made a very good novel... too many detours into bios of every person ever associated with this football program to pad it out hurt the flow of the central narrative. Would've been better if it was solely centered on the coach and maybe 2-3 of the main players.
August 27, 2012
Go ahead, and don’t believe me when I say I actually ended up ENJOYING a book about football! Okay, the main story line was about the stories behind the football team and games, but still!
I went to a huge football college (Go Florida State Seminoles!), but I enjoyed the tailgating and school spirit more than watching the football games. If a game is on TV (unless it’s against FSU’s rival, the Gators), I would rather eat the chips and dip and receive occasional updates on the score than watch what’s going on.
So, yes, I was actually surprised myself when I realized that I enjoyed reading “Muck City: Winning and Losing in Football’s Forgotten Town” by Bryan Mealer. This book is very much outside my comfort zone and usual genre, but I was drawn to the side stories of the players and the city where they reside.
This nonfiction read tells the story of the city of Belle Glade and the Glades Central Raiders, focusing much more on the town and individuals than football iteself. I grew up in a town called Wellington, which is just west of West Palm Beach and east of Belle Glade by about 40 minutes. In between Wellington and Belle Glade is a long stretch of highway, along which you might see an alligator on the side of the road, and pretty much nothing else.
Before reading “Muck City,” I knew what most people from Wellington know about Belle Glade: At one point, the city had the highest percentage of AIDS, the town is extremely poor, there is a high rate of crime, drug use, and gang affiliation, and the classic “you just don’t go to Belle Glade.”
In between freshman and sophomore year of college, I took a community college course which was only offered at the Belle Glade campus, and I distinctly remember having to convince my parents to let me take the class there. I was a minority in the class for sure, but I made two friends from the class (although I think it was partly because I was an anomaly: white, Jewish, and from the stereotypically preppy town of Wellington). The students in the class worked hard, harder than most college students I knew, because these students were working towards their only escape from poverty. I gained a high level of respect for them.
“Muck City” provided more than just the stereotypical Belle Glade information. I found out about a devestating flood that destroyed most of the town and is ranked the “second most deadly natural disaster in American history” (p. 17). I also learned that Belle Glade and neighboring Pahokee provide college teams and the NFL with a disproportionately high number of football players.
The Belle Glade history was what drew me to the book “Muck City,” and what kept my interest. About 25% of the book focused on specific football games and plays, which went way over my head and I had to force myself to read through. But the other 75% told the story of Belle Glade’s history and the individual stories of the students there, mainly football players but also including their families, cheerleaders, and coaches.
I wish that Mealer would have provided dates more often in the text. His story sometimes skips back and forth among years and decades, which keeps the book interesting, but I found that I lost track of when certain events occurred due to the lack of dates in some sections.
Bryan Mealer is a great writer, who described the surroundings of Belle Glade football in a way that kept me interested throughout the book (minus the descriptive football game plays) because of his conversational tone and valid information.
“Muck City” is less about football itself and more about the city and lives of those that football in Belle Glade touches.
Thank you Goodreads and Crown Publishing for allowing me to read this book before it is officially released. Although I received this book from the publisher, that fact did not sway my review.
What book have you read that was outside your normal set of genres, that you ended up enjoying?
Thanks for reading,
Rebecca @ Love at First Book
I went to a huge football college (Go Florida State Seminoles!), but I enjoyed the tailgating and school spirit more than watching the football games. If a game is on TV (unless it’s against FSU’s rival, the Gators), I would rather eat the chips and dip and receive occasional updates on the score than watch what’s going on.
So, yes, I was actually surprised myself when I realized that I enjoyed reading “Muck City: Winning and Losing in Football’s Forgotten Town” by Bryan Mealer. This book is very much outside my comfort zone and usual genre, but I was drawn to the side stories of the players and the city where they reside.
This nonfiction read tells the story of the city of Belle Glade and the Glades Central Raiders, focusing much more on the town and individuals than football iteself. I grew up in a town called Wellington, which is just west of West Palm Beach and east of Belle Glade by about 40 minutes. In between Wellington and Belle Glade is a long stretch of highway, along which you might see an alligator on the side of the road, and pretty much nothing else.
Before reading “Muck City,” I knew what most people from Wellington know about Belle Glade: At one point, the city had the highest percentage of AIDS, the town is extremely poor, there is a high rate of crime, drug use, and gang affiliation, and the classic “you just don’t go to Belle Glade.”
In between freshman and sophomore year of college, I took a community college course which was only offered at the Belle Glade campus, and I distinctly remember having to convince my parents to let me take the class there. I was a minority in the class for sure, but I made two friends from the class (although I think it was partly because I was an anomaly: white, Jewish, and from the stereotypically preppy town of Wellington). The students in the class worked hard, harder than most college students I knew, because these students were working towards their only escape from poverty. I gained a high level of respect for them.
“Muck City” provided more than just the stereotypical Belle Glade information. I found out about a devestating flood that destroyed most of the town and is ranked the “second most deadly natural disaster in American history” (p. 17). I also learned that Belle Glade and neighboring Pahokee provide college teams and the NFL with a disproportionately high number of football players.
The Belle Glade history was what drew me to the book “Muck City,” and what kept my interest. About 25% of the book focused on specific football games and plays, which went way over my head and I had to force myself to read through. But the other 75% told the story of Belle Glade’s history and the individual stories of the students there, mainly football players but also including their families, cheerleaders, and coaches.
I wish that Mealer would have provided dates more often in the text. His story sometimes skips back and forth among years and decades, which keeps the book interesting, but I found that I lost track of when certain events occurred due to the lack of dates in some sections.
Bryan Mealer is a great writer, who described the surroundings of Belle Glade football in a way that kept me interested throughout the book (minus the descriptive football game plays) because of his conversational tone and valid information.
“Muck City” is less about football itself and more about the city and lives of those that football in Belle Glade touches.
Thank you Goodreads and Crown Publishing for allowing me to read this book before it is officially released. Although I received this book from the publisher, that fact did not sway my review.
What book have you read that was outside your normal set of genres, that you ended up enjoying?
Thanks for reading,
Rebecca @ Love at First Book
October 6, 2012
Bryan Mealer leads with his heart with this book, which is also a carefully told piece of journalism that combines history, sociology, education, and, of course, sports. Muck City is about Belle Glade, Florida, where the high school team has sent more than two dozen players to the NFL since 1985.
I'm not a sports fan, but I love stories that show me how people can overcome the odds against them, and especially stories that show how good people help others. I also want to understand how it happens that in a world where nobody wants there to be poverty and hardship, that's the default - even in the United States. This book offers insights about how connected we all are, and how it takes a helping hand, a mentor, even for the most talented person to find success. Jessie Hester, an NFL star who came home to coach the team, is the devoted coach who returned home to give back to his hometown. Mealer also tells the story of Mario Rowley, the school's current quarterback, who doubts himself but wants to win the championship for his deceased parents. Those two stories alone (plus all the history) would have made a great book, but there's more.
I loved that Mealer also tells the story of Jonteria Williams, a hard-working student who, like most of the school, is not on the football team. She wants to go to college and then medical school, and in a place like Belle Glade her chances are not good.
Thanks to Firstreads for the chance to read this great piece of reporting. Mealer found a great subject and then did the hard work to bring it to life for readers.
I'm not a sports fan, but I love stories that show me how people can overcome the odds against them, and especially stories that show how good people help others. I also want to understand how it happens that in a world where nobody wants there to be poverty and hardship, that's the default - even in the United States. This book offers insights about how connected we all are, and how it takes a helping hand, a mentor, even for the most talented person to find success. Jessie Hester, an NFL star who came home to coach the team, is the devoted coach who returned home to give back to his hometown. Mealer also tells the story of Mario Rowley, the school's current quarterback, who doubts himself but wants to win the championship for his deceased parents. Those two stories alone (plus all the history) would have made a great book, but there's more.
I loved that Mealer also tells the story of Jonteria Williams, a hard-working student who, like most of the school, is not on the football team. She wants to go to college and then medical school, and in a place like Belle Glade her chances are not good.
Thanks to Firstreads for the chance to read this great piece of reporting. Mealer found a great subject and then did the hard work to bring it to life for readers.
August 16, 2012
First let me thank The Crown Publishing Group for this book, I won it as one of the giveaways and this is not my normal genre, but since I am a football fanatic as well as my son played football,and I knew of Muck City, I really wanted to read this. This was well written and you can tell Bryan Mealer spent time in Belle Glade with the players/students and the people from the town. He captured how it is to live in Muck City. You really stop and think and process what these players have gone through and going through to be the best, I mean really 28 NFL players from the high school, takes drive and dedication. They are not given everything they want, they earn it and this makes you think about those who have nothing compared to those who have everything. Great book and what a wonderful movie/TV series this would make, the next Friday Night Lights. Thank you again for the wonderful opportunity to read about Muck City, I truly enjoyed it.
December 1, 2025
This book is about so much more than football. Bryan Mealer has done a superb job in illustrating how a game and a community and a responsibility intersect. Good job.
January 3, 2018
i liked this book a lot because i love sports. It could have moved a little faster.
February 25, 2016
While reading the novel Muck City by Brian Mealer I found it very amusing to read. It was a interesting story of the high school football team located in belle glade, Florida that was competing for a state championship after being the runner up last year. This year they will be hungry for the state championship lead by their head coach, Jessie Hester, and will have a great chance of winning with their superstar receiver Travis Benjamin.
" One of the greatest high school football programs in America, one that has supplied the NFL with an average of one prospect per year, does not have a booster club. They don't have a team bus or multi-million dollar stadium in they play. There are no parents who volunteer their time for the raffle drawings and car washes, or decorate the windows of Main Street on game days. There are no steak nights or bumper stickers, and no water tower or welcome sign along the highway that boasts of their achievements."(Mealer 1)
In the book Muck City the school is like a civilization and it built an outstanding football team. Though the team was great and had many NFL signings, what surrounded the team almost destroyed it. In the book it talks about how the team had no support and no fundraising. As an athlete, I believe boasting your team has a huge impact because it lets other schools recognize the team and its success as a program. In the book the reader can tell how the football team brings the school together and in life when citizens share the same opinion it brings us together and creates a strong relationship and a civilization. Which is very important in this day and age.
I would recommend this book to all ages. It covers a very interesting story for the younger crowd but has the intelligence for the older crowd. Also if you love football this is a great book to read.
" One of the greatest high school football programs in America, one that has supplied the NFL with an average of one prospect per year, does not have a booster club. They don't have a team bus or multi-million dollar stadium in they play. There are no parents who volunteer their time for the raffle drawings and car washes, or decorate the windows of Main Street on game days. There are no steak nights or bumper stickers, and no water tower or welcome sign along the highway that boasts of their achievements."(Mealer 1)
In the book Muck City the school is like a civilization and it built an outstanding football team. Though the team was great and had many NFL signings, what surrounded the team almost destroyed it. In the book it talks about how the team had no support and no fundraising. As an athlete, I believe boasting your team has a huge impact because it lets other schools recognize the team and its success as a program. In the book the reader can tell how the football team brings the school together and in life when citizens share the same opinion it brings us together and creates a strong relationship and a civilization. Which is very important in this day and age.
I would recommend this book to all ages. It covers a very interesting story for the younger crowd but has the intelligence for the older crowd. Also if you love football this is a great book to read.
August 31, 2012
Muck City by Bryan Mealer. I recently won this book here on good reads from a program called first reads. I really liked the book it had very good descriptive writing with a lot of detail. I did think it could have had more about each individual character in the book because as I write this I can't think to tell you who the main character exactly was in this book. The book starts off about football, then a chapter about tsunami's, and then back to football, and it pretty much about how a bunch of kids came from this one town to make it to the pro's. In the end was an episode where the cheerleader got glitter glue on her face resulting in an allergic reaction where her throat closed up, I wish more character names were involved in the book to make them more relatable however it was a good read with nice detail and a great ending with the conclusion of college. I rated four out of five stars was definitely a readable.
April 4, 2012
Where do good football players come from? In Florida an awful lot of them come from a small, poor town in the middle of the state where the sugar cane grows in the rich soil that was once swamp and is now "muck." Maybe more NFL starters come from this small town than any other, per capita. Muck City tells the story of the town, it's football legacy, and, especially, the most recent season. The author follows the real stars -- and some non-stars-- through the year.
I couldn't read the stories of some of thes young people without being moved. For some escape from Muck City is a powerful, nearly all-consuming yearning. But they are still just kids so not everything works out. There is a little of The Corner, a little Friday Night Lights and a little of the ultra hype of ESPN's College Game Day.
I couldn't read the stories of some of thes young people without being moved. For some escape from Muck City is a powerful, nearly all-consuming yearning. But they are still just kids so not everything works out. There is a little of The Corner, a little Friday Night Lights and a little of the ultra hype of ESPN's College Game Day.
September 23, 2012
I won this book through the Goodreads.com First Reads program and started reading it shortly after receiving it. This book provides a look at the town of Belle Glade, Florida. The book looks at the 2010 football season for the Glades Central Raiders while telling you the history of the program, city, players, and coaches. The author does a tremendous job of making you feel like you are a part of the city. Some of the quotations do feature adult language, thus I would give it a PG-13 rating, but overall the book is one of the best football books I've read in quite sometime. Highly recommended for high school and college football fans.
January 25, 2017
Do you want to read a football book that is not entirely about football, but about society with its winners and losers? Then this is a book for you.
It is tedious at times but tells a tale of the forgotten and the almost famous within the fabric of an area of the country with little or no upward mobility.
Good read.
It is tedious at times but tells a tale of the forgotten and the almost famous within the fabric of an area of the country with little or no upward mobility.
Good read.
December 29, 2016
Read in 2014
April 5, 2019
Muck City is a book that I enjoyed and one that I would recommend other people to go out and read. Muck City is a nonfiction novel published on October 23 , 2012 and it was written by Bryan Mealer. Specifically I would recommend this to people who have an interest of football.
The Glades Central Raiders have had many players come out of their football program going to the NFL with some even getting picked during the first round. The community of Bell Glades is a poor community. Even though the Raiders have one of the more elite football programs they are poor. When the team has a tournament at FSU against other teams they would have to switch between jerseys because they did not have many. They also did not have a tent and food for the team when the other teams that participated in the tournament did.
One character you get to view is Mario Rowley , the quarterback for the Raiders. Mario doesn’t really have that much confidence and he doubts himself. Even though Mario has this problem he has the drive and will on wanting the bring a championship to the town and to honor his parents whom which have passed away. The result didn’t go as what we would expect and the Raiders would lose the championship.
You don’t just read about the team , players , and the coaching but you get into the community of Belle Glades. The view and concerns of the parents are prominent and is projected throughout the book but you also get to go into the perspective of students that go to the high school.
Muck City is book that I had a joy reading and I’m not really too thrilled when reading a book. This is one of the better books I have read in a while and would recommend it to others especially if they enjoy football.
The Glades Central Raiders have had many players come out of their football program going to the NFL with some even getting picked during the first round. The community of Bell Glades is a poor community. Even though the Raiders have one of the more elite football programs they are poor. When the team has a tournament at FSU against other teams they would have to switch between jerseys because they did not have many. They also did not have a tent and food for the team when the other teams that participated in the tournament did.
One character you get to view is Mario Rowley , the quarterback for the Raiders. Mario doesn’t really have that much confidence and he doubts himself. Even though Mario has this problem he has the drive and will on wanting the bring a championship to the town and to honor his parents whom which have passed away. The result didn’t go as what we would expect and the Raiders would lose the championship.
You don’t just read about the team , players , and the coaching but you get into the community of Belle Glades. The view and concerns of the parents are prominent and is projected throughout the book but you also get to go into the perspective of students that go to the high school.
Muck City is book that I had a joy reading and I’m not really too thrilled when reading a book. This is one of the better books I have read in a while and would recommend it to others especially if they enjoy football.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 25, 2019
As someone who’s an athlete and doesn’t enjoy reading books, I would highly recommend taking the time to fully understand and reflect on this book. Reading this book will make you have many emotions and roller coasters throughout the chapters. You will feel sad, upset, happy, confused but most of all intrigued to learn about the struggles these people had to go through.
In this book you will read about a former football teammate Jessie Lee “Jet” Hester taking over as a coach of the team now ready to win a state championship for not only his team but for his hometown Belle Glades. There are two very important characters in this book and that is Kelvin Benjamin aka KB and Jamarious Rowley aka Mario. These two are very important players because you get to feel how these two go through things at home or just in their personal life and their only escape route is football.
This book shows a lot of emotion with having to deal with balancing out sports, family, and your own personal life. In the book, the character KB starts off as a self-absorbed person who doesn’t like to play with teammates but throughout the book who can see how much he improves and how much he breaks out of his shell. With the character Mario being the underdog of the team who can see how much he breaks out of his shell as well and become more of a leader than just a teammate. With these two working together their team became unstoppable.
I highly recommend reading this book it gives you a different aspect of life and how to deal with personal problems and still being able to keep pushing and not giving up. Especially for athletes who struggle under the pressure of dealing with school, sports, family etc… Reading this book was totally not a waste of time.
In this book you will read about a former football teammate Jessie Lee “Jet” Hester taking over as a coach of the team now ready to win a state championship for not only his team but for his hometown Belle Glades. There are two very important characters in this book and that is Kelvin Benjamin aka KB and Jamarious Rowley aka Mario. These two are very important players because you get to feel how these two go through things at home or just in their personal life and their only escape route is football.
This book shows a lot of emotion with having to deal with balancing out sports, family, and your own personal life. In the book, the character KB starts off as a self-absorbed person who doesn’t like to play with teammates but throughout the book who can see how much he improves and how much he breaks out of his shell. With the character Mario being the underdog of the team who can see how much he breaks out of his shell as well and become more of a leader than just a teammate. With these two working together their team became unstoppable.
I highly recommend reading this book it gives you a different aspect of life and how to deal with personal problems and still being able to keep pushing and not giving up. Especially for athletes who struggle under the pressure of dealing with school, sports, family etc… Reading this book was totally not a waste of time.
February 28, 2021
First off, let me give author Bryan Mealer his props for putting his life on the line to go study the Glades Central Raiders of Belle Glade, Florida. Belle Glade is one of the most impoverished cities in the state of Florida. If you're not a college recruiter or you don't live there, then don't take yourself over there. Mealer had an excellent story on his hands that's part of the reason why he went over there to do this book.
Meanwhile, within this book, Mealer gave you some Belle Glade city history, analysis of different Raider players and coaches, some excellent game recaps, and more. If you didn't like this book then you're either not a football fan or you can't recognize darn good writing when it's right in your face.
One of the interesting stories of this book, was how the Belle Glade football fans never gave head coach Jessie Hester his due or respect for making the Raiders a SUPER power in their league or in their division.
This book or at least that story on Hester's career at Glades Central, is a prime example that you can NEVER make people happy. He was the local kid who made it out of Belle Glade. Then he came back and put in time and money to help his community. But many of their fans, the school administration, and some of his own coaches on his staff stabbed him in the back or was shady towards him. This after compiling a 36-4 record from 2008-2010!!!!
336 pages of Belle Glade history and football stories. My kind of high school football narrative.
Meanwhile, within this book, Mealer gave you some Belle Glade city history, analysis of different Raider players and coaches, some excellent game recaps, and more. If you didn't like this book then you're either not a football fan or you can't recognize darn good writing when it's right in your face.
One of the interesting stories of this book, was how the Belle Glade football fans never gave head coach Jessie Hester his due or respect for making the Raiders a SUPER power in their league or in their division.
This book or at least that story on Hester's career at Glades Central, is a prime example that you can NEVER make people happy. He was the local kid who made it out of Belle Glade. Then he came back and put in time and money to help his community. But many of their fans, the school administration, and some of his own coaches on his staff stabbed him in the back or was shady towards him. This after compiling a 36-4 record from 2008-2010!!!!
336 pages of Belle Glade history and football stories. My kind of high school football narrative.
August 12, 2021
Muck City is about an unassuming community in Florida called Belle Glade. However, this town was an odd town on the grounds that consistently they delivered numerous NFL football players. This book is the means by which the group goes all over the nation playing other extraordinary football teams.
Muck City recounts the account of quarterback Mario Rowley, whose fantasy is to win a title for his perished guardians and calm the phantoms that frequent him. His lead trainer Jessie Hester, the town's first NFL star. And Jonteria Willliams, who should assemble her fantasy about turning into a specialist in one of the most unfortunate secondary schools in the country. Muck City tells the story of a neediness-stricken town that is loaded up with simply wrongdoing and treachery. Any secondary school young person can get this book and see how remorseless the world can be.
I can’t really relate to any of the characters in the book but I used to play football. After reading Muck City the reader will see the value in the things given to them throughout everyday life and acknowledge the amount more troublesome life can be. I personally enjoyed reading this book because the book is about football which makes it very interesting to me. I would recommend this book to anyone who preferences sports or football. I would likewise recommend this book to any individual who likes symbolism. The creator is great with symbolism.
Muck City recounts the account of quarterback Mario Rowley, whose fantasy is to win a title for his perished guardians and calm the phantoms that frequent him. His lead trainer Jessie Hester, the town's first NFL star. And Jonteria Willliams, who should assemble her fantasy about turning into a specialist in one of the most unfortunate secondary schools in the country. Muck City tells the story of a neediness-stricken town that is loaded up with simply wrongdoing and treachery. Any secondary school young person can get this book and see how remorseless the world can be.
I can’t really relate to any of the characters in the book but I used to play football. After reading Muck City the reader will see the value in the things given to them throughout everyday life and acknowledge the amount more troublesome life can be. I personally enjoyed reading this book because the book is about football which makes it very interesting to me. I would recommend this book to anyone who preferences sports or football. I would likewise recommend this book to any individual who likes symbolism. The creator is great with symbolism.
August 28, 2018
Any book of this subject matter is going to be compared to Friday Night Lights. There’s no way around it, and any author should certainly know that going in. FNL is the well deserved gold standard of books about high school sports in small and/or poor towns. It’s no disgrace for a book not to be as good, but it’s a disappointment when that book could have been better.
The poverty in Belle Glade, Florida is grinding and omnipresent, much more so than FNL, and that point is emphasized, with many, MANY statistics and anecdotes. It’s tough to make it out, and even the football players that do (many more than would seem possible, actually)have an unhappy tendency to return and to go downhill.
The book has many characters. Too many. Only a few are emphasized, but all of them come and go from the book and it’s very tough to keep them separate. The difficulty in upgrading education in Belle Glade is also a major theme.
This is a decent book, but it tries to be too many things to too many readers, and that’s its downfall in the end.
The poverty in Belle Glade, Florida is grinding and omnipresent, much more so than FNL, and that point is emphasized, with many, MANY statistics and anecdotes. It’s tough to make it out, and even the football players that do (many more than would seem possible, actually)have an unhappy tendency to return and to go downhill.
The book has many characters. Too many. Only a few are emphasized, but all of them come and go from the book and it’s very tough to keep them separate. The difficulty in upgrading education in Belle Glade is also a major theme.
This is a decent book, but it tries to be too many things to too many readers, and that’s its downfall in the end.
September 30, 2019
Almost identical to “Friday Night Lights.” Sub out oil for sugar cane, it’s the same story of the kids desperate to change their lives. There’s even a kid named “Boobie.”
Some flaws though. For being such a touted reporter, the author makes several mistakes in regards to the team playing two Texas teams messing up a score, misidentifying Abilene’s mascot and painting Denison as some sort of powerhouse when they weren’t and aren’t very good. If he messed up those things, no telling what else he missed or misrepresented.
Also, when the narrative switches to years passed, it’s often not clear nor is it obvious what year he’s talking about.
Finally, and this is a mistake often with stories about high school sports, it’s underreported how much these premier football schools depend on really talented kids moving into their district. That may be outright recruitment or kids looking for exposure. Often the author makes it seem like these kids are born into the “muck” when actually they’re signing up for the muck in exchange for a future.
Some flaws though. For being such a touted reporter, the author makes several mistakes in regards to the team playing two Texas teams messing up a score, misidentifying Abilene’s mascot and painting Denison as some sort of powerhouse when they weren’t and aren’t very good. If he messed up those things, no telling what else he missed or misrepresented.
Also, when the narrative switches to years passed, it’s often not clear nor is it obvious what year he’s talking about.
Finally, and this is a mistake often with stories about high school sports, it’s underreported how much these premier football schools depend on really talented kids moving into their district. That may be outright recruitment or kids looking for exposure. Often the author makes it seem like these kids are born into the “muck” when actually they’re signing up for the muck in exchange for a future.
January 10, 2023
As noted by other readers, this work probably would’ve made an excellent magazine article. I think it would excel as a long-form essay. In book form, the author work feels a bit padded out and unfocused. The book would benefit if Mealer would have focused on more select characters, tho it is a challenge to do this when covering an entire team. Mealer excelled at painting a history of poverty in Belle Glades and presenting the human side of the story. He has less command of game recap and football jargon. His narrative is so similar to Friday Night Lights but it lacks the command and focus of that book. In trying to frame so many characters, Mealer loses a bit of the clarity of his painting. It’s a fine piece of human profiling and an ok sports book.
October 15, 2018
Personally, I thought this book was a good read. The problem I had with the book was how the characters were developed, the number of characters, and the time between stories. This book was not written in a traditional style. The book follows multiple characters, and multiple story lines over several decades. In my opinion, this book follows too many characters. There was a new athlete being followed almost every thirty pages. The characters were developed very well for the page time they had, but each character was in and out, never seen again.
December 6, 2019
My word, did I fall hard into this book, especially considering how little I care about American football. (Truly, I don't care.) But I care about people, and Mealer presented a fully human story that had me invested in the kids' lives (particularly Mario). I don't live far from the Muck Cities, and knew some of the history before reading this book. Now I know more and better understand how that corner of Palm Beach was shaped. This world will find a million ways to break your heart. Recommended for lovers of narrative nonfiction.
September 13, 2017
The ending is what makes this book worth reading. The beginning is what gets you hooked. The middle is where you have to fight through. It gets a little bland and cliche (despite the truth) after the main characters are established. However, the whole story is needed to appreciate the ending. Worth the read despite the grudging trench in the middle.
March 3, 2023
This is reminiscent of Friday Night Lights, only set in Florida rather than Texas. Mealer does a fantastic job of telling the stories of the players' and coaches' hard lives outside of football. He makes you care for the characters, and the easy writing style kept me hooked.
February 3, 2017
3.5 stars. I grew up in an area where high school football was everything so I thoroughly enjoyed this. I especially related to the ties to the community.
April 30, 2019
Very good ! Highly recommend! This book is about way more than just football
October 12, 2019
great read especially for 9-12 gr. As a floridian, great insight to the struggles of small city with a strong drive to succeed. Eye opening
December 25, 2020
Very well done. I recommend it, especially if you live in SE Florida.
July 12, 2021
Excellent book with a nice look at high school football in an area poverty abounds. Great book.
July 24, 2025
Excellent story that needed a better editor (and maybe fewer characters). Bonus points for a mention of my coworker in the acknowledgments! 3.5/5
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