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Corey Sobel challenges tenacious stereotypes in this compelling debut novel, shedding new light on the hypermasculine world of American football. The Redshirt introduces Miles Furling, a young man who is convinced he was placed on earth to play football. Deep in the closet, he sees the sport as a means of gaining a permanent foothold in a culture that would otherwise reject him. Still, Miles's body lags behind his ambitions, and recruiters tell him he is not big enough to compete at the top level. His dreams come true when a letter arrives from King College.
The elite southern school boasts one of the best educations in America and one of the worst Division One football programs. King football is filled with obscure, ignored players like Miles -- which is why he and the sports world in general are shocked when the country's top recruit, Reshawn McCoy, also chooses to attend the college. As brilliant a student as he is a player, the intensely private Reshawn refuses to explain why he chose King over other programs.
Miles is as baffled as everyone else, and less than thrilled when he winds up rooming with the taciturn Reshawn. Initially at odds with each other, the pair become confidants as the win-at-all-costs program makes brutal demands on their time and bodies. When their true selves and the identities that have been imposed on them by the game collide, both young men are forced to make life-changing choices.
The elite southern school boasts one of the best educations in America and one of the worst Division One football programs. King football is filled with obscure, ignored players like Miles -- which is why he and the sports world in general are shocked when the country's top recruit, Reshawn McCoy, also chooses to attend the college. As brilliant a student as he is a player, the intensely private Reshawn refuses to explain why he chose King over other programs.
Miles is as baffled as everyone else, and less than thrilled when he winds up rooming with the taciturn Reshawn. Initially at odds with each other, the pair become confidants as the win-at-all-costs program makes brutal demands on their time and bodies. When their true selves and the identities that have been imposed on them by the game collide, both young men are forced to make life-changing choices.
325 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 13, 2020
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April 3, 2024
Real Rating: 4.5* of five, rounded down because I've got to wonder whose pockets this fits in?
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: Let's start with the easy bits: Clearly Author Sobel, football alum of DUKE University, knew the sports parts inside out. Clearly he understood the racism and exploitation inherent in King/Duke University inviting Black players to its program, and campus. And I strongly suspect he knew some closeted players. He himself is not gay, and it shows.
This is not a knock. The man understands viscerally the cost of hiding and sneaking. But he doesn't get the longing for a man to touch you and be touched by you because I'll wager he's never felt it. What he does get is the way love, real true first love, makes a man out of a boy. That part is absolutely crystal clear, and is the heart of my appreciation for this story. Reshawn the phenom's hatred for the entire enterprise of college football, possibly the game itself, gets serious exploration. It's counterpointed to Miles's "I-am-a-camera" absorption in the colors and the personalities and the panoply of the game's celebrants, as Author Sobel directly describes them:
It's not necessary to reproduce Zeller's blather about either rising or sliding, about choosing and losing. It's not like it makes any difference, but it does show the author's clear grasp of the milieu and his own keen perception of the performative and ritualistic elements of football at this school.
What the author also gets is what it takes to be Other in a world that has no room, no time, no oxygen for Otherness. What happens is cruel and vicious and mean-spirited. Miles is the most intensely tested character in this book and it is unbelievable to me that his power and strength could go unnoticed by the people around him. The adults clearly see it and clearly want it...but on their own terms.
The end of the story is not at all what one would expect it to be. The end of the story is, in so many ways, the end of childhood's sweet spot in adolescence and the entry of Miles...and Reshawn...into the dark, cold, stinking pool of adulthood. Reshawn is, like Miles himself, tested and comes through a man. The others? The team, the coaches, not one of them is anything other than a dupe. They're fools caught on the deck of Plato's ship of fools, all the worse because they see it and choose it.
I can't imagine all that many of my fellow queer gents are football-mad enough to want to wade through the games and practices. There's no compensatory sex to make the enterprise less...cishet...and that is deeply too bad. I think, if y'all can pry open your rage-sealed hatred for the way team sports treated you, you'll find a story about personal power, about truly accepting yourself and your place in this world, and about how important it is to know your friends are fully, completely there for you if you're to make any kind of success out of adult life. And thus how very satisfying Miles's story is. That is what you get; you should come experience it; and take some time to appreciate that this is not some lame fantasy of The Lockerroom, but the voice of experience telling you how it goes when it goes right.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: Let's start with the easy bits: Clearly Author Sobel, football alum of DUKE University, knew the sports parts inside out. Clearly he understood the racism and exploitation inherent in King/Duke University inviting Black players to its program, and campus. And I strongly suspect he knew some closeted players. He himself is not gay, and it shows.
This is not a knock. The man understands viscerally the cost of hiding and sneaking. But he doesn't get the longing for a man to touch you and be touched by you because I'll wager he's never felt it. What he does get is the way love, real true first love, makes a man out of a boy. That part is absolutely crystal clear, and is the heart of my appreciation for this story. Reshawn the phenom's hatred for the entire enterprise of college football, possibly the game itself, gets serious exploration. It's counterpointed to Miles's "I-am-a-camera" absorption in the colors and the personalities and the panoply of the game's celebrants, as Author Sobel directly describes them:
Here came the celebrant. Coach Zeller's vestments were a purple polo shirt, pressed white khakis, and unscuffed tennis shoes he reserved for games. He took his place at the head of the half circle, and once the last people squeezed inside and the doors closed he began his first pregame speech as King's head coach.
It's not necessary to reproduce Zeller's blather about either rising or sliding, about choosing and losing. It's not like it makes any difference, but it does show the author's clear grasp of the milieu and his own keen perception of the performative and ritualistic elements of football at this school.
What the author also gets is what it takes to be Other in a world that has no room, no time, no oxygen for Otherness. What happens is cruel and vicious and mean-spirited. Miles is the most intensely tested character in this book and it is unbelievable to me that his power and strength could go unnoticed by the people around him. The adults clearly see it and clearly want it...but on their own terms.
The end of the story is not at all what one would expect it to be. The end of the story is, in so many ways, the end of childhood's sweet spot in adolescence and the entry of Miles...and Reshawn...into the dark, cold, stinking pool of adulthood. Reshawn is, like Miles himself, tested and comes through a man. The others? The team, the coaches, not one of them is anything other than a dupe. They're fools caught on the deck of Plato's ship of fools, all the worse because they see it and choose it.
I can't imagine all that many of my fellow queer gents are football-mad enough to want to wade through the games and practices. There's no compensatory sex to make the enterprise less...cishet...and that is deeply too bad. I think, if y'all can pry open your rage-sealed hatred for the way team sports treated you, you'll find a story about personal power, about truly accepting yourself and your place in this world, and about how important it is to know your friends are fully, completely there for you if you're to make any kind of success out of adult life. And thus how very satisfying Miles's story is. That is what you get; you should come experience it; and take some time to appreciate that this is not some lame fantasy of The Lockerroom, but the voice of experience telling you how it goes when it goes right.
February 19, 2021
How could this reviewer pass up a story about a gay football player at a college that is an obvious stand-in for Duke University, especially when the gay player is named "Miles," and he plays as a "Will linebacker"? Yes, I had to look up the term "Will linebacker."
"The Redshirt" is a good debut novel by a former Duke football player, Corey Sobel. I intentionally did not research his own career at Duke, to prevent me from making comparisons between his life and Miles's. (Turns out that he is straight, which might explain why the feelings and emotions expressed by Miles as a young gay man did not always right true.) The novel opens in a bar in Brooklyn, where Miles is to meet a blind date. An NFL game is on the TV, and we see a player named Reshawn McCoy, a close friend of Miles when they played at Duke. Then Miles's blind date prompts him to fill in the details of his past, and Mr. Sobel starts the story again, recounting many of events leading up to the bar scene.
The author sensitively tells us the story of Miles's growing up "different" in a small Colorado town, and then winning a very much needed football scholarship at King College, in Blenheim, NC. He is apparently the only closeted player at King. Of course, we know that he might eventually have to come out, and the author keeps us in suspense about the circumstances. The reader develops a kinship with and understanding of Miles, whom we are always pulling for, despite some of his shortcomings and mistakes. Mr. Sobel also tells us the compelling story of Reshawn, who has had to make his own difficult choices, and ultimately, plays an unexpected pivotal role in Miles's football career.
The novel is about friendship, loyalty, betrayal, football, and bigotry, and the love of good literature and writers, particularly Melville, Whitman, and Dickinson. In some ways, the fictional college is also an important character (Mr. Sobel plainly loves Duke's beautiful campus, although he has made some changes in describing the layout and buildings).
The novel ends rather abruptly, and I would have liked more narrative to fill in the years between Miles's time at King and the present day.
One cavil was the unusual non-use of quotation marks (prevalent in too much modern fiction, including Sally Rooney's novels). Overall, I heartily recommend this good novel.
"The Redshirt" is a good debut novel by a former Duke football player, Corey Sobel. I intentionally did not research his own career at Duke, to prevent me from making comparisons between his life and Miles's. (Turns out that he is straight, which might explain why the feelings and emotions expressed by Miles as a young gay man did not always right true.) The novel opens in a bar in Brooklyn, where Miles is to meet a blind date. An NFL game is on the TV, and we see a player named Reshawn McCoy, a close friend of Miles when they played at Duke. Then Miles's blind date prompts him to fill in the details of his past, and Mr. Sobel starts the story again, recounting many of events leading up to the bar scene.
The author sensitively tells us the story of Miles's growing up "different" in a small Colorado town, and then winning a very much needed football scholarship at King College, in Blenheim, NC. He is apparently the only closeted player at King. Of course, we know that he might eventually have to come out, and the author keeps us in suspense about the circumstances. The reader develops a kinship with and understanding of Miles, whom we are always pulling for, despite some of his shortcomings and mistakes. Mr. Sobel also tells us the compelling story of Reshawn, who has had to make his own difficult choices, and ultimately, plays an unexpected pivotal role in Miles's football career.
The novel is about friendship, loyalty, betrayal, football, and bigotry, and the love of good literature and writers, particularly Melville, Whitman, and Dickinson. In some ways, the fictional college is also an important character (Mr. Sobel plainly loves Duke's beautiful campus, although he has made some changes in describing the layout and buildings).
The novel ends rather abruptly, and I would have liked more narrative to fill in the years between Miles's time at King and the present day.
One cavil was the unusual non-use of quotation marks (prevalent in too much modern fiction, including Sally Rooney's novels). Overall, I heartily recommend this good novel.
September 29, 2020
"The Redshirt" by Corey Sobel was a very interesting read and one I enjoyed very much!
The protagonist, Miles Furling, lives in Sillitoe, Colorado. He loves the game of football, has from the start and he's good at it. He believes a college scholarship to a first-rate school is within his reach. He also knows he can't go to college any other way because his family can't afford the tuition. But recruiters continually tell 16 years old Miles he's not big enough to play on a Division 1 Team. However, Miles is convinced he is D1 caliber and not willing to settle for anything less than the best in football and education, Miles patiently waits for the right offer. Before his final game in high school Miles receives an invitation to visit Kings College in Blenheim, North Carolina. He knows it's one of the best academic schools in the country but has the worst program in Division 1 football.
At Kings College, Miles roommate just happens to be the top recruit in the nation, Reshawn McCoy. Miles can't figure out why Reshawn chose to attend the college with the worst team in D1 Football when he could have chosen the best. But, Reshawn isn't talking! And, Miles isn't talking either! In fact, Miles hasn't mentioned to anyone that he's gay, EVER! Instead he chooses to continue to keep it secret, remain in the closet and blend-in with the football culture he fears will reject him if the truth about his sexuality is known.
I enjoyed this book and learned a few things about football that I didn't know before. I now know what a "redshirt" is and what it means to a player and the team. It seems there might be a significant correlation between the "redshirt" and Mile's "secret" in this coming-of-age story. Labels of any kind can be difficult to manage in the masculine and brutally competitive world of college football.
I understand the love of football, the drive to be the best, the benefits of playing and what it could mean for one's future! Winning is everything, college ball is huge and the revenue it brings to a town is huge, too! I live in Knoxville, TN: Home of the University of Tennessee Volunteer's! I understand the hype around football because it is everything to this town. Everything! When football season approaches out come's the "Big Orange" colors! People dye their hair orange, wear orange color clothing, paint their lips and nails orange. Some people go so far as to have their cars painted orange and their dogs dyed orange...well you get it, right!? Orange,orange,orange. EVERYWHERE!!!
A coming-of-age story along with a lesson in the dynamics of college football. We see our team on the field and we expect them to win every game. What we don't see is what they go through, both emotionally and physically, to get on that field and win it for us!
I highly recommend this book as a lesson to us all!
______________________________
Thank you to Goodreads and University Press of Kentucky for a new release copy of this book. This is my honest review.
The protagonist, Miles Furling, lives in Sillitoe, Colorado. He loves the game of football, has from the start and he's good at it. He believes a college scholarship to a first-rate school is within his reach. He also knows he can't go to college any other way because his family can't afford the tuition. But recruiters continually tell 16 years old Miles he's not big enough to play on a Division 1 Team. However, Miles is convinced he is D1 caliber and not willing to settle for anything less than the best in football and education, Miles patiently waits for the right offer. Before his final game in high school Miles receives an invitation to visit Kings College in Blenheim, North Carolina. He knows it's one of the best academic schools in the country but has the worst program in Division 1 football.
At Kings College, Miles roommate just happens to be the top recruit in the nation, Reshawn McCoy. Miles can't figure out why Reshawn chose to attend the college with the worst team in D1 Football when he could have chosen the best. But, Reshawn isn't talking! And, Miles isn't talking either! In fact, Miles hasn't mentioned to anyone that he's gay, EVER! Instead he chooses to continue to keep it secret, remain in the closet and blend-in with the football culture he fears will reject him if the truth about his sexuality is known.
I enjoyed this book and learned a few things about football that I didn't know before. I now know what a "redshirt" is and what it means to a player and the team. It seems there might be a significant correlation between the "redshirt" and Mile's "secret" in this coming-of-age story. Labels of any kind can be difficult to manage in the masculine and brutally competitive world of college football.
I understand the love of football, the drive to be the best, the benefits of playing and what it could mean for one's future! Winning is everything, college ball is huge and the revenue it brings to a town is huge, too! I live in Knoxville, TN: Home of the University of Tennessee Volunteer's! I understand the hype around football because it is everything to this town. Everything! When football season approaches out come's the "Big Orange" colors! People dye their hair orange, wear orange color clothing, paint their lips and nails orange. Some people go so far as to have their cars painted orange and their dogs dyed orange...well you get it, right!? Orange,orange,orange. EVERYWHERE!!!
A coming-of-age story along with a lesson in the dynamics of college football. We see our team on the field and we expect them to win every game. What we don't see is what they go through, both emotionally and physically, to get on that field and win it for us!
I highly recommend this book as a lesson to us all!
______________________________
Thank you to Goodreads and University Press of Kentucky for a new release copy of this book. This is my honest review.
February 4, 2021
Is it ok to call the writing style here butch?
So for all you butch gay men who read literary fiction, (Hands? Hands? Anybody? Anyhew...) who are interested in the intersection of homosexuality and sport, and not tired of the coming of age and coming out story, this is for you.
And I don’t mean to sound flippant here, I liked this. A lot. I just don’t know who to recommend this to.
The writing is solid, the story good and believable, the characters real. Fair warning: there are tangents that lost me: any lengthy descriptions of physical activity on the football field translated in my head to ‘they’re doin football things,’ and no matter the detailed description of the floor plan of the field house, I was still lost in a labyrinth.
So for all you butch gay men who read literary fiction, (Hands? Hands? Anybody? Anyhew...) who are interested in the intersection of homosexuality and sport, and not tired of the coming of age and coming out story, this is for you.
And I don’t mean to sound flippant here, I liked this. A lot. I just don’t know who to recommend this to.
The writing is solid, the story good and believable, the characters real. Fair warning: there are tangents that lost me: any lengthy descriptions of physical activity on the football field translated in my head to ‘they’re doin football things,’ and no matter the detailed description of the floor plan of the field house, I was still lost in a labyrinth.
November 22, 2022
THE REDSHIRT by Corey Sobel starts when sixteen year old Miles is recruited to play football for King University with a full scholarship. Miles is small for a linebacker, but King has the worst record in the division. He is roommates with Reshawn, the reluctant star recruit who would rather be studying than on the field. Miles deals with hazing and team politics while trying to move up to a starting position and coming to terms with his sexuality.
I am not a football fan. I don’t understand the scoring or the positions or anything about the game. I have spent many years avoiding the Super Bowl completely. And I loved this book. Miles is a great character who I was cheering for the entire book. He’s not exactly an underdog, but he’s at a disadvantage in many ways. Specifically, Miles is forced to be kept in the closet while striving to be a part of a hyper-masculine, aggressive institution. Several parts were very tense and hard to read, but also the story had several lovely sections with beautiful writing. I didn’t understand a lot of the technical side of the sport, but I still followed the story and even came to appreciate the sport a little more.
I thought the character of Reshawn was fascinating. He goes to King on a full scholarship. While other players take classes just to fill academic requirements, Reshawn wants nothing more than to learn, but he’s trapped just out of reach of his real dreams. If he didn’t have football, he couldn’t go to school. Yet, he doesn’t want to be a part of the team creating tension with his fellow players.
There’s something about gay sports dramas that really appeal to me. Maybe it’s because I’ve never played a team sport so the book may as well be science fiction. Yet, the struggle of coming out against concrete institutions filled with aggression and politics is always ripe for drama. Either way, I thought the novel was excellent and very readable. I couldn’t put it down.▪️
I am not a football fan. I don’t understand the scoring or the positions or anything about the game. I have spent many years avoiding the Super Bowl completely. And I loved this book. Miles is a great character who I was cheering for the entire book. He’s not exactly an underdog, but he’s at a disadvantage in many ways. Specifically, Miles is forced to be kept in the closet while striving to be a part of a hyper-masculine, aggressive institution. Several parts were very tense and hard to read, but also the story had several lovely sections with beautiful writing. I didn’t understand a lot of the technical side of the sport, but I still followed the story and even came to appreciate the sport a little more.
I thought the character of Reshawn was fascinating. He goes to King on a full scholarship. While other players take classes just to fill academic requirements, Reshawn wants nothing more than to learn, but he’s trapped just out of reach of his real dreams. If he didn’t have football, he couldn’t go to school. Yet, he doesn’t want to be a part of the team creating tension with his fellow players.
There’s something about gay sports dramas that really appeal to me. Maybe it’s because I’ve never played a team sport so the book may as well be science fiction. Yet, the struggle of coming out against concrete institutions filled with aggression and politics is always ripe for drama. Either way, I thought the novel was excellent and very readable. I couldn’t put it down.▪️
September 26, 2020
Full disclosure: the author is a dear friend.
That being said, I hugely enjoyed Corey Sobel's debut novel. It's set at King College in Blenheim, NC, which bears more than a passing resemblance to Duke, which Corey attended on a football scholarship. It follows the tortured tale of Miles, a scholarship football player from a modest family in Colorado, who is a fish out of water in many ways at this swank private college. First are the royalty, the privileged kids with social position and ease who set the tone for life at King, none of which Miles truly understands. Second, he's a football player on what has been one of the worst teams in Division 1, so these folks are most assuredly *not* campus stars.
Third, he's gay.
These factors, plus his complex roommate, a football superstar who wants to be a scholar, make for a fascinating and original entry in the coming-of-age genre. In fact, Miles is coming to grips with himself in so many ways - as an athlete, as a gay man, as a student, as a man.
Corey Sobel, although straight, has deep insight into Miles' layered psyche. I haven't spent this much time thinking about the intricacies of football - well, ever. And yet I was insistently drawn into Miles' world, and his head, as he survives grueling practices, trying to befriend his coaches and teammates, only to find himself drawn into a nest of betrayal.
After years of reading scripts, I am always delighted when a writer catches me by surprise. THE REDSHIRT took not one but two sudden turns I had utterly not anticipated.
A fast, insightful, delightful read.
That being said, I hugely enjoyed Corey Sobel's debut novel. It's set at King College in Blenheim, NC, which bears more than a passing resemblance to Duke, which Corey attended on a football scholarship. It follows the tortured tale of Miles, a scholarship football player from a modest family in Colorado, who is a fish out of water in many ways at this swank private college. First are the royalty, the privileged kids with social position and ease who set the tone for life at King, none of which Miles truly understands. Second, he's a football player on what has been one of the worst teams in Division 1, so these folks are most assuredly *not* campus stars.
Third, he's gay.
These factors, plus his complex roommate, a football superstar who wants to be a scholar, make for a fascinating and original entry in the coming-of-age genre. In fact, Miles is coming to grips with himself in so many ways - as an athlete, as a gay man, as a student, as a man.
Corey Sobel, although straight, has deep insight into Miles' layered psyche. I haven't spent this much time thinking about the intricacies of football - well, ever. And yet I was insistently drawn into Miles' world, and his head, as he survives grueling practices, trying to befriend his coaches and teammates, only to find himself drawn into a nest of betrayal.
After years of reading scripts, I am always delighted when a writer catches me by surprise. THE REDSHIRT took not one but two sudden turns I had utterly not anticipated.
A fast, insightful, delightful read.
January 4, 2021
An incredibly well-written and engaging debut novel that takes the reader into college football's locker room and the dynamics of one player (Miles Furling) trying to balance the hypermasculinity of the football culture with his own sexual orientation. Miles knows from a young age that he's gay and uses football as an outlet for his aggression against those who taunt and tease him. When Miles enrolls at King College he tries to acclimate into an environment that is notoriously unaccepting of his sexuality so he has to consciously mask who he is.
Not having the genetic makeup to play organized football, I can only trust that Mr. Sobel's portrayal of the locker room language is accurate. In fact, Mr. Sobel seems to impart some of himself into Miles - Sobel played linebacker at Duke University and wore the same number as Miles which provides more authenticity to his character. I look forward to more books by this author.
Not having the genetic makeup to play organized football, I can only trust that Mr. Sobel's portrayal of the locker room language is accurate. In fact, Mr. Sobel seems to impart some of himself into Miles - Sobel played linebacker at Duke University and wore the same number as Miles which provides more authenticity to his character. I look forward to more books by this author.
August 22, 2023
I haven't stayed up until midnight to finish a book in a long time, but after getting through the first 20% or so of Sobel's opening chapters I was hooked. I can't say that my experiences align exactly with the main character. However, there was enough connection and similarity that I was hooked immediately. This book is definitely one of the books that you would hear someone say, "I wish I had this book/story when I was younger." I have a very complicated relationship with football, as I would imagine most Americans do. And I deeply appreciated that Sobel integrated sports in a very interesting, thoughtful way -- which he references in his acknowledgements. I could see this novel paired with Chad Harbach's _The Art of Fielding_ for some interesting discussions, and I can see myself re-reading "Bartelby, the Scrivener" in a few days.
September 10, 2023
This story felt honest. The retrospective start echoes the way we hold onto experiences and memories as defining moments for who we are and where we're going. I felt that.
I enjoyed the pathway to and participating in D1 college football as a cultural site for exploring heteronormativity, coming out, and, to a lesser extent, race, class, and ability. The juxtaposition of privileges was awkward at times but ultimately stays true to the way certain types of people become conscious of their identities and perceptions. I related to that.
An impressive fiction entry for a university press. I would be curious to see more from this author.
I enjoyed the pathway to and participating in D1 college football as a cultural site for exploring heteronormativity, coming out, and, to a lesser extent, race, class, and ability. The juxtaposition of privileges was awkward at times but ultimately stays true to the way certain types of people become conscious of their identities and perceptions. I related to that.
An impressive fiction entry for a university press. I would be curious to see more from this author.
March 7, 2024
I didn't expect to love this as much as I did, but it's a terrific insight into the workings of college football, and the main character is a closeted, then not closeted player from a working class family. Money and pressure play roles on many levels in this wonderful novel.
The author knows the game, and also what surrounds the game at the college level. The dialog for the radio call in show had me rolling on the ground.
The author knows the game, and also what surrounds the game at the college level. The dialog for the radio call in show had me rolling on the ground.
September 17, 2025
Another romance novel that does not follow the regular path or guidelines of one. While there might not be the most deep, profound insights or characters, the conflict is laid out very well and the dialogue is super well written.
November 15, 2021
This is a story about identity. Miles Furling is a strong high school football player who hopes to use the sport as a way out of his small town and to a better life, even though he is convinced that will require him to remain in the closet. Unfortunately, his prospects for an athletic scholarship seem limited given he is not as physically large as most college football players in his position. But then he receives an invitation for a recruiting visit from King College, one of the nation's top universities in the South with one of the poorest performing Division 1 football teams -- and they end up offering him a scholarship. As surprised that Miles is to receive a scholarship, he is even more surprised when one of the nation's top recruits, Reshawn McCoy, also chooses to attend King.
Reshawn and Miles are assigned to be roommates. At first, they have a frosty relationship. Over time, they become closer as each comes to learn the other's secrets and the complications of their relationship with King football. As the performances of King football improves, due in large part to Reshawn, and the school and the program’s boosters become more invested in the team's success, the stakes for both Reshawn and Miles and the tensions between football and the other parts of their identies continue to rise and potentially threaten both their futures.
I thought this book was really strong. The author does an excellent job of creating a compelling and thoughtful story centered around three internal tensions. For Miles, we as readers see the strong tension between football, and his belief that it will be his ticket to a better life, and his sexuality and his pull to meaningful relationships. For Reshawn, we come to understand the role that football has come to play in his life at the same time he is clearly pulled to an academic life. And for the school, the author effectively portrays the tension between the athletics, particularly an underperforming team, and the academic mission of the university. In another author's hands, this could have become dry or ponderous. But here, the author has crafted a powerful and intriguing narrative, offering a great story combined with an insightful examination of issues around family, race, class, sexuality, and the role of athletics.
Highly recommended!
Reshawn and Miles are assigned to be roommates. At first, they have a frosty relationship. Over time, they become closer as each comes to learn the other's secrets and the complications of their relationship with King football. As the performances of King football improves, due in large part to Reshawn, and the school and the program’s boosters become more invested in the team's success, the stakes for both Reshawn and Miles and the tensions between football and the other parts of their identies continue to rise and potentially threaten both their futures.
I thought this book was really strong. The author does an excellent job of creating a compelling and thoughtful story centered around three internal tensions. For Miles, we as readers see the strong tension between football, and his belief that it will be his ticket to a better life, and his sexuality and his pull to meaningful relationships. For Reshawn, we come to understand the role that football has come to play in his life at the same time he is clearly pulled to an academic life. And for the school, the author effectively portrays the tension between the athletics, particularly an underperforming team, and the academic mission of the university. In another author's hands, this could have become dry or ponderous. But here, the author has crafted a powerful and intriguing narrative, offering a great story combined with an insightful examination of issues around family, race, class, sexuality, and the role of athletics.
Highly recommended!
October 26, 2020
There are so many worlds in which one can be viewed as less then. Some are created by oneself; some are created by the environment in which one is placed. The educational institution is one that defines these distinctions. In Sobel's novel, the high school and much more the college experience defines this sharp distinctions. One is judged by who is academically superior and by who is physically superior. The lines are rarely crossed.
The novel follows the college lives of Reshawn McCoy and Miles Furling, both talented football players and excellent students. Reshawn has reasons for excelling in football that go beyond the love of the game; Miles loves the respect that comes from the game, but is coming into himself and his realization of his sexuality. Living within the confines of the team and college parameters are stifling for both.
Sobel does an excellent job of portraying the world of college football and college life. He creates conflicts within the various team players friendships and competitiveness and reveals them to go beyond the stereotype.
Thanks to Edelweiss/Above the Tree for this electronic copy.
The novel follows the college lives of Reshawn McCoy and Miles Furling, both talented football players and excellent students. Reshawn has reasons for excelling in football that go beyond the love of the game; Miles loves the respect that comes from the game, but is coming into himself and his realization of his sexuality. Living within the confines of the team and college parameters are stifling for both.
Sobel does an excellent job of portraying the world of college football and college life. He creates conflicts within the various team players friendships and competitiveness and reveals them to go beyond the stereotype.
Thanks to Edelweiss/Above the Tree for this electronic copy.
November 30, 2024
This was just an ok book to me. The last 75 pages were really exciting but there were 242 pages before that and it took me a really long time to get to page 242. Yes, that’s partially my fault because I started this book at a really busy time of year, but it was kind of a slog until the last bit. Miles is a gay football player at an elite university that is supposed to be Duke. He is deeply in the closet but when his teammates discover he’s gay it basically ends his opportunity to play college sports. I had a hard time believing that he’d so easily let go of football, and a hard time believing that his teammate Reshawn, who desperately wanted to drop football but was the star player who also needed his football scholarship, would be so antagonistic the entire novel towards his coaches and the team. Anyway, I’m sure many players have been pushed out of sports due to their sexual orientation so that was not hard to believe. The relationship between players and coaches was probably spot on.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 22, 2021
I really liked this one although I feel at the same time that there's wasn't a point EXCEPT to look into another person's life. Usually I don't like that -- there has to be a purpose other than just to watch, such as being entertained, being frightened, etc. This one made you look into a character's life and actually FEEL something for them, so I guess that was the point. I also liked all the descriptions of football and practice. I'm not a football player, although I enjoy watching, but even being apart from that, it made me miss playing soccer. How Miles feels for his sport seems so genuine to me that it made me ache, and I'll again give this book a point for that. The review should really be a 4.5, with a half star off for very minor things, minor enough not to talk about. I highly recommend this book!
November 8, 2021
An interesting examination of college football and the interplay of homophobia and homoeroticism.
I learned of the book from the author’s article on lithub.com about football literature (as distinguished from football novels). When I saw that he was a former collegiate football player, I was intrigued, having read “If I Don’t Six,” by Elwood Reid, a former Michigan lineman. The two are the most prominent of genre I’d call ‘insider/outsider’ sports literature. These novels are written with a detachment that can only come from having been on the inside (as opposed to something like Chad Harbach’s “Set of Fielding,” which was so alien to team culture that it may as well have been translated from another language). In both, you get the sense of someone who’s spent a lifetime playing a game that he comes to resent, teammates from who he feels isolated.
Certainly worth a read.
I learned of the book from the author’s article on lithub.com about football literature (as distinguished from football novels). When I saw that he was a former collegiate football player, I was intrigued, having read “If I Don’t Six,” by Elwood Reid, a former Michigan lineman. The two are the most prominent of genre I’d call ‘insider/outsider’ sports literature. These novels are written with a detachment that can only come from having been on the inside (as opposed to something like Chad Harbach’s “Set of Fielding,” which was so alien to team culture that it may as well have been translated from another language). In both, you get the sense of someone who’s spent a lifetime playing a game that he comes to resent, teammates from who he feels isolated.
Certainly worth a read.
May 18, 2025
I’d rate this book 2.5 if I could. It was a quick and easy read, and it does an amazing job of evoking the life of a college football player in the south: the feel of the campus, the partying at the local dive bar, the drudgery of coursework… all of that is top-notch.
It fell flat for me on both characterizations (predictable, flat) and plot (cliched). Also, the author’s choice to not use quotations marks for dialogue and to occasionally not change paragraphs between speakers led to some weird and unnecessary confusion.
I think this was supposed to be a hard but uplifting coming-of-age story, but it kind of lost itself in itself, if that makes sense. And it ended so abruptly that I wondered whether I’d gotten a faulty e-book.
It fell flat for me on both characterizations (predictable, flat) and plot (cliched). Also, the author’s choice to not use quotations marks for dialogue and to occasionally not change paragraphs between speakers led to some weird and unnecessary confusion.
I think this was supposed to be a hard but uplifting coming-of-age story, but it kind of lost itself in itself, if that makes sense. And it ended so abruptly that I wondered whether I’d gotten a faulty e-book.
October 21, 2020
I simply couldn't get enough of this novel. Sobel does a masterful job with the storyline, character development, and social commentary. I am in full time graduate school, work a part time job and have two kids at home, and finished this novel in three days because I couldn't put it down. There is so much to unpack that I will be re-reading sooner rather than later. As a former collegiate athlete, the empathy I felt for the characters was unparalleled. Whether you're an avid football fan or just love a beautiful novel, this book is for you.
March 8, 2022
At first, Miles Furling plays football to fit in. By eighth grade he realizes that he is both gay and a football player. He earns a full football scholarship to the worst Division One football program and one of the best academic programs in the country. This is a novel about acceptance, friendship, and football. I don't know anything about football, but it's a charming novel!
Here's my New Books Network interview with author Corey Sobel: https://newbooksnetwork.com/corey-sob...
Here's my New Books Network interview with author Corey Sobel: https://newbooksnetwork.com/corey-sob...
September 8, 2023
I chose this book last December for my bookclub, but I have no memory of choosing it and it does not seem like a book I would choose.
A sports book about football is very different from my usual fare, but I gave it four stars and read it in about three days.
Even the plays and trainings were interesting to me, although some of them passed over my head. I couldn’t visualize a lot of the drills.
So where did this book come from and why did I select it? No clue, but it was a well-written story and I was caught up in it
A sports book about football is very different from my usual fare, but I gave it four stars and read it in about three days.
Even the plays and trainings were interesting to me, although some of them passed over my head. I couldn’t visualize a lot of the drills.
So where did this book come from and why did I select it? No clue, but it was a well-written story and I was caught up in it
October 5, 2023
A book about football 🏈 really can be a novel. An interesting coming of age story.
Because I don’t understand football, it’s very likely I missed a lot of the metaphorical meanings “hidden” in the text about plays, positions, stances, and so on.
In storytelling, I much prefer the Richmond soccer club’s response when Colin comes out, over the King football team’s response when Miles is outted. Attribute the difference to the coach in each case???
Because I don’t understand football, it’s very likely I missed a lot of the metaphorical meanings “hidden” in the text about plays, positions, stances, and so on.
In storytelling, I much prefer the Richmond soccer club’s response when Colin comes out, over the King football team’s response when Miles is outted. Attribute the difference to the coach in each case???
November 21, 2020
Wonderful novel. I can’t believe how much I loved a book that was so immersed in football. But it’s so much more than that. It’s a story of being gay and closeted in the hyper masculine football world. It’s a coming of age story. It’s about figuring out how to live your life the way you want. And more. Loved it!
April 23, 2021
I wanted to like this book more than I did. I’ve discovered it is very difficult, even for good writers, to embody young people. I did not care about the main love story because it was based on such a weak premise and I kept waiting for Reshawn to come around and for Miles and him to form something real. That never happened until the act that ended the book. Too late for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 29, 2021
Dang. I have so many feelings about this book. Football's toxic masculinity personified. And excused. And swept under the rug instead of dealt with. Sadly, I feel that this is the closer truth to a high caliber athlete coming out than the idealized version is like to imagine in my head. Super powerful, though I still don't understand why Rashawn was such a butt the whole time.
September 26, 2020
The characters and setting of The Redshirt will stay with you long past the end of the book. The writing is a fascinating blend of in your face prose blended with poetry. The issues addressed are dealt with in a unique way which left me searching still, seeking further, wanting more.
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October 13, 2020"Corey Sobel’s magnificent debut novel, The Redshirt, exposes the hypermasculinity of collegiate football as a freshman starts at a Division One school."
Reviewed for Foreword Reviews.
Reviewed for Foreword Reviews.
October 21, 2020
Convincing both as a sports book that conveyed knowledge about its sport without losing its story in terminology, and as a convincing portrait of complex characters across backgrounds and orientations that couldn't have been simple to write about.
Read
October 26, 2020Read the eARC. I have mixed feelings about this book. Also, it's difficult to discuss the book because the frame story has an opening but no closing; and has details that don't match what occurs in the recollection (main) part.
January 25, 2021
Heard about this on a podcast (don't remember which one). Somewhat interesting journey of a young gay man making his way through college as a Division 1 football player. Used some weird punctuation conventions and the writing felt inconsistent at times. An interesting concept.
February 14, 2021
A fine read and certainly relevant to my interests. But I struggled to buy into the major relationships in the book, and while I’m drawn like a moth to the closeted player in a toxic masculine environment storyline, I feel like I should and do want different and more complex queer stories.
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