High School Wrestling Novel Champions a noble sport

Glenn Anderson's A BROWN BAG LIFE is a story of a high school wrestling team and its young coach, touching on many facets of contemporary life. John Keats' Eve of St. Agnes plays a role in foreshadowing the romantic aspect of the novel. Anderson's literary cadence has been compared to Edna Ferber's.

Columbia, MO (PRWEB) January 24, 2004 --A novel about wrestling. A book about redemption. A story about life.

Even before attending journalism school at the University of Missouri, Glenn Anderson knew he would write a novel. He just never dreamed that his first subject would be about the sport of wrestling.

Not one to read introductions to books, Mr. Anderson stumbled upon two introductions - one by George Plimpton, the next by John Grisham ― that inspired him to give back to a sport which molded his adolescent, as well as his young adult, life.

An adequate wrestler at Manasquan High School in New Jersey, Mr. Anderson drifted away from the sport upon entering college at Missouri. Shortly after returning to New Jersey in 1987, he became involved in both scholastic and pee wee wrestling. And, for the next eight years, all the camaraderie, successes, failures and hardships he had experienced as a high school grappler were rekindled ― first as an assistant coach, then as a head coach.

It was the most exhilarating and memorable time of my life," Anderson recalled. Coaching wrestling makes you take a hard look at yourself and the young men who need guidance. When the hard times are at hand, you wonder if the decisions you make are correct. When the high times hit, well, it makes you feel like youve passed on a good piece of yourself."

After moving back to Missouri in 1995, Mr. Anderson started to notice the effects Title IX was having on the sport of wrestling (e.g., the shutting down of college wrestling programs). He wanted to somehow raise the awareness of the dedication that wrestlers, coaches, family and fans exhibit for their sport, and A Brown Bag Life was born.

I treated it as a second job," he said, referring to writing the novel in 1998. I would sit down every day in complete silence and start writing in longhand. On the weekends, I would type up what I had. In four months, I had a book."

The fictional account, targeted for an adult audience, is of a parochial high school coach in the Shore Conference in New Jersey. Not wanting to be anywhere in particular in life, Coach Thomas McCloskey finds himself willingly pulled into the sport he wanted so desperately to forget. One practice at a time, one match at a time, one season at a time, Thomas Patrick McCloskey finds meaning creeping back into his world.

A Brown Bag Life. Its a novel about wrestling. A book about redemption. A story about life.

Glenn Anderson was born in Spring Lake, NJ. He lived with his family in Queens, NY, until age 11. His family took permanent residence in NJ where he lived until moving to Missouri in 1995. Mr. Anderson graduated from the University of Missouri with degrees in journalism and history. He currently lives in Columbia, Mo., with his wife and their two cats.

CONTACT:
Holly Gieseke, Publicist
A BROWN BAG LIFE
Email: Holly_Gieseke@yahoo.com
Websites: www.TheDeerstand.net, www.BuyBooksOnTheWeb.com (bbotw.com)