Big Ten Country: A Journey Through One Football Season

I have just become the first person in ten years to read this book from cover to cover. A compatriot of mine could only handle a few chapters before he had to abort out of boredom. I however enjoyed torturing myself by reading about odd customs and traditions around the Big 10 conference circa 1988. Bob Wood also excells in using the words "crisp" and "quaint" at least twice a page. He also goes overboard with the number of exclamation marks and gets excited over simple things such as a restaurant, "that even had an entire bottle of Heinz Ketchup on the table!" Read this book if you want to laugh in a way the author didn't intend.

This book is a great read for Big Ten fans. Author details the best spots and hang outs on each campus for a game day Saturday. For Big Ten grads, it evokes fond memories of the good old days and gives good tips on the best way to enjoy all the campuses when your following your school to a road game.

This is a terrific book capturing the essence of die-hard Big Ten football. The book was published in 1989 so it is a little dated, some places mentioned, such as Papa Joe's in Columbus, don't exist anymore. Nonetheless, Bob Woods moves from week to week through one season, vividly describing the sights, sounds and atmosphere of each Big Ten (before Penn State) campus. My husband and I follow the University of Iowa through every season and both concur that the author has painted an accurate picture of football fall in the midwest.