Track C · History / Sports
The Mosquito Bowl
A Game of Life and Death in World War II
Buzz Bissinger
History / World War II / Sports
Synopsis
On Christmas Eve 1944, on the island of Guadalcanal, two regiments of U.S. Marines — packed with former college football stars — played a legendary game they called the Mosquito Bowl. Within months, many of those players would be dead at Okinawa. From the author of Friday Night Lights, this is the extraordinary true story of the game, the men, and the war that awaited them.
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Buzz Bissinger
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See events →4-week reading schedule
Track your journey
Your progress
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0 / 12 tasks
Week 1
Chapters 1–6
College Football's Golden Boys
Week 2
Chapters 7–12
From Campuses to the Pacific
Week 3
Chapters 13–18
The Mosquito Bowl
Week 4
Chapters 19–End
Okinawa & What Was Lost
Discussion
Bring these to the table
Prompt 01 · The Mosquito Bowl
“Why did this game matter so much to the men who played it?”
Prompt 02 · The Mosquito Bowl
“How does Bissinger balance the joy of sport with the horror of war?”
Prompt 03 · The Mosquito Bowl
“Which player's story affected you most?”
Prompt 04 · The Mosquito Bowl
“What does the Mosquito Bowl reveal about that generation?”
Prompt 05 · The Mosquito Bowl
“How does this book change the way you think about sports and sacrifice?”