Finalist for the National Book Award in Fiction

Winner of The Paris Review's Terry Southern Prize for Humor

"Chris Bachelder is a witty, compassionate troublemaker, and we need more like him." -- George Saunders

Here is the absorbing story of twenty-two men who gather every fall to painstakingly reenact what ESPN called "the most shocking play in NFL history" and the Washington Redskins dubbed the "Throwback Special": the November 1985 play in which the Redskins' Joe Theismann had his leg horribly broken by Lawrence Taylor of the New York Giants live on Monday Night Football.

With wit and great empathy, Chris Bachelder introduces us to Charles, a psychologist whose expertise is in high demand; George, a garrulous public librarian; Fat Michael, envied and despised by the others for being exquisitely fit; Jeff, a recently divorced man who has become a theorist of marriage; and many more. Over the course of a weekend, the men reveal their secret hopes, fears, and passions as they choose roles, spend a long night of the soul preparing for the play, and finally enact their bizarre ritual for what may be the last time. Along the way, mishaps, misunderstandings, and grievances pile up, and the comforting traditions holding the group together threaten to give way.

The Throwback Special is a moving and comic tale filled with pitch-perfect observations about manhood, marriage, middle age, and the rituals we all enact as part of being alive.

• We started tracking this book on March 12, 2016.
• This book was $16.85 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 64 times in the past 3,451 days.
• The current price of this book is $2.99 last checked 5 hours ago.
• This book is at its lowest price in the past year.
• The lowest price to date was $1.99 last reached on April 20, 2018.
• This book has been $1.99 one time since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $17.28 last reached on March 15, 2016.
• This book has been $17.28 2 times since we started tracking it.

• Publication Date: April 25, 2025
• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 215 Pages
• File Size: 31 KB