DREAM SEASON: A Professor Joins America's Oldest Semi-Pro Football Team

Cowser, an English professor at Saint Lawrence University in upstate New York, offers an affable, unassuming account of his recent experience in his early 30s of playing for the Watertown Red & Black. Aside from describing the physical shock of returning to such a punishing sport (he's been away from it since high school), Cowser also depicts the culture clash as an academic strives to fit in with and earn the respect of a group of blue-collar workers. He tells his story with honesty and humility. For instance, when Cowser scores a huge play, he doesn't receive or even fantasize about the adulation of his teammates. He gets a thump on the pads, a nod and the hint that it's time to move on and get back to the line for another snap. That's enough to make Cowser's style endearing, even if the book doesn't necessarily draw readers into his adventure. After all, there's just so much that guy-to-guy camaraderie and a loosely predictable sports theme can do to be engaging. Though the book does boast a quietly triumphant ending, it's much like the level of football it chronicles: it means a lot to the people who are playing, but lacks the pull to excite a larger audience. Agent, Suzanne Gluck. (Oct.)