The Eleventh Man

By: Ivan Doig

Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte

Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's Summary

Driven by the memory of a fallen teammate, TSU's 1941 starting lineup made Montana football history, charging through the season undefeated. Two years later, the "Supreme Team" is caught up in World War II. Ten of them are scattered around the globe in the war's various lonely and dangerous theaters. The 11th man, Ben Reinking, has been plucked from pilot training by a military propaganda machine hungry for heroes. Man by man, he is to chronicle the adventures of his teammates for small-town newspapers across the country, like the one his father edits. Ready for action, he chafes at the assignment, little dreaming that it will bring him love from an unexpected quarter and put to the test the law of averages, which holds that all but one of his teammates should come through the conflict unscathed. A deeply American story, The Eleventh Man is Ivan Doig's most powerful novel to date.

©2008 Ivan Doing (P)2008 Recorded Books, LLC

All unfair in love and war

I've been a Doig fan for ages. I must admit to some bias here, because I am from Montana. I was a bit worried when I signed on for this saga that Doig's gift as a word magician may have been getting away from him, but once you agree to go along with the conceit at the heart of it, the story is emotionally wrenching and wonderfully told. I am happy to say that the man from Montana is still going strong. This is one hell of a story-- almost straight out of Hollywood.

Thanks to a self- promoting, belligerent sportscaster and a Colonel who sees an opportunity to do a little propaganda back home, a dream team of Montana football players are enlisted to represent American everymen in World War II.

One of them, the son of a newspaperman, is selected to tell their stories and eventually write their obituaries. He doesn't realize it at first, but his appointment is a misery-making job.

To top it off he falls in love with another soldier's wife, a proud pilot, as it turns out. Download and listen to this one. You'll be happy you did.

Didn't really care for it.

I read Ivan Doig's "the whistling season" and really liked it. It was well thought out, indepth and had well developed charactors. Based on a good premise and was fun to read.

The Eleventh man didn't start well for me. I didn't care for the narrator, his voice sounded flat and monotone.

I did like the story in the beginning, the talk about the football team and the hard coach, but once the war started it just seemed to forced and contrived and didn't have any feeling and depth to it. I knew what the outcome was going to be.

After listening to the book for a while I did get used to the narrators voice and did not distract me as much as in the beginning. He will never be a favorite to listen to. In the future I will have to weight how much I want to listen to a book if he is the narrator.

I recommend that you preview the book to see if you like what you hear.

good narrator stupid book

I couldn't finish it. It didn't seem to have a point. Just lots of people dying in different situations. Don't bother. I liked another book by Ivan Doig and took a chance on this one.

Thanks.

As the son of a WW2 vet this book was more than a but of history to me. A great love story, happy, sad, wondrous and then some!!

another great book by ivan doig

I liked the way it showed the different parts of ww2 through the eyes of a war correspondent. I also liked the way the characters connected because of being on a high school football team. well done.

Another Doig masterpiece

A lot of research done for this one - narrator is fantastic. There is a lot of "flavor" in this story. I'll be listening to it again someday