infinitely more grace, while Narvel Blue overcomes racism in the South to become a successful restaurateur. As each day passes, Grey falls farther away from his moments of glory. And with each passing day, his relevance, sense of place, and his grasp of the world around him fade until he is diminished to little more than a ghost. Speculation on sources Some have said that the main character in the novel is based on Charlie "Choo-Choo" Justice, a real-life North Carolina football star. Then, after the movie was released, simply because the film had been relocated to Louisiana, there were rumors that Deford had based Gavin Grey on LSU's All-American running back, Billy Cannon. Deford has always vigorously denied that the character of Gavin Grey was based on any real person, but was, in fact, a composite of many college stars he had known in several sports. "Never met Justice or Cannon, and hardly knew anything about them." he says. Critical reception Kirkus Reviews wrote that "the pathos of the ex-sports star who lives in the past has by now become a book/movie cliche; and Sports Illustrated editor Deford (The Owner) ends up by tossing in just about every ironic, tear-jerking gimmick that goes with the territory." References 1981 American novels American novels adapted into films American football books American sports novels Novels set in North Carolina University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Fiction set in the 1950s it:Un amore una vita ru:Стопроцентный американец для всех (фильм)