Sport of the Month is Boxing
Welcome to my overly earnest blog. Once in a while this will be funny.
So the sport of the month is boxing. It started with an excellent book:
The Gloves by New Yorker Robert Anasi. I won't go into a review here,
just a strong recommendation. Even if boxing doesn't interest you and
maybe especially if you hate it I suggest that this will be a worthwhile
read. Not a conventional 'journey into boxing' book for at least a couple
of reasons.
a) Anasi is (was?) an amateur boxer himself and this book is as much autobiographical as it it an insider look kind of thing. After laying off boxing for several years he is nagged with the feeling that he was never really a boxer because he never entered the Golden Gloves. At age 33, his last year of eligibility, he hooks up with a maverick trainer with maybe way too much personality and just goes for it.
b) This Anasi guy is just really interesting. I don't know of many boxers who cite French theory, Balzac, Susan Sontag in their books or in their blogs. He is also possessed by, lets call them doubts or maybe questions is easier, questions about his own masculinity and masculinity in the broader social context (and very much with masculinity and race). Add to this the persistent presence of his own aging body (or at least I think that he sees it that way, shit I hope that 33 does not constitute 'aging' but it is certainly a time of reflection for most and the physical body seems close to the apex), analysis of race and class in New York City and wonderful portraits of gym life, a few intangibles and a crisp prose style and you've got a really decent read. The most compelling boxing book I've read, well, maybe ever but I don't want to be too dramatic.
Check out his blog here.
I guess I did write a bit of a review.
So the sport of the month is boxing. It started with an excellent book:
The Gloves by New Yorker Robert Anasi. I won't go into a review here,
just a strong recommendation. Even if boxing doesn't interest you and
maybe especially if you hate it I suggest that this will be a worthwhile
read. Not a conventional 'journey into boxing' book for at least a couple
of reasons.
a) Anasi is (was?) an amateur boxer himself and this book is as much autobiographical as it it an insider look kind of thing. After laying off boxing for several years he is nagged with the feeling that he was never really a boxer because he never entered the Golden Gloves. At age 33, his last year of eligibility, he hooks up with a maverick trainer with maybe way too much personality and just goes for it.
b) This Anasi guy is just really interesting. I don't know of many boxers who cite French theory, Balzac, Susan Sontag in their books or in their blogs. He is also possessed by, lets call them doubts or maybe questions is easier, questions about his own masculinity and masculinity in the broader social context (and very much with masculinity and race). Add to this the persistent presence of his own aging body (or at least I think that he sees it that way, shit I hope that 33 does not constitute 'aging' but it is certainly a time of reflection for most and the physical body seems close to the apex), analysis of race and class in New York City and wonderful portraits of gym life, a few intangibles and a crisp prose style and you've got a really decent read. The most compelling boxing book I've read, well, maybe ever but I don't want to be too dramatic.
Check out his blog here.
I guess I did write a bit of a review.
posted by Billy Jack at 8:30 PM
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