Let's get this out of the way right of the bat: To say Million Dollar Baby: Stories From The Corner is a book about boxing is akin to saying Moby Dick is a book about fishing. It touches on the truth but misses the point entirely. Sure, all the "stories from the corner" involve boxing. And they feature people involved in fighting. And yes, they take place in seedy gyms and boxing arenas. OK, OK, I admit, they really are about...
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Mr. Toole's short stories takes inside the ropes, in the gyms. His writing is so vivid that you can smell the linament and feel the punches. His style is filled with nuance. The stories are heart breaking. What a shame that he did not live long enough to enjoy his success and gives us more great writing.
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One of the grittiest, heart pumping books I have ever read. 6 stories all related to boxers, their trainers, cutmen and the eerie lifes that surround them. From a crooked fighter trying to rip off a cutman, to a young woman trying to convince an older trainer to be the first woman to be trained, to a story in the backdrop of the L.A. riots of the early 90's. I felt anger, sorrow, pride and happiness throughout. Waiting for...
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The story for which the book is titled, Rope Burns, is, indeed, an astonishing performance. And in all the stories every nuance is correct, authentic. Every piece of dialog frightenly accurate. Chillingly real. Toole has obviously heard these voices and altho like many Irish writers his stories are, well, not uplifting, they are incredible -- and moving -- slices of life. If you want to see, hear and feel what's it's like...
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Yes, its a book about boxing - mainly. But its much more than that. Toole - and its hard to believe that this is his first book - is a natural writer with a fantastic sense of drama, conversation, and place. I read a great piece in the New York Times about Toole - and I hope he's writing a memoir next. I highly recommend.
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