The Cockfighter

Cock fightingis a fierce, take-no-prisoners battle. At times, as we discover in Frank Manley's lean, movingly drawn debut novel, coming of age can also be a protean struggle. Twelve-year-old "Sonny," the only name he is given, lives with his parents in a trailer beneath the shadow of Snake Nation Mountain. His momma longs to hold him close; his daddy, Jake Cantrell, raises fighting cocks for a living, and wants the boy to emulate him. Sonny is so anxious to oblige, to be a man that he views his mother as "...a hundred-pound weight dragging him back. If she had her way, he'd be a girl." Paying the ultimate compliment, Jake gives Sonny his prize cock, a champion, a three-time winner, and is going to allow the boy to pit him. The cock is a Gray; Sonny names him Lion because his daddy had told him that "Of all the animals in the world, the cock and the lion are the only ones steadfast." Explaining that "the wilder they are, they better they fight," Jake orders Sonny to stay away from the cocks lest he tame them. Nonetheless, the boy loves Lion, and when he lifts the cock out of his cage to put him in a traveling case, he can't resist holding him in his arms, "pressing him against his chest with both hands the way he would a cat or a puppy." Surely there can't be many more dismally offensive places than the low bleacher banked buildings dotted with sawdust sprinkled pits where gamecocks fight to their deaths. Mr. Manley projects these scenes, as well as the fierce battles during which the animals gaff one another, with unsparing reality. As plans are made for Sonny to present Lion, Jake hopes to win big, gaining the sympathy of the crowd with a boy handler. Homer, his momma's alcoholic brother will help them by taking bets. The telling moment comes when Sonny and Lion are on their own in a hogwire fenced pit facing a cunning snakeskin booted Tennessee handler who twists the gaff each time he pulls it from Lion's body. As Lion's wounds increase in severity, Sonny looks to a referee who refuses to interfere. Perhaps for Sonny the events of this day will be a landmark in his life, as that is when he realizes that he is not like his father nor would he wish to be. The beauty and the answer, he discovers, is found in each of us being different. That's hard won knowledge for the boy and how he expresses this realization is found in the story's disturbing but perhaps inexorable conclusion, leaving the reader at a loss as to whether to smile or weep at Sonny's loss of innocence. With The Cockfighter Mr. Manley offers a psychologically deep, fully imagined coming-of-age tale rife with pain and possibility. - Gail Cooke

Frank Manely expertly weaves a tale of one family's struggle. The story is that of a thirteen-year-old boy who assists his father who raises roosters. Sonny, the son of Jake and Lily, is finally going to be allowed to handle the roosters at the cockfights. The big day arrives and the prize rooster, is prepared to fight. However Sonny has made a pecadillo, he did not notice that Lion has "the white head." This aillment will cause Lion to die. Manely's characters captivate.

thank you for your review of "one weak to freedom"

I got this as a Christmas present, and it only took about 2 hrs to read. I was more interested in the descriptions of the fight than in the characters, so for me it was distracting when the author skipped from one character to another. I enjoyed the dad's attitude about money: he didn't seem to have any, but he didn't seem too bothered to lose a lot. I am ready for a sequel where either the boy or his dad gets a new bird and cleans up. Where was this set such that the fighting was legal? I missed that. The man from Tennessee was the best, him or the referree. Overall, super book. Go for it. FD