The Gloves: A Boxing Chronicle

Addictive, Exciting and Honest Look At Amateur Boxing 4.75 Stars George Plimpton is quoted as having said that The Gloves "As good a book as any I've read about the sport" - not exactly a ringing endorsement and I was a little worried - This is actually a great book right from the start. I was immediately hooked and addicted to his trainer's (Milton) style of fighting - something about the concept of Southpaw's just grabs me and especially a non-natural Southpaw - anyway that's what truly hooked me in. The story is true - and the experience of reading Anasi's practice and journey through the world of amateur boxing is so real and compelling that you just can't put the book down. The characters and people he meets and trains with are very interesting and he does such a great job in retelling his tale. There was a point where the book dragged a bit, but as a whole it's a great story. It's an impressive, exciting and honest look at amateur boxing, of amateur boxers and the sport of boxing in general. Great book - give it a read.

"As both a writer and a boxer, Robert Anasi hears the fight game's music twice as loud. The result: a soundtrack for the wounded and the healing; for the seasoned veteran and the baffled student. With lilting precision Anasi captures the grace, the courage, and the madness of a boxer's everyday life. In a time when Boxing Books written by Journalists, Novelists, and Academics are as common as bloody noses, "The Gloves" is unique in that it offers a reader rare insights and observations from the fighter's point of view. Anasi's boxing skills may only allow him to compete at the amateur level, but as a writer he's gone straight to the pros."

I must say at the start I have never been a boxer and not a follower of the sport, however, this book was most enjoyable to me and well explained the joy of boxing and the highs and lows experienced along the way. The author is a good writer and as he lived the subject matter, we are led into the life of a wannabe fighter. I was totally unaware of the positive side of boxing and realized far more athletes in hockey, football and auto racing die or become maimed than in boxing. If you wish to find out why boxing could be appealing to you, read the book.

Robert Anasi... decided to enter the Golden Gloves at age thirty-three, in the last year that he was eligible. It was something he'd thought about since he took up boxing in his twenties, mostly as a way to stay in shape, but with the chance to pursue a dream slipping away, he finally went for it. He even signed on with a tough but talented trainer, Milton LaCroix, a man with a reputation for being difficult to work with--he's apparently alienated everyone involved in New York's boxing world--but also a reputation for turning out good, though unorthodox, fighters. Mr. Anasi's chronicle, which combines elements of George Plimpton style participatory sportswriting with in-depth reportage, nicely captures both the qualities that make boxing alluring--the colorful cast of characters; the dedication required; the physical challenge; the savage beauty of a punch well thrown and a fight wellfought; there's even an amusingly heartfelt paean to sweat--and those that make it repulsive--the genuine danger of injury; the exploitation of fighters by greedy managers and promoters; the serious questions that surround even the judging of an amateur bout and the draw for a tournament bracket. As in all the best of such accounts, he succeeds in capturing this dying subculture in its entirety, warts and all, while conveying his obvious love for it. He tells the stories of the people he meets along the way with great sympathy but also with brutal honesty, a combination that might only be possible from a Sarah Lawrence graduate who's also fought enough to begin experiencing neurological effects--memory loss. Mr. Anasi subjects himself to the same tough but fair treatment as he seeks to understand his own obsession and what seems to have been a final bout victory but ended up a loss. In the end he concludes that for all the problems that attend boxing, there is something uniquely worthwhile that occurs within the ring itself, a meeting of one man with another on terms of complete equality, a meeting that though it ends in victory for only one, ends in mutual respect between the two. If you're a boxing fan, or used to be, you'll certainly love the book. If you hate boxing you'll find much here to justify your hatred. If you've never understood the attraction of the sport you will after reading it. Most of all, if you like good storytelling, superior cultural reporting, and quality writing, you'll find them all here, and you'll enjoy them even if you don't care about boxing. It's an impressive debut and if it wins the readership it deserves may well become a classic along the lines of Paper Lion, Muscle, Friday Night Lights or Pat Jordan's A False Spring.

What an engossing book, ended up staying up all night to read it. We're big Golden Gloves fans and this book brought us right into the inner world of the Gloves, the descriptions and characterizations are rich and lyrical and ring true. Anasi has a genuine and engaging style. He is curious and a wonderful guide to a world that not many people know or even imagine unless they've been there. While it was particularly fun to read the book during this year's Golden Gloves season and see some of the boxers mentioned fight their way to the finals, I think anyone who loves boxing will find something to enjoy here.