Synopses & Reviews
Following his remarkable fiction debut, Rope Burns, author F. X. Toole's Pound for Pound is a big, brawny novel of honor, perseverance, family, and forgiveness, set in towns where violence is the norm and success stories take on an almost mythic importance. It is the story of Dan Cooley, an aging, legendary Los Angeles trainer, who takes on Chicky Garza, a troubled young fighter hungry for glory in the notoriously corrupt San Antonio boxing circuit. Written in the masterful style that has earned the author glowing comparisons to Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Carver, and Frank McCourt, this unforgettable posthumous novel celebrates a unique and powerful bond, and the courage that overcomes insurmountable obstacles in and out of the ring.
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“Powerful and very readable...Tooles deep love of boxings rituals, traditions, and code of honor shines through.” Library Journal
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“. . . the reader thanks Mr. Toole here, and forever after, for his last and greatest work.” San Francisco Chronicle
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“...memorable characters, gritty authenticity and spare, energetic writing.” USA Today
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“Toole, a page-turning writer with guts. . .” Detroit Free Press
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“Tooles sentences are tough, spare and full of his obvious belief in the solace of friendship and forgiveness.” Kansas.com
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“F.X. Toole is bigger in death than he was in life.” San Antonio Express-News
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“‘Pound for Pound contains some of the most lucidly crystalline descriptions of boxing...F.X. Toole was an extraordinary talent...” Los Angeles Times
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“[Tooles] a page-turning writer with guts and heart. . .” Charlotte Observer
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“Gripping. . . [Toole] can rest easy the task has been aced.” People
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“. . .engaging. . . riveting. . .” Seattle Times
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“The brutality of boxing ties this book together, but Toole also understands what makes people love it.” Hartford Courant
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“A stunning cap to a short but brilliant writing career.” Publishers Weekly, starred review
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“POUND FOR POUND is that most absorbing of pleasures, a great boxing novel.” TIME Magazine
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“The true appeal in Tooles writing is in detail and in his ability as a pure storyteller.” Philadelphia Inquirer
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“That this posthumous novel is the last such gift well receive from a great writer makes it even more special.” Richard Russo
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“The characters are irresistible, and their gritty, savage, strangely noble world is vividly evoked.” Kirkus Reviews, starred review
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“The savagery of “Pound for Pound” is inextricably melded with profound sweetness. Thats how F.X. Toole saw the world.” The Oregonian (Portland)
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“. . . there is no quit in them, nor was there in Toole...he wrote with a boxers heart.” Sports Illustrated
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“Toole writes beautifully . . . an homage to the resiliency and strength of the human spirit.” Edgardo Vega Yunqué, author of Blood Fugues
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“...a fine-tuned sense of the ring and... a large, colorful cast...Call it a winner. . .” New York Daily News
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“Toole was a natural storyteller. . . individual scenes will stay with the reader. Pound for Pound is gripping.” Philadelphia Inquirer
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“Toole has an undeniable knack for crafting instantly believable characters...” Washington Post
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“POUND proves that a flurry of emotional jabs can be just as powerful as one knockout punch.” Entertainment Weekly
About the Author
F. X. Toole was born in 1930. Having worked as a bullfighter, professional boxing "cut man," taxi driver, and saloon keeper, Toole published his first book of fiction at age seventy. He died in 2002, before seeing his short story "Million Dollar Baby" become an Academy Award-winning film.