Carlo Rotella

Cut Time is probably the most cerebral book I’ve read about boxing. Actually, that’s not fair: Joyce Carol Oates was probably even further removed from her subject. It’s basically the memoir of a lit prof slumming for metaphors at a boxing gym. If you like metaphors, and pretentious lit profs, it’s great. If you really want to know about fighting, you probably need to get the perspective of someone a little closer to the action.