Author Event

   Author Event

"Fighters & Writers"
By John Rodwan

Tuesday March 1, 2011

6:00 PM

Fighters & Writers is neither a traditional sports book nor a conventional collection of literary essays. It does, however, explore how boxing inserts itself in writers' imaginations even when they write about other subjects. Essays on diverse topics such as book dedications, Orwell's Spanish Civil War memories, digressions, tattoos and losing weight reveal the close, if not always recognized, connections between fighters and writers.

"There's something special about boxing stories, Portland author John G. Rodwan Jr. argues. There's always more to them than meets the eye. Light heavyweight Jose Torres, for example, knew how to spin his tale of getting arrested for driving Norman Mailer's car. Muhammad Ali's career was often as much about spectacle as throwing punches. The greater part of Rodwan's essay collection Fighters and Writers" takes a hard look at boxers (like Ali, Mike Tyson and Joe Louis) and the authors (like Mailer, Philip Roth and Joyce Carol Oates) who find them fascinating. 'The exchanges between both literary and athletic combatants,' Rodwan writes, 'can be endlessly entertaining.' A frequent contributor to The Oregonian, Rodwan is a former correspondent for Fight News."

-- Katie Schneider - OregonLive.com