From knife fights in Calcutta to fistfights in the hockey rink, journalist/musician/competitive fighter Eugene S. Robinson delves into the underground world of physical combat in his new book "Fight: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ass-Kicking but Were Afraid You'd Get Your Ass Kicked for Asking."
Robinson will read excerpts and sign copies of "Fight" at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Book Beat & Co., 1139 S.W. 59th.
PHILOSOPHY
Although the subject matter implies that it's a sports book, Robinson said he sees "Fight" as a philosophical study of the personal implications behind unarmed combat. The tome examines the history of various methods of fighting from around the world, including:
" grappling,
" boxing and
" mixed martial arts.
"I interview everybody from (Evander) Holyfield to Tank Abbott to CIA guys, who spent a lot of time in Iraq doing things they probably shouldn't have talked about," Robinson said. "I wanted to talk about a certain quality of maleness without apology. Combat sports used to be a sign of aristocracy. It was what gentlemen did. I kind of wanted to redeem it from where it is now, which is something yahoos or relatively unsophisticated people are supposed to do."
SIGNING
Shilo Brown, owner of Book Beat, said he sees the book as a nonfiction version of "Fight Club."
"I knew the bookstore could handle something like his book because it's pretty edgy," Brown said. "A lot of people are excited about coming and listening to him read and purchasing his book."
"?Chris Willard
