"No other subject is, for the writer, so intensely personal as boxing. To write about boxing is to write about oneself—however elliptically and unintentionally. And to write about boxing is to be forced to contemplate not only on boxing but also on the perimeters of civilization —what it is, or should be, to be 'human.'" -FROM THE PREFACE "A thoughtful interpreter. . . . Oates manages to cut to the heart of boxing's inner meaning. . . . Her small, provocative book is a welcome if curious addition to boxing literature." -CHICAGO TRIBUNE "Ms. Oates is truer to the sport than most boxers are. . . . [She] has certainly scored a stunning TKO." -NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW JOYCE CAROL OATES is a recipient of the National Book Award and the PEN/ Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction. She is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University, and she has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978. In 2003 she was a recipient of the Commonwealth Award for Distinguished Service in Literature.