Erudite, accessible, and convincing—a treasure trove for boxing enthusiasts.
In this debut collection of essays, Akrim discusses the science and history of boxing.
Essays is perhaps a slight misnomer when talking about the author’s paeans to the sport of boxing: While the collection is divided into theme-related chapters, each of these consists of questions posed and answered on the Quora website. Akrim takes on all comers, never dodging a challenge. The content is well collated; the broader conclusions emerge organically across the whole work rather than as the precise endpoints of targeted arguments. In “Who’s the Greatest?” the author lists Muhammad Ali first, Mike Tyson second, and Sonny Liston third in a ranking of heavyweights based on who (hypothetically) would beat whom if matched in their respective primes. Yet the impression the reader receives from the collection as a whole is that the author prefers Tyson, who features prominently and positively in “The Intimidation Game” (an examination of fearsomeness), “I’ve Got the Power” (which focuses on combination punching), and “It’s All in the Name—Peekaboo!” (a consideration of Tyson’s distinct style) as well as being the go-to answer to just about every “who would win?” question posed. It is only with reference to other chapters that the rationale for Ali’s top ranking becomes clear. Akrim writes in a clean, conversational style, treating each question with respect and providing answers that will satisfy the full spectrum of readers, from boxing obsessives to neophytes. The text demonstrates a clear understanding of boxing science and an equally lucid ability to communicate ideas and apply them to hypothetical scenarios. Akrim conveys an obvious love of boxing and a vast knowledge of its history; the result is a sense of benevolent authority. While the question-and-answer format allows for great scope in subjects, it does also lead to considerable repetition. The author never answers the same question twice but often falls back on the same examples (and even specific wordings) when providing evidence. In this respect, one might have hoped for a degree of editing or rewriting. Still, as a record of Akrim’s time on Quora, this collection is unimpeachable.
Erudite, accessible, and convincing—a treasure trove for boxing enthusiasts.Pub Date: May 17, 2021
ISBN: 9781665585057
Page Count: 258
Publisher: AuthorHouseUK
Review Posted Online: June 20, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
A pleasingly unformulaic book of hard-won advice that never rings false.
The comic and television personality turns serious—semi-serious, anyway—in a combination memoir and self-help book.
Handler opens these generally short essays with a memory of childhood that closes with the exhortation to keep the child within us alive into adulthood: “Hold on to that child tightly, as if she were your own, because she is.” The memory soon veers into the comically absurd, with an account of a cocaine-fueled cross-country trip with a random companion who looked like another TV personality: “I don’t know if Dog the Bounty Hunter does copious amounts of cocaine, but he sure looks like he does.” Drugs and juice are seldom far from the proceedings, but therapy is close by, too, and clearly the latter has been of tremendous use, if “exhausting in the sense that every new development or idea led to a period of intense self-awareness followed by waves of acute self-consciousness coupled with endless self-recrimination.” As the anecdotes progress, that intense self-awareness becomes less fraught. Some of her life lessons are drawn from her experiences wrestling with the yips and setbacks of performing before audiences; some turn into knowing one-liners (“I knew if three men in a row told me not to do something, it was imperative that I do the opposite”). Most, even if tongue-in-cheek or rueful, are delivered with a disarming friendliness laced with her trademark archness: Her account of a dinner opposite Woody Allen and daughter/wife Soon-Yi is worth the price of admission alone. In the main, Handler is a cheerleader for everyone worthy of cheers, and especially women. As she writes, encouragingly, “You have misbehaved, and then corrected, and then misbehaved again, and then corrected some more”—and have grown and flourished.
A pleasingly unformulaic book of hard-won advice that never rings false.Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780593596579
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Press
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
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