Writing style
Atmospheric · Direct · Spare
Apple BooksFat city
Literary fiction
- First published
- 1969
- Print length
- 183 pagesVintage Books, 1986
Description
In late-1950s Stockton, California, twenty-nine-year-old Billy Tully is a former boxing contender worn down by defeat, a broken marriage, drinking, and precarious work. A chance encounter with novice fighter Ernie Munger encourages Tully to imagine that returning to the ring might restore his self-respect. Ernie, meanwhile, marries after an unplanned pregnancy and looks to boxing as a way to support his young family. Their intersecting paths through gyms, fields, cheap rooms, and small-time bouts expose how little separates promise from disappointment in a world constrained by poverty. Leonard Gardner strips the sporting life of heroic glamour while preserving the stubborn hope that keeps both men reaching for another chance.
Reading profile
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
- Writing
- How much attention the sentences and language require.
- Ideas
- How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
- Structure
- How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
- Background knowledge
- Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
- Emotional intensity
- Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
Pace
Measured
Tone
Bleak · Intimate · Melancholic · Reflective
Structure
Braided · Linear
Focus
Character · Relationships
Emotional intensity
4 / 5
Reading complexity
1–5 · higher means more demanding- Writing
- 2 / 5
- Ideas
- 3 / 5
- Structure
- 3 / 5
- Background knowledge
- 1 / 5
Themes
Book details
For the print edition listed above.
- Publisher
- Vintage Books
- Language
- English
- ISBN
- 9780394743165
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