Fight Scenes

by Greg Bottoms, David Powell (Illustrator)

In an intricately linked series of poetic, short tales set in a 1983 suburb, Greg Bottoms portrays his life as one of two “at-risk” boys as they attempt to learn how to be—and what it means to be—men. By turns funny, disquieting, and moving, Fight Scenes takes an unsparing look at juvenile disaffection and the dark side of white, working-class masculinity. By narrating his experiences with childhood buddy Mark, Bottoms shows how many of America’s young men learn to think about work, sex, weakness, violence, and themselves.
In a pared-down, highly readable style that brings to mind the work of Raymond Carver, Sherman Alexie, and Denis Johnson, Bottoms has created a work of literature that shows how even the most accepted forms of “toughness” can have a damaging, disorienting, and finally dehumanizing effect on everyone, especially kids.

Genres: Nonfiction

144 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2008

Reviews

[Terry Perrel]

Connected stories that revolve around middle-school boy and his friend set in 1980s working class Virginia. Nothing sugar-coated here. Kids living on the edge, pushing boundaries. Adults who work hard, play hard. The characters and their lives are gritty and sad and limited, with violence playing a role or lurking nearby. Despite acts of cruelty to animals and humans, the collection has brief moments of both tenderness and innocence. One boy's first kiss -- not a Clairol moment. The friend's desperate want for family.
If you liked Jesus's Son by Denis Johnson, you'll love this.

[Chickens McShitterson]

'He wanted to know what was inside a person, what was inside me. It was a great mystery, the essence of people, like staring down into a hole" (Bottoms 135).

And that about sums this dark memoir up perfectly.
For anyone who teaches at-risk kids (males, primarily), this is the book you must read. The insight it provides to a nightmare existence is both profoundly moving and disturbing.

Gripping prose, stark, raw honesty. This should be taught in every school no matter how foul the language and nightmarish the imagery.

I could not put this down.

[Derek Ray]

My favorite book of all time. Quick and easy read, highly recommended to anyone who’s been 13 before. Not your average coming of age story, this one is a little grittier. Please read it, and thank me later.

[kelly]

There's a blurb on the back of this book that describes the characters and tone of this collection of stories as straight out of a Harmony Korine film. If you've ever watched Korine's "Gummo" then you're familiar with the randomness of its storytelling style. This book is very much the same, composed of scenes that depict people in disturbing situations doing...well, whatever it is they do.

"Fight Scenes" is a set of connected short stories about the 12-year-old author (or, at least a boy I assumed to be the author) and his friend, growing up in a working class neighborhood in 1980's Virginia. There is pretty much everything involving White boys home alone that we don't want to see: cruelty to animals, arson, experimentation with sex, casual racism, pornography. Violence is always at hand, or lurking close by. Also close by are adults who push boundaries of what's acceptable.

I was disturbed by these stories, but like some bad train wreck, I couldn't look away. At the bottom of all of the ugliness you want to know the 'why' of their wretchedness. There's no answers, but this is really good reading.

[Trent Smith]

Grade: A- ...Bottoms creative non-fiction elicits an almost elegiac quality to these simple snippets of boyhood life. The stories herein use their brevity for maximum impact; the author hitting a pure tone in his telling, allowing only a few colorful lines to paint a much broader coming-of-age tale in the early 1980s. While the darker elements are far removed from my own 12 yr old self at that time, Bottoms nails the nervous energy, the struggling with manhood, the exploration of the mythical female in all its frustrating glory.

[Shanna]

This collection of short stories quickly pulls the reader into a world of depravity where teenagers are just trying to get buy and fit in. While Bottoms depicts the setting and people with great detail and believability, it is hard to feel any sort of connection to the narrator. He is not particularly likeable; he is just there: breathing, living (if that's what it can be called), and trying to fit in. We've all been that teenager, but somehow I find that most of us had at least a few redemptive qualities.

[Allie]

You know those towns and people you hear about or read about that you would NEVER want to interact with in any way? This book is full of just that! I notice that women are either objectified or the enemies in these stories, but I do appreciate the variety of disturbing episodes that this memoir covers. The descriptions were memorable, though I do not think I would read this again.

[Julie]

Beautifully written, but oh so painful to read. I found myself not really enjoying it, perhaps too real? My reaction was kind of odd, because I usually enjoy "gritty realism" and comparable, but perhaps because this was so modern and so...close to home for many that I grew up with.

[Megan]

This book was rather eclectic and different from the standard literary fare.

[David Griffith]

Dang. This is a brilliant, laugh out loud, hard-hitting book. A good gift for that punk younger (or older) brother that thinks he's really tough but is really a big softy deep down.

[Sara Gerot]

Wow. . .this book was so great. I got to the middle, and couldn't wait to finish so I could start it all over.

[michael]

vivid.

[Vanessa Gao]

3.5 stars

[Carly]

Really raw and honest coming-of-age. Powerful.

[Tasha]

Very powerful endings to almost every chapter. Disturbing. Underline-able.