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Every Time I Talk to Liston: A Novel
A rousing page-turner about a boxer on the downside of his career who helps a troubled but talented contender make his way to the top.
Aging and not as quick as he used to be, Amos "Scrap Iron" Fletcher has finally arrived in Las Vegas, capital city of boxing. His years of slugging it out as a sparring partner for heavyweight contenders are about to pay off. But after his first big-league fight ends in defeat-and when he's falsely accused of offering to sell secrets to his sparring partner's opponent-he heads back home to Trenton to figure out his next move.
It's there, at his uncle's boxing gym that he's reunited with TNT, another boxer down on his luck. TNT is a reckless but kindhearted kid who just happens to throw some of the toughest punches Amos has ever seen. TNT's hunger for vindication rekindles Amos's passion for the sport, and he agrees to take the neglected young fighter under his wing.
With a little help from boxing idol Sonny Liston, who's always in the back of his mind, Amos forms a training strategy for TNT and launches a daring gambit to reclaim his own reputation. So begins Amos and TNT's thrilling ascent-guided by Liston's defiant spirit-to the title fight that every boxer dreams about: the Heavyweight Championship of the World.
Aging and not as quick as he used to be, Amos "Scrap Iron" Fletcher has finally arrived in Las Vegas, capital city of boxing. His years of slugging it out as a sparring partner for heavyweight contenders are about to pay off. But after his first big-league fight ends in defeat-and when he's falsely accused of offering to sell secrets to his sparring partner's opponent-he heads back home to Trenton to figure out his next move.
It's there, at his uncle's boxing gym that he's reunited with TNT, another boxer down on his luck. TNT is a reckless but kindhearted kid who just happens to throw some of the toughest punches Amos has ever seen. TNT's hunger for vindication rekindles Amos's passion for the sport, and he agrees to take the neglected young fighter under his wing.
With a little help from boxing idol Sonny Liston, who's always in the back of his mind, Amos forms a training strategy for TNT and launches a daring gambit to reclaim his own reputation. So begins Amos and TNT's thrilling ascent-guided by Liston's defiant spirit-to the title fight that every boxer dreams about: the Heavyweight Championship of the World.
- GenresSports
256 pages, Hardcover
First published May 14, 2004
About the author
Brian DeVido
3 books1 followerBrian DeVido is the author of Every Time I Talk to Liston and the recently released Las Vegas Soul. He is a former sportswriter and Golden Gloves heavyweight champion.
Praise for Brian DeVido's Every Time I Talk to Liston:
"DeVido's writing shows quiet purpose in every move, carrying its insider knowledge with easy confidence." The New York Times Book Review
"This is a true page-turner . . . presents the most balanced look at
Sonny Liston I've ever come across. Liston's voice comes through loud and clear." The Rocky Mountain News
"DeVido has a flair for tough, street-wise characters, and his intelligent insider's view of the fight game is absorbing as well as convincing...well-written and
fast-moving: a strong debut." Kirkus Reivews
"Brian DeVido is the kind of writer who brings new life to an old genre. He's the reason why people keep publishing first novels, and the reason people keep reading them." Daniel Wallace, Author of Big Fish
"Every Time I Talk to Liston is a big-hearted and rousing roundhouse of a book." Elwood Reid, Author of If I Don't Six
"Seems like DeVido has mastered the art of the literary counterpunch." Maxboxing.com
Praise for Brian DeVido's Every Time I Talk to Liston:
"DeVido's writing shows quiet purpose in every move, carrying its insider knowledge with easy confidence." The New York Times Book Review
"This is a true page-turner . . . presents the most balanced look at
Sonny Liston I've ever come across. Liston's voice comes through loud and clear." The Rocky Mountain News
"DeVido has a flair for tough, street-wise characters, and his intelligent insider's view of the fight game is absorbing as well as convincing...well-written and
fast-moving: a strong debut." Kirkus Reivews
"Brian DeVido is the kind of writer who brings new life to an old genre. He's the reason why people keep publishing first novels, and the reason people keep reading them." Daniel Wallace, Author of Big Fish
"Every Time I Talk to Liston is a big-hearted and rousing roundhouse of a book." Elwood Reid, Author of If I Don't Six
"Seems like DeVido has mastered the art of the literary counterpunch." Maxboxing.com
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 10, 2020
A very good debut novel. Avoids the sentiment and/or stereotypes sometimes associated with boxing fiction and instead tells a clean and highly entertaining story. Also imagines how Sonny Liston may have mentored young boxers had he been given the chance. Recommended for fight fans.
June 17, 2024
Super readable and really appreciated how accurate the boxing details were.
December 12, 2014
I'm not a big fan of the sport boxing and I absolutely know nothing about it. But thorough this book, I get to know the personal struggle of an athlete, inside thoughts and was lucky enough to be given exposure in understanding the way he was raised up as that hugely contributes to how a person develop the inner strength. I really love the book as it provides life lessons that come from a totally different background, but the way readers can still relate to it proves that the basis of our struggle more or less requires the same principle of toughness to survive.
Disclaimer; some readers might find the book a bit draggy though as it has quite a slow development of background.
Disclaimer; some readers might find the book a bit draggy though as it has quite a slow development of background.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews