The Fighter - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1843449927 ISBN 13: 9781843449928

Publisher: No Exit Press, 2018

Synopsis

"You will not be disappointed." - Daily MailFrom the author of Desperation Road, longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award 2017The acres and acres of fertile soil, the two-hundred year old antebellum house, all gone. And so is the woman who gave it to him. The foster mother who saved Jack Boucher from a childhood of abandonment now rests in a hospice. Her mind eroded by dementia, the family legacy she entrusted to Jack is now owned by banks and strangers. And Jack's mind has begun to fail, too, as concussion after concussion forces him to carry around a notebook of names that separate friend from foe.But in a single twisted night Jack is derailed. Losing the money that will clear his debt with the queen of Delta vice, and forcing Jack into the fighting pit one last time the stakes nothing less than life or death. Praise for Michael Farris Smith'An elegantly written, perfectly paced novel about a man and a woman, indelibly marked by violence' - Ron Rash, NYT bestselling author of Serena and The Cove'Every once in a while an author comes along who's in love with art and written language and imagery... writers like William Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy and Annie Proulx. You can add Michael Farris Smith's name to the list' - James Lee Burke, New York Times bestselling author of Creole Belle and The Tin Roof Blowdown'Cinema written all over it... A particularly good novel if you like whispering 'Sh*t...' in an incredulous voice' - Shortlist'One of those wonderful and rare books that's both a page turner and a novel of great depth and emotion. The Fighter is Southern Noir at its finest ' - Ace Atkins, bestselling author of the Quinn Colson series'The Fighter is a book I wish I'd written but am deeply grateful I got to read. It is a masterful portrait of place and character and how one influences the other, with language that is both brutal and tender at once' - Attica Locke, author of Black Water Rising and Pleasantville

About this title

About the Author

Michael Farris Smith is the author of Desperation Road and Rivers and is the recipient of the 2014 Mississippi Author Award. His short fiction has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and his essays have appeared in the New York Times, Catfish Alley, Deep South Magazine, and more. He lives in Columbus, Mississippi, with his wife and two daughters.

Review

"THE FIGHTER is a beautifully written parable of a man, abandoned as a child, at war with himself. Hiding behind the expertly-handled plot and poetic meditations on violence and substance abuse is the notion that lack of family can send you on a continuous tumble through darkness. With its tension-filled and enlightening final chapters, THE FIGHTER delivers a powerful and engaging read from one of our newest and finest writers."
―Tim Gautreaux, author of THE MISSING


"Michael Farris Smith has inherited the rough south of Larry Brown and created his own rugged terrain. It is a world populated by people with few choices in life, not many of them good. This is another spare, powerful, beautifully composed work by a writer who can probe the dark side of the American dream like no other."―Bill Cusumano, Square Books, Oxford, Ms.

"I loved The Fighter. Michael Farris Smith is one of the most exciting new voices in American fiction. Just as I couldn't put down Desperation Road till I finished, I tore through this novel, as well. I'm hooked."
―Brad Watson, author of Miss Jane

"Beautiful, darkly violent prose, characters that are hard yet worthy of compassion and the unmistakable setting come together in a story that will stick with you long after you finish the last page. I read the last few chapters so fast that when I reached the end I had to pause and absorb, then go back and read them again to make sure I didn't miss a detail."―Dave Lucey, Page 158 Books, Wake Forest, NC


Praise for Michael Farris Smith and Desperation Road:
"An elegantly written, perfectly paced novel about a man and woman indelibly marked by violence. An outstanding performance."
―Ron Rash


"Anchored by prose that is both poetic and brutal, Desperation Road is a gorgeous and violent book. but don't be fooled by the title. Smith's novel teems with the honest and believable humanity that only the bravest writers dare to search for in the most troubled souls."
―Ivy Pochoda


"Michael Farris Smith's Desperation Road reads as if it were forged in a fire stoked by the ghosts of Carson McCullers, Larry Brown, and William Gay. The result is a novel rife with violent beauty and indelible grace."
―Wiley Cash


"Michael Farris Smith is one of the best writers of his generation, and this very well may be his best work--taut, tense, and impossible to put down."―Tom Franklin, author of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter

"Michael Farris Smith taps into the rhythm of a world I know, and he does it so well, with such ease, that it's almost like I'm living it instead of reading it. His anti-heroes teeter always between the drag-out skids and sweet redemption, and they create a beautiful, true tension that makes this novel burn and thrum in your hands."―Jamie Kornegay, author of Soil

Edition details

• Publisher: No Exit Press
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1843449927
• ISBN 13: 9781843449928
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224