15.04.04 – Reflections on the life of boxing idol Sonny Liston help Amos form the backbone of his training strategy, and inspire a daring gambit to reclaim his reputation. Guided by Liston’s defiant spirit, Amos and TNT begin their thrilling ascent to the title fight that every boxer dreams about: the heavyweight championship of the world. EVERY TIME I TALK TO LISTON is a compelling and infectiously entertaining novel, with all the dramatic highs and lows of the Rocky movies. Boxer and sportswriter DeVido captures the world of boxing with indisputable authenticity. EVERYTIME I TALK TO LISTON is both a thrilling, suspenseful novel, and a personal, inside look at the hearts and souls of these modern warriors.
(Bloomsbury; May 14, 2004; 1-58234-458-2; $22.95; 256 pages), is the first novel from former Golden Gloves champ and sportswriter Brian DeVido. 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.
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. The dialogue and action are also sharp, and Fletcher’s musings on boxing history should appeal to thinking fans. Well-written and fast-moving: a strong debut.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Brian DeVido is the kind of writer who brings new life to an old genre—he is the reason, in short, that people keep publishing first novels, and the reason people keep reading them—Daniel Wallace, author of Big Fish
“DeVido captures the fight game with beautiful, sepia-tones accuracy that shows up its raw, rough side but also celebrates those rare moments of glory that transcend the violence and blood.”
—Philip Gerard, author of Cape Fear Rising and Secret Soldiers
“The action never stops in Every Time I Talk to Liston, and DeVido knows and shows what it’s like to be in the ring staring danger in the face. This book is for fans of boxing and for a bigger audience: fans of fast-paced prose that entertains, informs, and reaches beyond the ropes…DeVido wins with a knockout novel.”—Clyde Edgerton
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Brian DeVido is a former Virginia Golden Gloves heavyweight champion and two-time finalist. He received his M.F.A. from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. His boxing fiction has appeared in Words of Wisdom and Aethlon: The Journal of Sports Literature, and he has been a sportswriter for the San Antonio Express News and the Roanoke Times. He currently lives in Washington, D.C. Every Time I Talk to Liston is his first novel.
EVERY TIME I TALK TO LISTON
Brian DeVido
1-58234-458-2
Bloomsbury
$22.95
256 pages