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"'I just don't believe that man is made of flesh and blood.' -- Jack Johnson, World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Pain was Joe Grim's self-expression, his livelihood and reason for being. In 1908-09 the Italian-American boxer toured Australia, losing fights but amazing crowds with his showmanship and extraordinary physical resilience. On the east coast Grim played a supporting role in the Jack Johnson-Tommy Burns Fight of the Century; on the west coast he was committed to an insane asylum. In between he played with the concept and reality of pain in a shocking manner not witnessed before or since. Michael Winkler braids the story of Grim in Australia and meditations on pain with thoughts on masculinity and vulnerability, plus a talking goat and questionable jokes, in a haymaker of experimental non/ fiction."--
About the author
Michael Winkler is a writer from Melbourne, Australia, living on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. He is the author, co-author and editor of numerous books, and won the Calibre Essay Prize for “The Great Red Whale.” His journalism, short fiction, reviews, and essays have been widely published, and anthologised. His novel,
Grimmish, was short-listed for the Miles Franklin Literary Award in 2022.
Summary
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 MILES FRANKLIN LITERARY AWARD
Pain was Joe Grim’s self-expression, his livelihood and reason for being.
A superstar boxer who rarely won a fight, Grim distinguished himself for his extraordinary ability to withstand physical punishment.
In this wild and expansive novel, Michael Winkler moves between the present day and Grim’s 1908–09 tour of Australia, bending genres and histories into a kaleidoscopic investigation of pain, masculinity, and narrative.
Pain is often said to defy the limits of language. And yet Grimmish suggests that pain – physical and mental – is also the most familiar and universal human condition; and, perhaps, the secret source of our impulse to tell stories.
“A powerful blast of literary ingenuity and originality.” – Lloyd Jones, author of Mister Pip
"Grimmish meets a need I didn't even know I had. I lurched between bursts of wild laughter, shudders of horror, and gasps of awe at Winkler’s verbal command: the freshness and muscle of his verbs, the unstoppable flow of his images, the bizarre wit of the language of pugilism—and all the while, a moving subterranean glint of strange masculine tenderness." – Helen Garner
“All the makings of a cult classic. It’s grotesque and gorgeous, smart and searching.” – Beejay Silcox, The Guardian
Foreword
Dedicated publicist
Massive and exuberant number of galleys for Winter Institute, CBSD reps, Indie booksellers
Blurb solicitation from booksellers who love boxing + experimental fiction
Co-op available
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National review coverage
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Original pieces in Lit Hub, Buzzfeed
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