Boxer

33⅓ Main Series #162

by Ryan Pinkard

“Pinkard's account... brings to light the ambition and artistry, the stress and frustration, and ultimately the joy of making this very special album."-Peter Katis, The National's engineer, and mixer on Boxer

“I am spooked by how well [Pinkard] has captured these characters and this madcap project. I am not sure how he did it.” -Carin Besser, co-lyricist on Boxer and wife to Matt Berninger

“Accessible, perceptive, sometimes hilarious, but more often harrowing, Pinkard's book gets a running start on its subject, tracing The National's trajectory from their first notes together to the creation of Boxer.” -Stephen M. Deusner, music critic and author

We all know the Boxer. The fighter who remembers every glove but still remains. That grisly, bruised American allegory who somehow gets up more times than he's knocked down. This is the fight that nearly broke The National. The one that allowed them to become champions.

Released in 2007, The National's fourth full-length album is the one that saved them. For fans, Boxer is a profound personal meditation on the unmagnificent lives of adults, an elegant culmination of their sophisticated songwriting, and the first National album many fell in love with. For the band, Boxer symbolizes an obsession, a years-long struggle, a love story, a final give-it-everything-you've-got effort to keep their fantasy of being a real rock band alive.

Based on extensive original interviews with the fighters who were in the ring and the spectators who witnessed it unfold, Ryan Pinkard obsessively reconstructs a transformative chapter in The National's story, revealing how the Ohio-via-Brooklyn five-piece found the sound, success, and spiritual growth to evolve into one of the most critically acclaimed bands of their time.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

178 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 10, 2022

Reviews

[apryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

i can’t truly be objective because i think the national are the greatest band in the entire fucking world but this really is a delight, and hearing the backstory about the construction of one of your favourite albums will never not feel like a wonderful gift.

[Jesse Solis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just when you think you couldn’t love an album any more than you already do, The National find a way.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t rate this any less than 5 stars simply because I loved gaining insight into the making of one of my favorite albums by my absolute favorite band. Suffice to say, I devoured it.

[Alex Van Houdt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I struggle to think of an album that means as much to me as Boxer. I stumbled upon it during a typically sleepless night in 2008 while at home on break during my freshman year of college. From my first listen on, it became a regular, permanent staple of my music rotation. I can’t think of a better album to go through the long, painful but rewarding process of growing into an adult with.

As I’ve identified so deeply with most of the core themes and lyrics - even back in the earliest days with it when I didn’t fully understand it but did fully feel it - it was satisfying to read how Boxer came into this world in a way that at least feels sort of similar to how the half of my life I’ve spent with it has gone. That is to say, the ingredients randomly fell in to place, awkward moments occurred left and right while everyone figured out how all the pieces fit together, an inefficient, almost desperate effort on maximizing an “aha” moment ensues, and somehow it all worked out in the end.

There is an almost unsettling feeling of watching a piece of art that’s served as a bit of a backbone in your life be birthed, however. It’s like meeting an idol only to realize they have an annoying laugh, questionable movie tastes, and wear flip flops to the restaurant. It doesn’t kill the magic, but seeing that even your absolute favorite things are just another product of the world like any other isn’t necessarily a comfortable finding to sit with.

[Adam Parrilli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb. I was very impressed the author was able to corral the band for such excellent interviews.

Admittedly, I have mixed feelings regarding the oral history format, which there is a a fair bit of here, nonetheless—within the 33 1/3 canon, this is a major highlight. Well done.

[bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The National is my favorite band of all time. Boxer is NOT my number one album of theirs but for 200 pages, and several consecutive listens, I absolutely would have argued it. Lots of insight here to the process and surrounding circumstances of the building of this band, and ultimately of this album. Both of which I love so, so much. And this breakdown of it is done so well; it’s not overly sentimental, but you can tell it’s written by someone who loves the band. The interview excerpts are really well places and add a lot to the narrative here- especially when talking about the discord through the process.

There is so much that makes this album special, it makes perfect sense to me that it was an absolute mess to make.

This was my first 33 1/3 mainly because I saw it was coming and I got excited- I’ve had my eye on the series for ages but never known where to start; 162 albums is enough to inspire record breaking levels of choice fatigue. But I definitely want to get more into the series, maybe organize them by genre or album release date. Something digestible.

I wanted to leave off with my favorite song from the album, but instead I’m just gonna say that the last 3-song stretch of Racing Like A Pro, Ada, and Gospel is one of the best closing runs on any album, and Ada is one of my favorite songs of all time.

[Marc Blanc · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is very well researched and lucidly written. At times, the narrative was a little too straightforward and “Behind the Music” for my taste—I would have preferred more cultural and musical analysis rather than all the recounting of scenes, but there are other 33 1/3s that offer that kind of thing, it’s not really the book that Pinkard set out to write. He does a good job of contextualizing Boxer in both the personal history of the band and the political history of the Bush era, and he ultimately accomplishes the most important task for a book like this: it immediately made me want to listen to Boxer with new depths of appreciation.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boxer is my second fave National album (Alligator gets the top spot) but it's still a record I never tire of every track is gold and shows The National at their best.

Ryan Pinkard, who interviewed the band and other major players for the book tells the story of the National and the recording of Boxer. All in loving detail.

It's clear that Pinkard is a fan of the band it comes through in the way he speaks about The Band. As it stands Boxer (the book) can stand as an official biography of The National's early years. A must have.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good one of these 33⅓ books, because it’s a brief but thorough look at the making of the record, and not some old dude moaning about how much he misses taking drugs in the 90s.

Pretty much everyone involved was interviewed, it’s a great look at how a great record was put together.

(Alligator is absolutely the better album though)

[Pekka · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favourite album by The National has always been Alligator, but this was an interesting and enjoyable read.

[Oryx · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alright yeah so obviously 5 star but listen it’s not even the best album

This is the correct order of albums

1. Alligator
2. SWB + TWFM + HV
3. Boxer + SSFDL + IAETF
4. LT
5. FTPOF
6. Self Titled

So you know I’m not skewed by favouritism

But this was a fascinating snapshot into the process of a band finding commercial harmony in the chaos

4.2 would inhabit again

[Pádraic · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty straightforward account of the events leading up to the album, the recording of the album, and the consequences of the album. There's not a lot of analysis of the work here, I guess is what I'm saying, as it more takes a journalistic or documentary approach to the story. As I'm basically the perfect audience for this, I really enjoyed it, but I think the book does expect you to already be invested in this band and this album and the story of it; the book doesn't put a lot of effort into making the telling interesting I reckon, relying instead of the interesting events themselves.

And they are interesting if you're a fan, don't get me wrong. I've been on board with The National since High Violet, pretty diehard for much of that timeline, and there's plenty in here that I didn't know, particularly in the accounts of their early days. This is my first 33 1/3, so I can't compare it to any of the other efforts, but for me this was a fun little thing, and if you're in a similar fan position as me, you may well get the same enjoyment out of it.

[Damian Konopka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can’t believe I love The National even more

Pinkard’s story of The National is rock journalism at its finest. He gets you into the songs and in the heads of all the band members. Great book about a great album.

[Milda Grabauskaite · Rating 5 out of 5]

I guess I love reading about music, who would have thought.

“I think of the experiences I’ve had smoking cigarettes and drinking alone while Blood on the Tracks, or Bone Machine, or The Boatman’s Call plays over and over again. I think we wanted to make a record that you could just live in. I think that’s one of the main reasons why Boxer has had such staying power. It’s a distinct world.”

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this so much, not only because it's the story of one of my favorite albums by my all-time favorite band. The formatting worked so well, with the cast of characters at the beginning (and having the band members + Carin just quoted with first names, it gave the impression that they were old friends gathered around to tell the tale of Boxer to the reader), the footnotes and endnotes, the perfect amount of photographs, all with Pinkard's excellent narration as the thread throughout. Even the chapter titles got me excited each time I turned to a new one and recognized the lyric being referenced, and each choice thematically summed up the section of the book so excellently. Pinkard's prose also was constantly blowing me away, just in the way he talked about this music I know so well, noting small details and describing them in ways both so fitting that it felt obvious, yet so unique that I was jotting down some of his turns of phrase. His writing also kept the larger themes of the album and the band's journey (the Boxer, the underdog struggle) close to the surface, making this story feel very cohesive, which I know is hard to do when covering years of time and juggling multiple interviews. The band and everyone else in the book had such great quotes, too, and there were a lot of moments that made me laugh in this book. I also enjoyed how Pinkard included his own experience of discovering the band at the end, since I have always felt that the music a person loves is such a personal thing, and it's always fascinating to hear the origin story there. My only complaint would be that I found a few typos while reading, but that's probably just an old copyeditor habit. As was said a few times in the book, Boxer truly is a piece of media that you can keep coming back to, and I have a feeling this book will be one for me, too.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back, back (back) in the day, I was obsessed with this series. Had forgotten about it for, legit, years, until we walked into Exile in Bookville on Independent Bookstore Day and BAM a whole entire wall of 33 1/3s!!! I was SO excited. But also: when I got home, I searched all my bookshelves. Where are all the ones I read before? Did I... 1) read them from the library? 2) lose them in the NYC-->Chicago move? or 3) donate them??? Any (and all) of those are possible. Who knows. But I was pretty excited to be reacquainted with this series!

As for this particular volume: It was pretty enjoyable. I thought the beginning was slow and dragged out waaayyyyy too long. It seemed like it was going too much for "entire biography of the band's beginnings" versus being about this album. Eventually it gained some steam, and I did really enjoy about the last 1/2 - 2/3rds. A lot of fun comments from the various people interviewed. And loved all the insight from Matt Berninger's wife Carin Besser.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book rules. I love albums that are born out of tension, where the band feels like they have something to prove - my two favourite Radiohead albums (Kid A and In Rainbows), Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours all come to mind. There’s something so magnificent about hearing a band’s victory lap against themselves; the “fuck, we actually did it” of the whole thing.

Boxer probably isn’t my favourite National record (it changes as often as the weather, but Sleep Well Beast was my first love), but goddamn if it’s not in the top echelon. I never realised what a push it was for them and how much of an uphill battle the whole record was; the fact they came out the other side of it with such a goddamn good record is nothing short of heroic. This really gave some new dimensions to the record for me, and was a joy to read.

Also Carin Besser is an even more integral part of the band than I realised. What a hero she is.

[Lillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm definitely super biased because The National is my favorite band, but this little book was a delight to read.

Learning about The National's creative process is always fascinating, and I loved reading quotes from members of the band, producers, and friends about their experience making one of my all-time favorite albums. The writing was engaging and interesting, and I appreciated that the book goes through The National's whole journey from the beginning of the band up through Boxer.

If you're a fan of The National, this is a fun, quick read. I honestly have no idea how interesting it would be for a non-fan, but for fans, it's definitely worth the read.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really thorough telling of the creation of a fantastic album by one of my favorite bands. Lots of new interviews and stories even I, as a hardcore fan, had not heard before. Only bummer for me is as with the other 33 ⅓ book I've read, on Sleater-Kinney's Dig Me Out, I wanted more discussion of the music itself, and not just the circumstances around the music's creation. But for what this is, it's very good.

[Kayleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book. Seeing as The National is one of my favorite bands, I loved reading the behind the scenes of one of my favorite albums of all time. I loved the direct quotes, learning more about the relationships in the band (in particular, Matt and Carin's which I always knew was special and instrumental in the band, but wow, to see it in a new light). Quick little read. 3.5 stars! Definitely might check out other books in this series as well (I think there's a Bruce one!)

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my all-time favorite albums, by one of my all-time favorite bands, so reading this book length oral history/band interview about all aspects of its creation was a real treat. The benefit of this book being written now, 15 years after the fact, is that there is a real sense of nostalgia and introspection, as the band recollects about what turned out to be the turning point in their career.

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly excellent music journalism about one of my favorite bands. What more could I want?
Ryan Pinkard’s enthusiasm jumps off the page and his arrangement of his painstaking interviews with all of the band members works to create a compelling plot. Throughout the entire story of the creation of Boxer, root for The National. Pinkard even manages to weave in the personal and the political, making the triumph of the band so much more satisfying. A really wonderful read.

[Margrét · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine hearing songs that speak to the very core of you and they are on the same album. It‘s been the soundtrack to your life for years now. Now imagine someone wrote a book about that album full of undiscovered stories and treasures. I was like a kid in a candy store, thanks for the all the candy, Ryan!

[Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative little book about one of my favourite albums, but only - I think - interesting if you're already a fan of The National. Or at least very familiar with them. There is not a lot of juicy gossip, instead you get a good feel of how the band came to the recording of Boxer and how high the stakes were. It made me long for an indepth biography of the band, not just one album.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun to read about the making of one of the best albums of the 2000s Pitchfork era of indie rock. Also got me to re-listen to the album like 5 times and boy it still slaps. Lots of funny 'of the time' things in there too like being depressed after Bush won re-election and National throwing Fake Empire instrumental on an Obama campaign video. Ah the 2000s...

[Amy Tudor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brief dive into the band The National before, during and immediately after the creation of their iconic album Boxer. The interviews were interesting and reading about where the band were at this moment of time really give some context to it. A must read for any fan.

[Tom J · Rating 3 out of 5]

definitely buoyed by how much i love this album, it’s hard to not find the “music journalist” voice extremely tiring. the concept of the boxer as a central theme for the book seems a little shoehorned in, but there’s more than enough content to make this a good read.

[Mike Lawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. My favorite 33 1/3 so far.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about how one of my favorite bands made one of my favorite albums? Yes please!

[Sara Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must-read if you’re both a The National fan and entering your 30s.