Pullers: A Novel

by Tom Graves

Explores the quirky raunchy world of professional arm wrestling, taking the reader into the lives of guys searching for the perfect gimmick and stopping at nothing to psych out an opponent

179 pages, Hardcover

First published October 25, 1998

Reviews

[Michael Compton · Rating 4 out of 5]

My good friend Tom Graves takes us on a wild ride through the rough-and-tumble shadow world of "professional" arm wrestling. Set mostly in 1990s Memphis and its surrounds, this book puts the AF in Memphis AF, long before the term was coined. Tom has a love for this old river town, with all its virtues and faults, and he pulls out all the stops in this wacky love-letter to its seamy side.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an impressive first fiction novel by Tom Graves. I was thoroughly entertained by this read. I've seen some of the Pullers in person, such as the one-time champion hog farmer, and they're quite an interesting group of people, they are far more exciting than the Sylvester Stallone OVER THE TOP movie. And Tom depicted those unique individuals.

There's a collection of great writers around that genre praise for this by the likes of: Harry Crews, Larry Brown, Charles Gaines, and others. Other writers around that style or tone that come to mind are: Terry Todd, Thom Jones, Gustav Hasford, and Stephen Dobyns.