Cut Time: An Education at the Fights

by Carlo Rotella

"Boxing is not just fighting," writes Carlo Rotella. "It is also training and living right and preparing to go the distance in the broadest sense of the phrase, a relentless managing of self that anyone who gets truly old must learn." Rotella's Cut Time chronicles his immersion in the fight world, from the brutal classroom of the gym to the spectacle of fight night. An award-winning writer and ringside veteran, Rotella unearths the hidden wisdom in any kind of fight, from barroom brawl to HBO extravaganza.

Tracing the consequences of hurt and craft, the two central facts of boxing, Rotella reveals moving resonances between the worlds inside and outside the ropes. The brief, disastrous fistic career of one of his students pinpoints the moment when adulthood arrives; the hard-won insight of a fellow fan shows Rotella how to reckon with a car crash. Mismatches, resilience, pride, pain, and aging—Rotella's lessons from the ring extend far beyond the sport. In Cut Time , Rotella achieves the he makes the fight world relevant to us, whether we're fans or not.

" Cut Time should be read not just by fight aficionados but also by fans of intelligent nonfiction writing. . . . An absorbing read."— Sports Illustrated
"Just when you think it's all been written, a good writer takes a shining new look at an old subject and breathes life into it. . . . Rotella has preserved the blow-by-blow and the grandeur of another age but has somehow expanded the ring to include his own generation's proclivities and sensibility."— Los Angeles Times

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction

236 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Joe Drogos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stuart Dybek's blurb on the back of this book remarks that this is one of the "least egocentric" memoirs about acquiring an education. I think that's the book's saving grace. Boxing's a popular subject, one that invites purple prose, but this book is keen, clean, sharp and modest. It's readable and memorable, if not world-shattering....

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this after interviewing the author for a story. It's pretty interesting and definitely well-written, but as someone with little-to-no appreciation for sports, I found myself getting a little lost and bored sometimes. That said, it's still an insightful read for non-sports people like me.

[Mona Ammon · Rating 2 out of 5]

TITLE: Cut Time: An Education at the Fights
WHY I CHOSE THIS BOOK: It met my reading challenge being connected to the book before it, You Will Know Me, by being the same subject, sports
REVIEW: This book was well written. I learned some things I did not know since I knew nothing about boxing. But I still feel that boxing is a bullshit sport. While it is certainly more than pummeling someone, in the end it is about hitting someone. The whole world just feels misogynistic and corrupt.

[Jeremy Hornik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Direct, well-structured essay that explores the fascination of boxing. It gives equal weight to the intellectual and the physical, with 'hurt' being a whole chapter... but always, always with respect for the care and strategy of the well-made fight plan. I plowed right through it. Fascinating stuff.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of essays on boxing by an English professor, relates boxing's themes to larger themes of life but not in a blowhard overly verbose way that makes you roll your eyes. Appreciative, thoughtful, and measured prose.

[Bax · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent take on boxing and fighters from a variety of angles. The chapters dealing with Larry Holmes were especially interesting to me.

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read a glowing review of this collection of essays and stories about boxing and thought I could romanticize the sport enough to enjoy reading it, but I was wrong.

[Michael Todoran]

Written well do far... Excited to get to the Larry Holmes section

[Jason Pastor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Afew really good eesays, but there were a few that just seemed to never get going. Check it out at the library.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty somber or reflective book on boxing. Rotella made a big emphasis on pointing out the sacrifice, discipline, pain, etc. involved in boxing. It was pretty boring at times.

[J.C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable boxing book. Hard to describe. Not so much sweet science, more like the philosophy of the sweet science.