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Roughhouse Friday
A beautifully crafted memoir about fathers and sons, masculinity, and the lengths we sometimes go to in order to confront our past"[A] lucidly written memoir . . . Coffin’s triumph lies in ridding the language of his father, a language that compelled him to dwell in a house he did not recognize." —Matthew Janney, The Los Angeles Review of BooksWhile lifting weights in the Seldon Jackson College gymnasium on a rainy autumn night, Jaed Coffin heard the distinctive whacking sound of sparring boxers down the hall. A year out of college, he had been biding his time as a tutor at a local high school in Sitka, Alaska, without any particular life plan. That evening, Coffin joined a ragtag boxing club. For the first time, he felt like he fit in.Coffin washed up in Alaska after a forty-day solo kayaking journey. Born to an American father and a Thai mother who had met during the Vietnam War, Coffin never felt particularly comfortable growing up in his rural Vermont town. Following his parents’ prickly divorce and a childhood spent drifting between his father’s new white family and his mother’s Thai roots, Coffin didn’t know who he was, much less what path his life should follow. His father’s notions about what it meant to be a man—formed by King Arthur legends and calcified in the military—did nothing to help. After college, he took to the road, working odd jobs and sleeping in his car before heading north. Despite feeling initially terrified, Coffin learns to fight. His coach, Victor “the Savage,” invites him to participate in the monthly Roughhouse Friday competition, where men contend for the title of best boxer in southeast Alaska. With every successive match, Coffin realizes that he isn’t just fighting for the championship belt; he is also learning to confront the anger he feels about a past he never knew how to make sense of.Deeply honest and vulnerable, Roughhouse Friday is a meditation on violence and abandonment, masculinity, and our inescapable longing for love. It suggests that sometimes the truth of what’s inside you comes only if you push yourself to the extreme.
233 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 18, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
August 26, 2020
Much better than I thought it would be; reads like a story rather than a dull recollection of childhood stories.
June 12, 2019
In Jaed Coffin's memoir, ROUGHHOUSE FRIDAY, Coffin has recently escaped to Alaska after college unsure what to do with his life. He stumbled upon a local boxing club and quickly boxing gives his a drive, a purpose, and a hope for the future.
In a style that I can only describe as unique, Coffin quickly endears the reader to his choice to escape his world for a different land, one of desolation and a small, proud community, Coffin does his best to mix in with while still carrying the necessary respect an outsider should. Searching for a purpose is something we all have done as young adults and Coffin's description of his search meaning is full of mistakes, triumphs, and truths he didn't even know he was looking for. Coffin's ability to describe the landscape of Alaska, as well as the intricacies of the Alaskan boxing community are equal parts entertaining and fascinating. In the end, a brave new soul appears and the reader can't help but feel optimism that Coffin will figure the rest of his life out and at the same time cherish the time he grew as an individual in Alaska.
A intimate and moving memoir, ROUGHOUSE FRIDAY reminds and inspires readers to find something that moves their soul and gives them a purpose.
Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Jaed Coffin, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
In a style that I can only describe as unique, Coffin quickly endears the reader to his choice to escape his world for a different land, one of desolation and a small, proud community, Coffin does his best to mix in with while still carrying the necessary respect an outsider should. Searching for a purpose is something we all have done as young adults and Coffin's description of his search meaning is full of mistakes, triumphs, and truths he didn't even know he was looking for. Coffin's ability to describe the landscape of Alaska, as well as the intricacies of the Alaskan boxing community are equal parts entertaining and fascinating. In the end, a brave new soul appears and the reader can't help but feel optimism that Coffin will figure the rest of his life out and at the same time cherish the time he grew as an individual in Alaska.
A intimate and moving memoir, ROUGHOUSE FRIDAY reminds and inspires readers to find something that moves their soul and gives them a purpose.
Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Jaed Coffin, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
August 11, 2021
actually so bad and not even worth my time to write a whole review
August 4, 2023
Well written memoir of a year in Sitka Alaska via 1000-mile solo kayak trip up the Inside Passage from Seattle. Boxing club, high school classroom and roughhouse boxing (i.e., via makeshift rings in bars). The real story is the author’s insight into family of Vietnam vet father, Thai mother and being their son in Midcoast Maine, Northern Vermont, and now Alaska. I look forward to reading more of his work.
July 25, 2019
“The road you didn’t take hardly comes to mind,” observes lyricist Stephen Sondheim, but the adventures sometimes chosen at the fork in the road become a part of life that remain with one forever.
Jaed Coffin was living in Sitka, Alaska, working as a tutor in a local high school. After graduating from college, he traveled across America and embarked alone on a 40-day kayaking journey up the Alaskan coast. One night, while working out at a local gymnasium, Coffin heard the sound of boxers in another room. He checked them out, and despite having no experience in the art of boxing, he became a member of their boxing club.
ROUGHHOUSE FRIDAY is Coffin’s account of becoming a fighter and participating in the boxing matches fought in Alaskan bars and other venues by men battling for the honor of being named the best boxer in southeast Alaska. Along the way, he does more than physically battle other men --- he struggles with his own past and the path his life should follow.
The Friday evening events are described by Coffin in great detail. Initially he is led to believe that they are rather simple matters. His trainer is Victor Littlefield, a legend of roughhouse boxing. Coffin wonders, “Who would I fight?” and Victor replies, “Probably some guy like you. Basically, you go into a bar, take your shirt off, and show everyone how much of a man you are.” But the reality is far, far different from that unadorned observation. Slowly and inexorably, Coffin learns that being a fighter gives him a new certainty about who he is and how he should spend his time. Roughhouse Friday gives him a name and a purpose, something to fight for.
During the holiday break in the academic year at Sitka High School, Coffin returns to his New England home to spend time with his family. His American father, a veteran of the Vietnam War, met his Thai wife while serving in Asia. Coffin was born after the family returned to the United States, but the marriage did not survive. Following his parents’ contentious divorce, Coffin spent his childhood shuttling between his father and his father’s new wife, and his mother, who remained loyal to her heritage. Coffin and his mother would take biannual trips back to Thailand to spend time with her family. ROUGHHOUSE FRIDAY is the story of Coffin’s struggle to understand what path his life should follow. After graduating from Middlebury College, he headed west and eventually to Alaska without any real plan about what his future held.
There is something almost mysterious about Coffin’s memoir. His remembrances of his bouts in the ring are a mixture of mystery and mayhem as he describes his fights in a manner that exalts the battle, while at the same time recognizing that the contests are often nothing more than glorified bar fights.
And while there seems to be some internal demons, Coffin acknowledges that his opponents and other fighters are engaged in those same contests. As he poignantly observes, “Even the most raw, unskilled bouts, when watched with any empathy at all for the people in them, reveal a tender story about each fighter: what they are made of, who they are, what sadness they carry, what joy.”
A quick glance at the dust jacket of ROUGHOUSE FRIDAY informs readers that whatever demons Coffin may have battled have been conquered. He is now a published author and a professor of creative writing at the University of New Hampshire. His memoir is a hopeful and endearing account of part of that journey.
Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman
Jaed Coffin was living in Sitka, Alaska, working as a tutor in a local high school. After graduating from college, he traveled across America and embarked alone on a 40-day kayaking journey up the Alaskan coast. One night, while working out at a local gymnasium, Coffin heard the sound of boxers in another room. He checked them out, and despite having no experience in the art of boxing, he became a member of their boxing club.
ROUGHHOUSE FRIDAY is Coffin’s account of becoming a fighter and participating in the boxing matches fought in Alaskan bars and other venues by men battling for the honor of being named the best boxer in southeast Alaska. Along the way, he does more than physically battle other men --- he struggles with his own past and the path his life should follow.
The Friday evening events are described by Coffin in great detail. Initially he is led to believe that they are rather simple matters. His trainer is Victor Littlefield, a legend of roughhouse boxing. Coffin wonders, “Who would I fight?” and Victor replies, “Probably some guy like you. Basically, you go into a bar, take your shirt off, and show everyone how much of a man you are.” But the reality is far, far different from that unadorned observation. Slowly and inexorably, Coffin learns that being a fighter gives him a new certainty about who he is and how he should spend his time. Roughhouse Friday gives him a name and a purpose, something to fight for.
During the holiday break in the academic year at Sitka High School, Coffin returns to his New England home to spend time with his family. His American father, a veteran of the Vietnam War, met his Thai wife while serving in Asia. Coffin was born after the family returned to the United States, but the marriage did not survive. Following his parents’ contentious divorce, Coffin spent his childhood shuttling between his father and his father’s new wife, and his mother, who remained loyal to her heritage. Coffin and his mother would take biannual trips back to Thailand to spend time with her family. ROUGHHOUSE FRIDAY is the story of Coffin’s struggle to understand what path his life should follow. After graduating from Middlebury College, he headed west and eventually to Alaska without any real plan about what his future held.
There is something almost mysterious about Coffin’s memoir. His remembrances of his bouts in the ring are a mixture of mystery and mayhem as he describes his fights in a manner that exalts the battle, while at the same time recognizing that the contests are often nothing more than glorified bar fights.
And while there seems to be some internal demons, Coffin acknowledges that his opponents and other fighters are engaged in those same contests. As he poignantly observes, “Even the most raw, unskilled bouts, when watched with any empathy at all for the people in them, reveal a tender story about each fighter: what they are made of, who they are, what sadness they carry, what joy.”
A quick glance at the dust jacket of ROUGHOUSE FRIDAY informs readers that whatever demons Coffin may have battled have been conquered. He is now a published author and a professor of creative writing at the University of New Hampshire. His memoir is a hopeful and endearing account of part of that journey.
Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman
November 1, 2019
Roughhouse Friday is the memoir of Jaed Coffin, a Vermont/Maine-raised young man of mixed parentage (white American father and Thai mother, who met during the Vietnam War). This is no story of abuse. Jaed is loved by both his parents, but when they split (his father moves in with his mother’s best friend), Jaed loses whatever footing he had as a mixed-race adolescent. He half-heartedly completes college in Vermont, and heads west “in a trance”, telling his mother he will look for a teaching job. He ends up in the northwest corner of Washington State, spends his last money on a kayak, and paddles north up the Canadian coast, alone, reaching Sitka, Alaska.
Jaed’s story to this point bears some resemblance to that of Christopher McCandless (Into the Wild)—a story Jaed knows. Jaed has no interest in repeating the ending of that story. He is finding himself, but he is not altogether lost or disillusioned. He never loses touch with his family.
Jaed takes a job at Sitka High in the Sitka Native Education Program. Jaed (by this time morphed into Jade because no one knows what to make of the name Jaed), who looks Native-ish himself, is a reasonably capable tutor of students (not exclusively Native) whose family backgrounds have not served them well. My overall impression of Jaed is of a very decent human.
And now the real story begins. Out of boredom and loneliness, Jade starts frequenting a gym, where he learns basic boxing skills from a trainer. The trainer flies Jade to Juneau to participate in amateur boxing (really plain old fighting) matches. With the last name Coffin, Jade is nicknamed “The Stone”. His story essentially comes together in the ring. Says the book jacket: “Roughhouse Friday is a meditation on fathers and sons; on the intersections of race, loneliness, and masculinity; and on our inescapable longing for love. Sometimes it’s only by becoming our most dangerous selves that we’re able to face the questions that haunt us.”
That description is perhaps over-dramatic, but I did enjoy Coffin’s coming of age story. From the Author notes we know that Coffin is now a teacher of creative writing at a university, and lives in Maine with a wife and two daughters. We don’t learn the whole story of his path to “normal” adulthood, but through this memoir we surely see the superhuman effort he made along the way.
Jaed’s story to this point bears some resemblance to that of Christopher McCandless (Into the Wild)—a story Jaed knows. Jaed has no interest in repeating the ending of that story. He is finding himself, but he is not altogether lost or disillusioned. He never loses touch with his family.
Jaed takes a job at Sitka High in the Sitka Native Education Program. Jaed (by this time morphed into Jade because no one knows what to make of the name Jaed), who looks Native-ish himself, is a reasonably capable tutor of students (not exclusively Native) whose family backgrounds have not served them well. My overall impression of Jaed is of a very decent human.
And now the real story begins. Out of boredom and loneliness, Jade starts frequenting a gym, where he learns basic boxing skills from a trainer. The trainer flies Jade to Juneau to participate in amateur boxing (really plain old fighting) matches. With the last name Coffin, Jade is nicknamed “The Stone”. His story essentially comes together in the ring. Says the book jacket: “Roughhouse Friday is a meditation on fathers and sons; on the intersections of race, loneliness, and masculinity; and on our inescapable longing for love. Sometimes it’s only by becoming our most dangerous selves that we’re able to face the questions that haunt us.”
That description is perhaps over-dramatic, but I did enjoy Coffin’s coming of age story. From the Author notes we know that Coffin is now a teacher of creative writing at a university, and lives in Maine with a wife and two daughters. We don’t learn the whole story of his path to “normal” adulthood, but through this memoir we surely see the superhuman effort he made along the way.
July 16, 2021
This memoir is fascinating and surprisingly fresh-different. Jaed Coffin, with origins that are half Thai (Mom) and half preppy New Englander (Dad) is born in Vermont and through divorce comes of age in Maine. Mom and Dad meet when Dad is shipped over during the Vietnam War. They come back married and divorce rather quickly, Dad having taken up with Mom's best friend. Mom is driven and ambitious. Dad idolizes men like Hemmingway and storybook, and therefore unachievable, masculinity. Jaed it turns out is introspective and angry, about many things. He attends affluent Middlebury college (Dad is an alum) and then finds himself drifting and out of sorts, early 20s and nothing seems to satisfy. He's weighted down by the guilt of having no immediate purpose when mom has sacrificed so much to send him to college. He's immature and inarticulate, but can feel that there is something out there and he takes off to travel. This is where the BIG thing happens.
He ends up kayaking from Seattle to Sitka Alaska. No small feat. HUGE feat that consisted of things like, getting lost and eating off the land. Though intrigued with his background and writing, it wasn't until this point that I came to realize that his mom's drive is just manifesting in an alternative way.
In Sitka he starts to come into his own. He starts working out and eventually boxing under the tutelage of Victor, who trains a loose hodge-podge group of guys who box it out at the Roughhouse Friday nights in Juneau. Bar room boxing in South Eastern Alaska sounds like something to see, a little bit of money, big guys, tough guys, fat guys, women, people of all shape and mood. It gives him purpose. He ends up learning from Victor and also others, what it means to be loyal to people, to culture.
He has this great line towards the end when talking about what he learned from Victor, "Power was not something to behold, but to give." Righteous stuff.
He ends up kayaking from Seattle to Sitka Alaska. No small feat. HUGE feat that consisted of things like, getting lost and eating off the land. Though intrigued with his background and writing, it wasn't until this point that I came to realize that his mom's drive is just manifesting in an alternative way.
In Sitka he starts to come into his own. He starts working out and eventually boxing under the tutelage of Victor, who trains a loose hodge-podge group of guys who box it out at the Roughhouse Friday nights in Juneau. Bar room boxing in South Eastern Alaska sounds like something to see, a little bit of money, big guys, tough guys, fat guys, women, people of all shape and mood. It gives him purpose. He ends up learning from Victor and also others, what it means to be loyal to people, to culture.
He has this great line towards the end when talking about what he learned from Victor, "Power was not something to behold, but to give." Righteous stuff.
June 29, 2021
Jaed Coffin did a virtual reading at the school where I teach this year and I was impressed by his mellow, funny and earnest approach. This interaction inspired me to listen to the audiobook (perfectly read by the author) of his latest memoir: Roughhouse Friday. I think most readers would enjoy reading or listening to this excellent memoir.
As he explained in the reading, the year he spent as a teacher and amateur boxer in Alaska serves as the "spine" of the book, but he often diverges from that story to reflect on his parents remarkable courtship and subsequent separation; the restlessness and desire to explore one feels in their early 20's; father-son/mother-son relationships relationships; the challenges of being an immigrant (something his mother experienced) and the relationship between indigenous Alaskans and American government/commerce, among other topics. While the story is entertaining, unique and memorable, Coffin's voice is the main reason I recommend this book. Whether describing the natural surroundings of Alaska or New England or bringing many intense moments to life, Coffin brings injects empathy, self-deprecating humor and original details into every paragraph.
I look forward to reading Coffin's next book and highly recommend him as a speaker/reader.
As he explained in the reading, the year he spent as a teacher and amateur boxer in Alaska serves as the "spine" of the book, but he often diverges from that story to reflect on his parents remarkable courtship and subsequent separation; the restlessness and desire to explore one feels in their early 20's; father-son/mother-son relationships relationships; the challenges of being an immigrant (something his mother experienced) and the relationship between indigenous Alaskans and American government/commerce, among other topics. While the story is entertaining, unique and memorable, Coffin's voice is the main reason I recommend this book. Whether describing the natural surroundings of Alaska or New England or bringing many intense moments to life, Coffin brings injects empathy, self-deprecating humor and original details into every paragraph.
I look forward to reading Coffin's next book and highly recommend him as a speaker/reader.
January 24, 2023
Why I chose this book: I was interested to hear about the experiences the author had with boxing.
Brief summary: Jaed is from a family with an American father and a Thai mother, and he is looking for his place in the world as he emerges into adulthood. His father is a war veteran and has complex opinions on masculinity, which Jaed inherits. To prove himself and find himself, he goes to Alaska in a kayak and falls into a roughhouse boxing league. The book takes turns looking at his life as a boxer, peering into his family history and struggles, as well as exploring the history and culture of Alaska.
What I didn't like about this book: I don't like to share much about what I don't like about memoirs as they are so personal, and I don't want to attack the author. I will comment on the structure; however, which meandered away from the boxing, which is the core of this book, a lot. There are a lot of threads in this book that take away from the ways in which boxing shaped Jaed as a young man.
What I like about this book: I am primarily interested in Jaed's experiences as a boxer, but I do like how he explores the history and culture of Alaska. It is interesting to hear about how conflicts and industrialization have shaped the state.
Brief summary: Jaed is from a family with an American father and a Thai mother, and he is looking for his place in the world as he emerges into adulthood. His father is a war veteran and has complex opinions on masculinity, which Jaed inherits. To prove himself and find himself, he goes to Alaska in a kayak and falls into a roughhouse boxing league. The book takes turns looking at his life as a boxer, peering into his family history and struggles, as well as exploring the history and culture of Alaska.
What I didn't like about this book: I don't like to share much about what I don't like about memoirs as they are so personal, and I don't want to attack the author. I will comment on the structure; however, which meandered away from the boxing, which is the core of this book, a lot. There are a lot of threads in this book that take away from the ways in which boxing shaped Jaed as a young man.
What I like about this book: I am primarily interested in Jaed's experiences as a boxer, but I do like how he explores the history and culture of Alaska. It is interesting to hear about how conflicts and industrialization have shaped the state.
June 28, 2019
I received Roughhouse Friday by Jaed Coffin for free through Goodreads' Giveaways program.
Coffin's memoir details his journey to Alaska and year there, where he served as a tutor at a high school and trained as an amateur boxer. But there's more to the story than that. It's also an exploration of masculinity and what it means to be a man. The product of an American father and a Thai mother who divorced when he was very young, Coffin grew up in New England often feeling like he never quite belonged. He also had plenty of issues with his father.
In his early 20s after graduating from college, he ends up in Sitka, Alaska, and begins boxing, ultimately training for a bunch of brawls (the roughhouse Fridays of the title). We see friendships and connections come about with his trainer Victor, other boxers, and a few women here and there. Always in the back of his mind is his relationship with his father, which is complicated.
This was a good-- and well written-- read. If you are at all interested in boxing or Alaska, this will give you a glimpse. I actually thought those aspects of the book were much more interesting than Coffin's familial relationships.
Recommended.
Coffin's memoir details his journey to Alaska and year there, where he served as a tutor at a high school and trained as an amateur boxer. But there's more to the story than that. It's also an exploration of masculinity and what it means to be a man. The product of an American father and a Thai mother who divorced when he was very young, Coffin grew up in New England often feeling like he never quite belonged. He also had plenty of issues with his father.
In his early 20s after graduating from college, he ends up in Sitka, Alaska, and begins boxing, ultimately training for a bunch of brawls (the roughhouse Fridays of the title). We see friendships and connections come about with his trainer Victor, other boxers, and a few women here and there. Always in the back of his mind is his relationship with his father, which is complicated.
This was a good-- and well written-- read. If you are at all interested in boxing or Alaska, this will give you a glimpse. I actually thought those aspects of the book were much more interesting than Coffin's familial relationships.
Recommended.
July 4, 2019
In this remarkable memoir, Jaed Coffin shares his story and his attempt to get ahold of himself emotionally and simply to "figure it all out". Raised in the exurban Northeast by an immigrant Thai mother and a not-quite-completely-absent American father, he paddles his way into the far reaches of Sitka, Alaska, where he lands head-first at the local amateur boxing circuit (aka Roughhouse Friday).
Here, Jaed (or Jade, as he is called) has the chance to see himself clearly as an individual, perhaps for the first time. He identifies his strengths and weaknesses as a fighter, learns to capitalize on the former and accommodate the latter. Sometimes, the fight is called unfairly and one learns to cope. These experiences permit him to reflect on his father, as he learns to do the same (capitalize, accommodate) in this more complex and personal realm.
Mr. Coffin's writing is lyrical and enchanting. I will be reading this book again some time soon.
Here, Jaed (or Jade, as he is called) has the chance to see himself clearly as an individual, perhaps for the first time. He identifies his strengths and weaknesses as a fighter, learns to capitalize on the former and accommodate the latter. Sometimes, the fight is called unfairly and one learns to cope. These experiences permit him to reflect on his father, as he learns to do the same (capitalize, accommodate) in this more complex and personal realm.
Mr. Coffin's writing is lyrical and enchanting. I will be reading this book again some time soon.
June 24, 2019
An interesting memoir of a man who found a way to deal with the collected pain of a difficult family situation by finding release for the violence bubbling inside of him.
Jaed, after a kayak trip takes him to Alaska, fights and finds a coach who invites him to partake in coordinated barroom boxing events known as Roughhouse Friday. From there, the book more often describes the series of fights he has with other boxers throughout the area, and shows how important to the lives of these men, as well as himself, boxing truly became. You may well have heard the phrase “for love of the sport.” Truly, that love is demonstrated in this title, as Jaed shows how much more goes into fighting then simply two guys throwing punches.
If you enjoy sports, (especially if you are a boxing fan), there is a lot to like and enjoy here in this memoir. Jaed is very adapt at setting the scene and making you feel like you are watching these fights as they happen. But more importantly, he also has some great ideas and insights around masculinity, being a man, and what all that really means. Overall a rather interesting journey into a unique life story.
(I received an ARC of this title through a Goodreads Giveaway.)
Jaed, after a kayak trip takes him to Alaska, fights and finds a coach who invites him to partake in coordinated barroom boxing events known as Roughhouse Friday. From there, the book more often describes the series of fights he has with other boxers throughout the area, and shows how important to the lives of these men, as well as himself, boxing truly became. You may well have heard the phrase “for love of the sport.” Truly, that love is demonstrated in this title, as Jaed shows how much more goes into fighting then simply two guys throwing punches.
If you enjoy sports, (especially if you are a boxing fan), there is a lot to like and enjoy here in this memoir. Jaed is very adapt at setting the scene and making you feel like you are watching these fights as they happen. But more importantly, he also has some great ideas and insights around masculinity, being a man, and what all that really means. Overall a rather interesting journey into a unique life story.
(I received an ARC of this title through a Goodreads Giveaway.)
March 20, 2020
The son of a Thai mother and a white father who abandoned his family, Coffin divides men into two categories - those who stay and those who leave. This memoir is many things, but mostly the author's attempts to come to grips with his father. His journey (after his mother sacrifices so much to send him through Middlebury) takes him on a cross country road trip and then a thousand mile sea kayak paddle to Alaska. Once there, he gets a job tutoring (if that is the right word) at-risk Native kids and works through various issues by bar boxing.
A paragraph I like: But I was too concerned with the world in front of me to recognize that what I was looking for had nothing at all to do with the Native people of Alaska. Their stories were their own; I, like so many Americans, was borrowing their story to illuminate the absence of my own.
A paragraph I like: But I was too concerned with the world in front of me to recognize that what I was looking for had nothing at all to do with the Native people of Alaska. Their stories were their own; I, like so many Americans, was borrowing their story to illuminate the absence of my own.
August 6, 2019
Roughhouse Friday by Jaed Coffin: 9/10
A breathtaking work of memoir. A fragile, delicate recounting of Coffin's years as a lost man who finds himself in a boxing tournament in Alaska. Coffin's story is truly one that warrants he write a memoir. How many others can say they first kayaked from Washington to Alaska, then competed in a boxing tournament in such a place?
Coffin's account of these years is tender and raw as if he lived them yesterday. The authenticity which he writes of the town of Sitka, Alaska and the people who he became acquainted with there are simply masterful.
Coffin blends these years with the confusion of his broken childhood by the hands of his white father and Vietnamese mother, as well as antidotes of certain histories of these cultures. A must-read.
A breathtaking work of memoir. A fragile, delicate recounting of Coffin's years as a lost man who finds himself in a boxing tournament in Alaska. Coffin's story is truly one that warrants he write a memoir. How many others can say they first kayaked from Washington to Alaska, then competed in a boxing tournament in such a place?
Coffin's account of these years is tender and raw as if he lived them yesterday. The authenticity which he writes of the town of Sitka, Alaska and the people who he became acquainted with there are simply masterful.
Coffin blends these years with the confusion of his broken childhood by the hands of his white father and Vietnamese mother, as well as antidotes of certain histories of these cultures. A must-read.
August 29, 2022
Intriguing memoir. Son of an American Vietnam veteran and a Thai mother, Coffin details his childhood, parents' contentious divorce, the back-and-forth visits between Maine and Vermont, his agonizing questions about his soul, and his journey after graduating from Middlebury to Sitka, Alaska.
He gets a job tutoring disinterested students and begins training as a boxer.
Much of the book describes fights and fighters. Much focuses on his parents and his ongoing efforts to find meaning, to release and understand what lingers in his heart. He searches for a healthy masculinity. I wonder what led him to become a writer.
Maybe next book for that?
His exploration of culture, language, customs, family structure, behavior and gender is strong.
Well worth a read.
He gets a job tutoring disinterested students and begins training as a boxer.
Much of the book describes fights and fighters. Much focuses on his parents and his ongoing efforts to find meaning, to release and understand what lingers in his heart. He searches for a healthy masculinity. I wonder what led him to become a writer.
Maybe next book for that?
His exploration of culture, language, customs, family structure, behavior and gender is strong.
Well worth a read.
August 18, 2020
This is the recommended book for 2020 for Maine Reads. It is fabulous. I don't like boxing, but I found his account of boxing in Alaska and coming to grip with his relationship with his father to be intriguing. You really feel like you get inside of his thinking and the conflicts he has over his father's expectations of him and his father's behavior toward his Thai mother. I like also that the mother lives in Maine and he sort of grew up in Brunswick. He is now teaching creative writing at UNH.
August 28, 2019
This is a well crafted memoir by a man who plunged into the unknown in his early 20s. It so happens I also went to Alaska pursuing something as a young man. I spent the summers of 1983 and 1984 working in the commercial fishing and fish packing industries there. I'm also a boxing fan, so I loved this one.
September 22, 2019
Another good book I won through goodreads. Jared Coffin is an interesting person. Born to an American father and a Thai mother. They met durning the Vietnam war. This tells of his struggles to find himself. He goes back and forth between the 2 parents then goes to Alaska. This is where things start to come together for him.
November 7, 2019
Got this book after reading an emotional essay in the NYT that the author wrote about his father.
I was wary of the boxing content but ended up fully enthralled with the story, the characters, the scenery of Alaska. It is about so much more than boxing. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone.
I was wary of the boxing content but ended up fully enthralled with the story, the characters, the scenery of Alaska. It is about so much more than boxing. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone.
September 30, 2020
This is quite a read - there was so much to absorb and take in. Great writing and recollections of a time in a young man's life, where he is seeking insight into himself, and his family dynamics. He escapes to Sitka, Alaska, but brings his baggage with him. Fighting brings relief to his soul, but also confusion. I read this for my book group, and I look forward to seeing what comes up.
July 6, 2019
This autobiography manages to be both brutal and tender. It's really well done. How can I tell? There's great deal about boxing. I do not care about boxing, yet I was spellbound. Illuminating on so many fronts: growing up, Alaska, being culturally unmoored and finding harbors. Highly recommend.
May 6, 2020
I usually don’t find memoirs interesting but this one was very interesting. It was well written. The story relates to quite a few people that are trying to find themselves and their purpose. I enjoyed learning about the different cultures he experienced.
June 1, 2019
Enjoyed reading this book, would like to see a second one telling how Jaed became a writer.
June 22, 2019
I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. An interesting memoir.
Want to read
July 9, 2019Good book
August 13, 2019
Some interesting parts. Took me awhile to finish just because it didn’t capture me, so I’d pick it up whenever. The last 3 or 4 chapters were the best part and wrapped it all up.
Read
September 6, 2019796.83092 C6753 2019
November 30, 2019
This is a good book. Hemingway meets Jack London.
Read
January 30, 2020read for a school project
January 6, 2021
This was a stellar and surprising work. I highly recommend it.
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