Customer Reviews

Blows to the Head: How Boxing Changed My Mind (Excelsior Editions)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First off I will say that I am not a fan of boxing, despite the important historical and cultural impact that personalities in the sport such as Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis had during the last century. I've read too much about the corruption, hype and brutality that unfortunately has dogged certain segments of the sport since - well, the beginning of human history. However, from the whimsical cover to the final page, "Blows to the Head" is a beautiful, winning and openly personal meditation on the sweet science that convinced me how pure and fulfilling boxing can be in the right hands (no pun intended), and how life-affirming and positive it is for one incredible woman. Binnie Klein "turns over stones" and finds her "out of the box" self as she describes her fascinating personal journey of mind, body and spirit by taking up boxing at an age when many people are considering slowing down and working on Sudoku puzzles as a lifestyle.

Through a variety of compelling anecdotes, the author relates in intimate detail her rigorous training full of blood, sweat and tears with an amazing boxing coach whom she originally discovered through an AARP article, and who becomes a part-Angelo Dundee and part-shaman to her. However, this book contains a lot more layers in addition to describing a woman's personal heroine-quest accompanied by Everlast gloves. With incisive humor and a unique perspective, she relates how she spied a pair of boxing gloves on a wall, and among other circumstances those gloves not only helped to open up to her a luminous new world of personal fitness, strength, and colorful personalities, but also a new-found interest in history and her family's genealogy. Those gloves also become an invaluable metaphorical aid to confronting some of the demons of her past - and present.

As entertaining as the book reads as a memoir and family history, it's also an absorbing history of boxing and athletics, feminism and empowerment, and the struggles of Jewish immigrants to America in the late 19th-early 20th centuries. Klein describes fantasy "interviews" with historical Jewish boxing luminaries such as Benny Leonard, Barney Ross and Daniel Mendoza. These gentlemen come alive on the pages as courageous, brilliant, charming and sophisticated, and they shatter all dismissive preconceptions and negative stereotypes about boxers being a bunch of palookas. However, even more empathetic are the descriptions of the ever-supportive relationships within the author's contemporary new universe. Klein and her readers joyously uncover the positive impacts that her coach, other female and male boxers, and children from contemporary American immigrant societies at a local community center discover in opportunities to build self-confidence through activities like boxing. It's both astonishing and encouraging.

I can say wholeheartedly that this book is one of the most enlightening, witty, and captivating reads I've had in a long time. And while this might sound trite, perhaps the book's greatest message is this: don't be afraid to try new challenges no matter what your age, condition, gender or station in life is, and despite what other people say about what you do. After all, if you're not open to new experiences, the fun in life you're missing is probably your own!

Being a speed bag enthusiast, the cool cover of this book caught my Eye. The early Vaudeville days had many great speed bag performers, including many females. But alas, too few pictures exist that show them. So this cover is a gem. I figured I'd give the book and the author a chance to tell me how boxing changed her life.

And I am glad I did! Inside is a powerful life story about an amazing woman that awakens to her love of boxing in her mid fifties, and gives it a go. Starting from scratch she chronicles her foray into a classic boxing training regime, doing perfect justice to the pain, sweat, injuries, fear of being hit and the colorful cast of characters that surround the inner world that is boxing. But it is more than a boxing story, This author is a highly educated Psychotherapist, incredibly observant of her own behaviors and the human conditions around her. The stories and insights of the books cast of characters is an eye opening walk through some history of the times that few may know, but all should appreciate. I found her writing style very easy to read and completely engaging. Speckled with humor and insights into humanity that proves her degree in psychotherapy was money well spent. What I most admire is the fact that she pays homage and absolute respect to everything that is boxing, including it's history, the trainers, the fighter (Male and Female) and the fans. She clearly loves the sport and the people in it. However, I say again, This is NOT a book so much about Boxing as much as the effect it can have on the lives of those who live it. As a boxing fan myself I whole heartedly recommend this book. The story is interesting and well written, so if you care little for boxing or boxers this book will still provide you with a few solid hours of enjoyable reading. The idea of a 50+ female Psychotherapist taking up boxing may sound like a "Clam", but once inside you will find it's a "Pearl". I hope this author continues the story, with "more" blows to the head as her journey continues.

Binnie Klein is a fabulous writer and memoirist, and as she takes you through her process of discovering, in middle age, her desire to take up a sport that many consider violent--well, let me just say that you go right along with her, willingly, happily, cheering for her every step of the way. The things she discovers about herself, about her heritage, about her family will blow you away and give you a deeper understanding of so much about our culture that you may never have known. Her engaging voice, her curiosity, her self-effacing generosity--and ultimately the widening of her heart to take in so much of life, will make your own heart sing. I loved this book and recommend it to everyone--even those, like me, who never thought much about boxing except perhaps to think, "Why do people want to go stand in a ring and hit each other?" Now I know--it's so much more than that.

I've been interested in women in boxing for a long time, so I snapped up this book. The author's story is so relatable in that she's not a world-class athlete trained to boxing from birth, but rather a normal middle-aged person who got curious and decided to take it up. She looks at boxing through the perspective of a mental health professional (which she is) to analyze how it can affect the self-esteem and world view of a typical American woman not raised to be an athlete. The hidden delight of this book came in the fact that half of the book is about her training with her talented coach (she doesn't fight any matches so it's mostly fitness training), and the other half is about re-connecting with her Judaism. I know nothing about Judaism, but I greatly enjoyed soaking up the knowledge (the chapter on the Jewish gangsters was especially interesting), and hearing her family stories. Lovely clear writing style. Highly recommended!

While recuperating from surgery, I got to read Ms. Klein's wonderful book. I found it both inspiring and resonant. Her vulnerability, courage and commitment is evident throughout. The skill with which she weaves the narrative of her past with her present development as a boxer was fascinating to me. I think many readers will identify with her effort to make sense of the past through the experience of the present. Her poignant appreciation of the history of boxing drew me into a sport that I thought would hold no interest to me. Bravo, Ms. Klein! I look forward to your next book.

I agree with the other 5-star reviews, and would only add the following. Klein has achieved something rare and wonderful: she has written a memoir in which she graciously highlights the people who have contributed to her own life while somehow effacing herself in the process.

There is no more enthusiastic boxing fan than me. The most recent book I have read on the subject is the grim "The Arc of Boxing" by Mike Silver, which goes beyond pessimism concerning professional boxing. But Klein has written the perfect complement. She has provided a paean to amateur boxing and to the people whose great spirit keep it alive as a source of strength and honor for people of all ages.

This is also a book for contemporary philosophers, at least for those to whom the Delphic oracle "Know Yourself" remains an ongoing task and challenge. Klein is always honest with herself, and always regards herself with great good humor.

Finally, I found the depiction of her father to be the most subtly moving portrait. He comes across on the surface as gruff, crude, and resentful of his lack of worldly success. But as one reads, one becomes aware that he managed to provide excellent educations to all three of his successful daughters, and that he loved them beyond his capacity to express.

A great memoir, really enjoyable read for a fellow baby boomer. Then! Klein comes from her big heart and knocks you out at the end. really sweet.

I read the whole book in a day. It was mesmerizing, fascinating, funny, thoughtful and delightful. How interesting to read about Binnie Klein's realization that boxing provides a path to self-realization. I recommend this book heartily.

Who of us never wished for that one middle school gym class "do over"? Come on....be honest! As adults we are supposed to move past all that, but it is as much a part of who we are as any other experience. We all want to be good at something. Binnie Klein's "Blows to the Head: How Boxing Changed my Mind" is many things, not the least of which is social commentary on how women are viewed, how we see ourselves, what empowerement is, and, most importantly, how we can all attain it. The ring is probably one of the last places a woman would expect her trainer to say: "Women are better students of boxing". This may be a sport considered by many to be solely brutish and violent, but for the author it was both a catharsis and a bridge to her history. She and her trainer really taught one another, in both boxing and life, a bond that transcends these pages. Congratulations to the author for telling her story so that others may follow in her footsteps.