Customer Reviews

Every Time I Talk to Liston: A Novel

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

 

 

Every Time I Talk to Liston is one of the most unusual sports novels I have ever read. Anyone who is interested in an exciting, genre-breaking book should consider this one.

Amos "Scrap Iron" Fletcher has never been knocked down in a heavyweight fight. He has lots of boxing savvy to go with his hard head. But neither quality has done him much good during a long career as a fighter and sparring partner for the greats. From his "hard knocks" career he's learned to walk the straight and narrow in most ways . . . and to put away a little extra cash into his mutual fund shares. He's also learned to appreciate the difficulties of being a fighter, and has developed a spiritual relationship with the memory of Sonny Liston . . . someone whom most people felt little sympathy. Scrap Iron realizes that everyone has a good side and would like to show that side more often to the outside world.

Following a series of unexpected events, Scrap Iron finds himself outside of boxing . . . looking in. How can he redeem himself? What does the future hold?

This book will remind many people of the Rocky saga, except that the Rockies here are African-Americans. The tale is told with enthusiasm and vigor, which will keep you up late reading the book. Mr. DeVido has a way of describing training, sparring and matches that can take a neophyte like me into the head and body of a fighter or trainer. The resulting story is a compelling read.

But don't forget. This is a book that will mostly appeal to men. Women are portrayed in very simplistic ways (as strippers, groupies and "angels" who want to redeem their men). Although the book doesn't glorify violence, it certainly deals centrally with that theme and the attraction of fighting to those in the profession.

The references to Sonny Liston give the book grounding in reality that makes the book more interesting. I loved the quote that opened the book from Mr. Liston:

"Someday they're gonna write a blues song just for fighters. It'll be for slow guitar, soft trumpet, and a bell."

I would have rated the book as a five-star effort except that by page 143 the rest of the story was pretty easy to anticipate. That transparency stole some of the power from the tale.

As I finished the book, I wondered what other well-known sports figures had a better side to them that was largely hidden from the public. Perhaps there are more legitimate role models in sports than we realize.

A sports fan I am not, but I LOVED this book. Brian DeVido is a former Virginia Golden Gloves heavyweight champion who knows boxing intimately, yet his portrayal of the complexities and nuances of the boxing scene are so well-crafted that even though I was ignorant of the fight world, I was sucked right into the story. 'Every Time I Talk to Liston' is understandably graphic in places given its subject matter, but the violence isn't gratuitous - it's just part of the sport, providing an intriguing and emotional backdrop for the characters, who really shine. Not only did I come away from this book feeling as though I understood a sport which previously had been incomprehensible to me (men hitting each other? what's up with that?), I CARED about the outcome, which DeVido masterfully leaves in doubt right up until the very end.

Fast-paced, with likeable characters and wonderful insights ("You got to be a little crazy to be the best in anything." - Amos 'Scrap Iron' Fletcher), 'Every Time I talk to Liston' is a satisfying, heart-warming story about a man who refuses to give up.

When I started to read this book, I didn't know what to expect. What I found was a "page-turner" of a book! Brian DeVido has captured the hard world of boxing and relates it to the reader in a very realistic way. We almost feel every punch and jab as if we were inside the ring ourselves. Amos, "Scrap Iron" Fletcher, is a down and out boxer who searches to find a way to be successful in the game that he loves. The character development of Amos, the protagonist, proceeds seemingly effortlessly, from beginning to end. Along the way, Amos seeks the approval of Sonny Liston's spirit as his mentor. The plot is convincing and well woven in rounds instead of chapters. This book is not just for the boxing afficionado. It is for EVERYMAN!!
DeVido has a clever style that ropes you in and keeps you coming back for more.
If you are looking for an exciting book... get Every Time I Talk To Liston.

Being far from an enthusiast of the sweet science, I expected to have a lukewarm reaction to a boxing novel, especially another one that uses Liston as inspiration (I count at least three novels/story collections that have Liston's name in the title from the past couple of years). However, I was instantly taken with this tale of a once-promising heavyweight on the downside of his career. Amos "Scrap Iron" Fletcher is a good fighter who has never been knocked down but has also never one a major fight or fought in Vegas, his lifelong dream. At the beginning, he gets this dream and it turns out to be shallow. After a scandal, he returns to Trenton, NJ, where he decides to manage a fighter named TNT (It seems all fighters have to have a nickname). The novel follows Amos as he trains TNT for an eventual world title bought. Throughout it all, we have Amos visiting the grave of the once-great Liston for inspiration and confession he cannot make to those around him. We have wonderful writing, good characters, and descriptive writing that captures moments in the ring like nothing I have ever read--not that I have read too much about boxing. However, as much as I enjoyed this novel and as quickly as I read it, I fear it gets a bit formulaic by about midway through. I still enjoyed this novel quite a bit and am encouraged to see an author who so impressively melds sport and literature.

Brian DeVido has written a great book! With more interesting characters and plot twists than you will find in most summer movies, this is a boxing novel for folks who are fans of the sport and for those who are simply fans of good books. DeVido's own boxing background gives this book a real feel of authenticity. Life in the ring comes alive as DeVido injects each chapter with the exhaustion and exhilaration of the sweet science. Life outside the ring is also described with a careful eye as we move from the margins of the boxing world (the sparring partners, trainers, promoters and reporters) to the center of a run for the championship of the world. Finally, DeVido's decision to weave in the story of Sonny Liston, who becomes a kind of patron saint of this and perhaps every boxing story, provides another level of depth, feeling, and tragedy to the book. This is one of the most enjoyable books I have read in a long time. Don't wait for the movie, read it now.

This book is full of movement, and it never lets up. The characters are one's we remember--flawed, good hearted, all of it. The writing, too, is just flat out good. You won't put this one down.

Sports novels have been a favorite genre of mine since I was a boy. Whether baseball, poker or golf, the subject sport itself has a built-in dramatic framework of conflict. And so, I was eager to read Brian DeVito's debut novel about boxing. Mr.DeVito knows his boxing - he was a Golden Gloves heavyweight champ - and it shows in EVERY TIME I TALK TO LISTON. Full of pugilistic craft and insights, ETITTL should be required reading for any young man who wants to enter the sport. DeVito is also a sure-footed writer who can change scenes faster than a Sonny Liston jab, which keeps the story moving forward. The author, who is white, manages to convincingly portray black characters. There are a number of well-etched fight scenes for the ring-side boxing fan and interesting bits of Sonny Liston lore for the history-of-boxing fan. I never thought of Sonny Liston in a very favorable light before I read this book, but now I see him much more sympathetically. If you like sports novels, put on your gloves and get in the ring with this one.

...to appreciate this straightforward and well told story. The characters' outward actions and innnermost thoughts are both profound and entertaining. In the background is scary Sonny Liston and his heroic wife - who knew that Liston could be made to be so sympathetic?

The plot progresses along at a good pace, with chapters designated as "Round 1" "Round 2", etc - very clever.

Thoroughly enjoyable!

I was impressed. It reminded me that a number of ex-boxers are great writers: Ken Kesey, John Irving, Agatha Christie and that Hemmingway guy, I think.. I don't know what their first novels were like but I think Brian De Vido has the nuts, as they say in Vegas if a poker player has the cards to back up his bets. His round by round descriptions are very good, as is his knowledge of the art. You can give a guy boxing lessons and teach him to defend himself but you can't teach him to punch, a boxer either has it or he doesn't. If you have ever been on the receiving end of one those punches from someone who "has it" you will understand what that means. I caught one once while in the Army in 1968 and I can still feel a tingle. That punch is why there are a lot of young ex-boxers who quit and old ex-boxers who can't zip up wihtout help.
I think I would have enjoyed more of the law student/almost girlfriend who was not impressed by anyone in the fight game. She did the predictable thing and gained some understanding and approval but that was before she watched the big fight on pay per view. I would have liked to have seen her at ringside and have heard her comments duing and after that brutal battle.
I was never a Sonny Liston fan but that's just me. The connections with Liston are very real, and clever. Something about it reminds me of The Lovely Bones and The Five People You Meet in Heaven but without the science fiction and the chick-ness.
An excellent first effort. Just kidding about Agatha Christie.

I never would have even glanced at a novel on boxing, except that I had a nodding acquaintance with Brian DeVido in grad school and when I saw his novel had come out I remembered I had liked a story he wrote (also about boxing) in a class we were both taking. As it turns out, Every Time I Talk to Liston is an excellent read. It affected my views on boxing both for the worse and for the better; it portrayed the sport as both more brutal and horrific than I already thought of it, but it also revealed it as a science, whose practioners put into it not only a lot of strength and aggression, but also a lot of thought and strategy and love. I don't know if this book would be an even better read for someone who understands and loves boxing already, but it can definitely be a learning experience for someone who neither knows nor cares anything about the sport, or about Sonny Liston.

This book is a compelling read because it is equally plot-driven and character-driven. Some reviewers may complain that the outcome is predictable, but I don't see it that way. As with all underdog stories, the journey matters as much as the outcome, if not more. An even if you think you know how it will come out, the process of Amos training TNT is no less fascinating, as Amos studies TNT's opponent's weaknesses with an enthusiasm and meticulousness that read almost like detective fiction. As a whole, the book is immensely satisfying without feeling too pat. And both the dialogue and Amos's narration are the type you can actually hear in your head as you read, making you wish you were a good enough actor to read the book out loud.

I definitely recommend this book, both to boxing fans and others. It's the kind of book that can extend how you see something that's been around all along, which is a gift for any reader.