Books finished in November:
(Warning: reviews are unpolished and quickly written.)

Beast: Blood, Struggle, and Dreams at the Heart of Mixed Martial Arts (2015) by Doug Merlino. We follow the training and fights of four mixed martial artists from American Top Team, an elite  MMA gym, for two years. The four athletes are from different backgrounds and at different stages in their careers: “Mirsad Bektic, a young Bosnian refugee who started in karate as a boy in Nebraska, dreams of stardom. Jeff Monson, a battered veteran at forty-one, is an outspoken, tattooed anarchist enjoying a bizarre burst of celebrity in Russia. Steve Mocco is a newcomer–a former Olympic wrestler from a close-knit intellectual family. Finally there’s Daniel Straus, who, from a life short on opportunity, fights his way up to title contention.” They also embody different training and general lifestyles, with the veteran Monson being the most colorful character. He is also a tragic one, continually taking new fights and not accepting that his body, at 41, has started to decline. The book gives a good view of how varying the MMA scene and its practitioners are, and of the dangers of their profession. It is also clear on how demanding, like many other sports at the elite level, this profession is, something that is underlined by the title, where the word “Beast” is probably used somewhat ironically, ref. this paragraph towards the end: “The fighters, the good ones, knew that for all the strength they might have one day, the advantage may shift to their opponent the next time. These were men who trained six days a week, for years, to reach where they were. They had family and friends behind them, a team, a coaching staff-even, in the case of American Top Team, a financial benefactor. No one was really a beast. There were no superhuman powers. Everything was training, preparation, will, discipline, controlled aggression at the right moment. And ultimately, the making of champions happened in the quieter moments. It wasn’t just how hard you could punch, kick, or strangle someone, but how much you could sit with your fear and uncertainty and still keep going.” Recommended.

Ratings and previous books are in the library.