News & Reviews

WORD: Ecco adds to ‘Pound For Pound’ status with posthumus novel

Boxing is the most existential of sports, so it’s no surprise that a cutman who spent decades stopping the blood flow of fighters would pen a novel. The late F.X. Toole, who started writing at nearly 70 years old, had his posthumous novel Pound For Pound published by Ecco, the HarperCollins imprint announced on Aug. 1.

Pound For Pound is about an aging but legendary Los Angeles trainer who takes on a troubled young welterweight fighter, chasing dreams of professional glory in the San Antonio boxing circuit -- which is rife with crime and corruption.

Toole died before completing his novel. But his earlier short story collection Rope Burns ended up on the big screen as Million Dollar Baby, which buoyed interest in Pound For Pound. After a friend and freelance editor reportedly completed the manuscript, Toole’s debut novel was ready for publication as a hardcover.

Toole joins a long list of celebrated novelists who wrote about boxers, including some of our favorites Charles Bukowski, Ernest Hemingway and Joyce Carol Oates. Each found the squared circle an ideal setting for themes like redemption, fear, individualism and relationships.

HarperCollins meanwhile continues to make major strides in fiction since acquiring Ecco Press in 1999. Other top authors at Ecco include, yes: Oates and Bukowski. Ecco picked up the rights to most of Bukowski’s work from independent publisher Black Sparrow Press in 2002, and has since launched both previously released and new titles from the cult author.

< Back to News & Reviews Home