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Katie Kitamura's The Longshot
May. 23rd, 2010 07:33 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
pylduck.livejournal.comA brief mention of Katie Kitamura's debut novel The Longshot (Free Press, 2009).
File this book in the category of writing by Asian American authors but not about Asian American characters (necessarily) or experiences. This novel is about the subculture of mixed martial arts (MMA) and focuses on a rematch between two fighters--Rivera and Cal. The narrative follows the perspective of Cal and his trainer Riley as they get ready for the fight. The prose is simple and definitely exhibits a journalistic sensibility, which is understandable since Kitamura has experience as a journalist (covering MMA fights, too). I felt that the narrative picked up at the end with the actual fight. The language worked wonderfully to explore the nuances of the fighting and the different scale of time that fighters experience.
I happened upon this book on the shelves of my local library and don't really know much else about it. I picked it up in part because I have quite a few friends who are into MMA and thought it might help me understand what is appealing about the fighting.
(Her first book, a memoir called Japanese for Travellers, sounds interesting.)
File this book in the category of writing by Asian American authors but not about Asian American characters (necessarily) or experiences. This novel is about the subculture of mixed martial arts (MMA) and focuses on a rematch between two fighters--Rivera and Cal. The narrative follows the perspective of Cal and his trainer Riley as they get ready for the fight. The prose is simple and definitely exhibits a journalistic sensibility, which is understandable since Kitamura has experience as a journalist (covering MMA fights, too). I felt that the narrative picked up at the end with the actual fight. The language worked wonderfully to explore the nuances of the fighting and the different scale of time that fighters experience.
I happened upon this book on the shelves of my local library and don't really know much else about it. I picked it up in part because I have quite a few friends who are into MMA and thought it might help me understand what is appealing about the fighting.
(Her first book, a memoir called Japanese for Travellers, sounds interesting.)
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