The Fighter by Michael Farris Smith

This is my fourth read by the author and probably the favorite. All the things Smith has been excelling at, his gorgeous language, his unforgettable characters, the muscular viscerality of his writing, the sweat and bourbon soaked scenery and the emotional gut punches he so expertly delivers…well, this is the perfect storm of it all. This being Smith’s slimmest novel, it’s as pared down as a bareknuckle fight, appropriately enough, and just as brutal and just as strangely rewarding to behold. Strangely, because it’s quite literally the opposite of easy reading. And yet, absolutely magnetic.
Don’t let the slim page count fool you either, this novel has all a novel should, it’s just streamlined to perfection. A tale of Jack Boucher, from boy to man, driven to fight. Abandoned at childhood, adopted and lovingly raised from age 12, he finds an outlet for his inner turmoil and rage as a seventeen year old in a fighting rink and from there on, his fate is sealed. Jack fights and wins and fights and gambles and fights and drinks and spirals, always spirals…
Now at 46, beaten down by his opponents and life itself, debt ridden, with his beloved foster mother dying and her estate about to be taken over by the bank, Jack finds himself in a position for one last chance at something like redemption. A live or die situation. And, of course, Jack has never walked away from a fight…
Fighter stories are compelling, there’s a good reason Stallone has made a career of revisiting same boxer over and over, which has now been competently taken over by Creed. There’s a certain purity to a fight, no rules, no teams, no cheerleaders. Just will and strength meeting their match. This book really, really gets that. The fighting scene finale has got to be one of the best such scenes I’ve ever read.
Of course, I expect this much of the author, he’s a terrific writer. So much so he makes the South palatable, well, at least literary, at least The Southern Noir. Smith’s books are very Southern, Mississippi river weaves in and out of the scenery. And all of his characters have a very specific downtrodden or beaten down quality of people to whom life hasn’t been kind. There are tough characters, but their actions more often than not are formed and informed by desperation. Even in books that don’t feature the word the title, they all still ride the desperation road. Usually, while drunk, but drunk driving is the least of it here.
Though it heavily featured in Desperation Road, the Smith’s book I’ve read before this one. The main reason I didn’t love that book as much were the characters, they seemed to be all too responsible for their sh*tty lives to be genuinely likeable, but here, though they also screw up, they seem to have much more agency over their actions and their choices. Which makes them more relatable and engaging. No matter what…they are fighters.
There’s a similar structure, narrative wise, in here to Desperation Road. The way separate narrative strands interweave. But between the two, in a ring, going for three rounds, this one wins. Definitely. And it blows away outside competition also.
So go on, be uplifted by the beaten down, get in on the fight, place your bets, read this book. Great read. Recommended