John

Self-obsessed and delusional

Revisado: 03-19-19

The book is mostly a mediocre story about a bored 40 year old man who decides he wants to know what it feels like to get punched in the face. He decides to train for an MMA fight and shares his experiences of that training. That part of the story is mildly interesting.

But, about 70% into the book, he writes a chapter called The Gathering Darkness which is so vile, so delusional, so insane that he completely undercuts his story. Early in the book, the author frequently mentions his Jewish heritage and his fantasies of fighting Nazis. This reader took that to mean a reasonable fantasy of being strong and defending his people had he lived in Nazi Germany.

But, in the chapter called The Gathering Darkness, he links that fantasy to the present by implying that Trump supporters are Nazis. He writes about the election of Trump as William Shirer wrote about the rise of Hitler. He describes an America as overtly racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-immigrant. He imagines that the crowd at his upcoming fight might turn violent when they hear his last name. He describes many of his fellow fighters as violent and blood-thirsty Trump supporters who don't appreciate the art in martial arts. He imagines himself as the Mohammad Ali of MMA, braving an anti-Semitic crowd and fighting for his people. Yes, he actually tried to compare his story to Mohammad Ali.

We also learn in that disgusting chapter that, despite all of his dedication to training for his first MMA fight, he still drinks alcohol, smokes weed, and has time to go door to door to implore people not to vote for Trump. Most readers will feel betrayed at this point. The author pissed away any root-for-the-underdog goodwill that might have existed. Instead, we are left thinking that the author is a hateful, shallow, self-obsessed fool who needed a new gimmick to write about to help pay the rent.

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