Pound For Pound

Metro rating

by FX Toole, Harvill Secker, £12

Ben East - Tuesday, August 8, 2006

The James Ellroy introduction to Pound For Pound is almost as heartbreaking as the book; FX Toole was an LA boxing trainer (real name Jerry Boyd) who used his experiences to write short stories.

One of these was Million Dollar Baby, but he didn't live to enjoy the film's success. And he had one novel manuscript which he was finishing on his death bed - however, it had to be fleshed out posthumously.

This is heartbreaking because, despite being a fantastically readable tale of the trials and tribulations of a trainer trying to get a young boxer out of corruption and crime (he writes with a knowledge that is addictive and, despite the bloody subject matter, eminently wholesome), the narrative arc is so predictable, so clearly written for the film rights with the prior knowledge of Million Dollar Baby's success, that it suffocates the rest of the book.

Was this how Toole meant it? We'll never know.