Cut Time

Carlo Rotella is professor of English and director of the American Studies Program at Boston College. He is the author of Good with Their Hands: Boxers, Bluesmen, and Other Characters from the Rust Bell and October Cities: The Redevelopment of Urban Literature. His writing has appeared in the Washington Post Magazine, Harper's, and the American Scholar, which named one of his boxing pieces its Best Essay of the Year. His work has also been published in The Best American Essays. Rotella was awarded the 2004 L.L. Winship/PEN New England Award.

"Cut Time should be read not just by fight aficionados but also by fans of intelligent nonfiction writing.... An absorbing read." - Sports Illustrated "Just when you think it's all been written, a good writer takes a shining new look at an old subject and breathes life into it.... Rotella has preserved the blow-by-blow and the grandeur of another age but has somehow expanded the ring to include his own generation's proclivities and sensibility." - Los Angeles Times "A wonderful book.... Cut Time is aimed at everyone, even readers who can't imagine that they could ever learn anything from men slugging it out in a ring. They can." - Wall Street Journal "Rotella finds in boxing not only entertainment, but worthy and sustaining metaphors for battles outside the ring.... Thoughtful and crafted." - Boston Globe"