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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Wrestliana is a complicated book, on the surface it is a biography of Toby Litt’s great-great-grandfather William Litt, but it is also an exploration of his relationship with his own father, his sons, and representations of masculinity.
I was lucky enough to receive this from Galley Beggar Press to read and I really appreciate the chance as Toby’s writing is clear and impelling.
William Litt was a champion Cumberland and Westmoreland Wrestling athlete and writer and this book follows his life around the wrestling circuit and further abroad.
It is the joining of these two modern day extremes, ‘Jock’ and ‘Nerd’ that Toby explores, both in William’s life and his own.
Positing that William’s era was possibly the beginning of separation of body and mind as distinct social personas, body and mind was commonly combined. But with the rise of educational specialism and professional sports they became irrevocably sundered.
A really great read written with understanding and passion.
I was lucky enough to receive this from Galley Beggar Press to read and I really appreciate the chance as Toby’s writing is clear and impelling.
William Litt was a champion Cumberland and Westmoreland Wrestling athlete and writer and this book follows his life around the wrestling circuit and further abroad.
It is the joining of these two modern day extremes, ‘Jock’ and ‘Nerd’ that Toby explores, both in William’s life and his own.
Positing that William’s era was possibly the beginning of separation of body and mind as distinct social personas, body and mind was commonly combined. But with the rise of educational specialism and professional sports they became irrevocably sundered.
A really great read written with understanding and passion.
This is not the sort of book I would usually read. It's part biography, part memoir, and is partly focused on the subject of wrestling - an area I have never really had a great interest in. However, the book has also been described as an exploration of masculinity, which I thought could be potentially interesting - as a woman, I have read several works around feminism but have never before explored the male perspective on what it means to be a man.
Litt is clearly a good writer. 'Wrestliana' is easy to read and the story seems to flow. It moves easily between the passages of memoir and the passages of biography. The descriptions of wrestling were also interesting and accessible to those who know nothing about it - and I liked the highlighted differences between traditional Northern English wrestling and the TV spectacle wrestling that is more famous today.
That being said, I can't say I entirely enjoyed this book. It has an attitude towards masculinity that is old-fashioned and at times made me slightly uncomfortable. It had a distinctly 'sports are manly and for men' vibe, despite the fact that it notes women wrestling alongside and against men. I am not sure if this was a deliberate angle by the author to reflect the views of the ancestor he was writing about, but personally I found it unsettling. This is definitely a book that will appeal more to some people than others.
'Wrestliana' is also a book about writing a book. It is the second such book I have read by this publisher (Galley Beggar Press) this year - the first being Megan Dunn's 'Tinderbox'. Naturally, I kept finding myself comparing the two, and unfortunately for 'Wrestliana' it did not come out on top. I enjoyed the insights into the writing process, and empathised with the struggle over writing about a family member Litt was not sure he could relate to - but the writing was just missing that spark.
Overall, this book was OK. I don't think I am its target audience, so the fact I am not rating it any higher is perhaps not surprising. I am sure there are people who will enjoy this book - but perhaps they need to have a different view on masculinity, or just greater understanding of the subject, in order to do so.
Litt is clearly a good writer. 'Wrestliana' is easy to read and the story seems to flow. It moves easily between the passages of memoir and the passages of biography. The descriptions of wrestling were also interesting and accessible to those who know nothing about it - and I liked the highlighted differences between traditional Northern English wrestling and the TV spectacle wrestling that is more famous today.
That being said, I can't say I entirely enjoyed this book. It has an attitude towards masculinity that is old-fashioned and at times made me slightly uncomfortable. It had a distinctly 'sports are manly and for men' vibe, despite the fact that it notes women wrestling alongside and against men. I am not sure if this was a deliberate angle by the author to reflect the views of the ancestor he was writing about, but personally I found it unsettling. This is definitely a book that will appeal more to some people than others.
'Wrestliana' is also a book about writing a book. It is the second such book I have read by this publisher (Galley Beggar Press) this year - the first being Megan Dunn's 'Tinderbox'. Naturally, I kept finding myself comparing the two, and unfortunately for 'Wrestliana' it did not come out on top. I enjoyed the insights into the writing process, and empathised with the struggle over writing about a family member Litt was not sure he could relate to - but the writing was just missing that spark.
Overall, this book was OK. I don't think I am its target audience, so the fact I am not rating it any higher is perhaps not surprising. I am sure there are people who will enjoy this book - but perhaps they need to have a different view on masculinity, or just greater understanding of the subject, in order to do so.