desmonday 's review for:

The Contender by Robert Lipsyte

3.0

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A friend sent me home with this one and I am so glad it was a quick read. I'm not too interested in boxing, or fighting in general. The story felt very rushed and there was little room for character depth. Overall it was an uplifting and inspirational story about working hard to achieve your goals, as well as standing behind what you believe in.

I didn't do much research, but I believe that the author was once a sports writer in the 60's. That would explain how he described the fight scenes so well. I felt like I was in the ring myself at times.

I was surprised

Spoiler

Alfred didn't continue down his path to be a fighter

. It was nice to see an example of someone taking things they learned in a sport, like patience and determination, and then applying them to more "productive" areas of their life (like School and work).