Review: Triumphant and heartbreaking
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 23, 2014
I don't know how Kucan does it, but Full Contact is staggeringly triumphant at the same time it is heartbreaking. This is an astonishingly original bit of storytelling, full of fast paced fight scenes and crazy characters. It's like sitting at a bar with a guy who has been in the fight game for decades and listening to him tell stories from his sordid past over a couple of shots of whiskey. It is never boring or tedious, it's like the "good parts" version of a guy's life. But the best thing is that it feels IMPORTANT. I don't know how else to say it, but reading Full Contact gave me the same feeling as reading Fight Club (and Kucan's writing is similar to Palahniuk) or The Last Unicorn. You're reading about fights and hero's and beautiful women, but somehow it's not about any of those things at all. It's really about love and heroism and fear and trust and betrayal. All the good stuff. Full Contact feels like the thoughts and fears of every man in America, but put into the context of a guy kicking ass in the ring. It's like a modern day version of St. George and the Dragon, equally epic and exactly as timeless.