"[A book] as good as any I've read about the sport."—George Plimpton

"Robert Anasi . . . can turn a phrase as clean as a neatly wrapped fist."—Stephanie Zacharek, Newsday

"As gripping as any Arctic chronicle . . . As the author's boxing skills increase he turns his attention to his sparring partners and fellow gym rats [and] makes a rough lyric out of their hard lives."—The New Yorker

"Anasi straddles the twin issues of manliness and meanness as well as anyone since Leonard Gardner in his classic Fat City. The Gloves hurt me. And I loved it. Insanely so."—Rick Telander, author of Heaven Is a Playground

"A powerful portrait of the bloody sport of boxing [that] becomes an exploration into the nature of violence."—Dylan Foley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"The Gloves, told in pitch-perfect prose, is enormously empathetic, grimly funny, in the end almost unbearably heartbreaking, and has more actual insights into class and race and masculinity than any hundred sociological studies."—David Shields, author of Black Planet

"This intriguing title is the story of first-time author Anasi's venture into the world of amateur boxing . . . From the beginning, the reader is immersed in the gym, introduced to the people (in particular owner/trainer Milton Le Croix), the sounds, the pitiless training regimen, and the blood, sweat, and tears. The gym becomes a way of life, an obsession and, as Anasi evokes it, an environment dominated by the young and ethnic. Here is a powerful book that sporting enthusiasts will relish."—Library Journal

"Anasi cloaks nothing, and his forthright style serves to highlight not only boxing's brutal reality, but also its beauty and allure. He tells fascinating stories of the other characters he meets and illustrates their lives in and out of the ring . . . Absorbing and honest, with its prose an effortless mix of facts, poetic descriptions, and personal vignettes, this book will appeal even to those with no prior knowledge of the ring. What John Feinstein has done for higher-profile sports, Anasi has done for amateur boxing."—Publishers Weekly