Rumble, Young Man, Rumble: Stories

By Benjamin Cavell

Book Overview

"I never killed anybody," he whispers. "But I could. I'm sure I could." Rumble, Young Man, Rumble opens in a sporting goods store, owned and operated by the members of an amateur paintball team. Logan... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375414649
• ISBN13: 9780375414640
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: Knopf
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.6" x 0.8" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

Loved it!

I was pretty skeptical about this book because of the hype and what I knew about the subject matter. But I was pleasantly surprised. The writing is beautiful. I'm not much of a boxing fan and I have to admit I found the violence a little hard to take. But I loved the humor and the passion. I especially loved "The Ropes." It almost made me cry.

Love it or Hate it!

This book seems to engender very strong reactions from readers, and that's all to the good. The reactions seem to even vary story by story. A recent New York Times Sunday book review used rather strong language in essentially panning several of the first stories in the book, and then turned around and praised the last story, I think that the only explanation is the stories touch on dark and hidden emotions buried within all of us, and that some readers can not deal with what it awakens within themselves. To me, that is evidence of the power of this book, that with spare dialogue and in the limited span of eight or fifteen pages of a short story, Cavell not only keep us more than interested. He can scare and thrill and stimulate our deepest primordial impulses. All in all, I couldn't put it down until I read it through.

Great read

The book jacket compares this book to Thom Jones and Palahniuk. I agree with the comparison. These are strong stories about confused tough guys and wannabe-tough guys. The stories don't seem as "perfect" as some other short story collections out there, but I actually liked this--it made the stories feel more real, and less labored-over. The writing is fresh without feeling overly "literary."The best thing about this book is that the stories are just plain interesting. They have plot; you want to see what happens next. That's a rare compliment to pay to a short-story collection these days.All in all, this is a very good read, recommended. Five stars.

Agro Guy Stories

This is a pretty darn solid collection. A couple of these stories are truly great. It is, indeed very much like Thom Jones, which is a mixed blessing. I think this guy has better work ahead of him. One can not help but think, get Archie Moore to train you, you still ain't knockin nobody out, Cambridge. Worth picking up.