Thursday, January 24, 2008

Sam Sheridan to read Wed. 1/30

Sam Sheridan will read from his new book, A Fighter's Heart: One Man's Journey Through the World of Fighting, on Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 7:00 on the third-floor bridge of Wiekamp Hall. Check out his myspace page for video clips of funny interviews on Jon Stewart's Daily Show and on Fox News. (That's him on the book cover.)

Summary:
An extraordinary memoir of the author’s adventures in fighting, as well as a look behind the scenes of one of America’s fastest growing sports.

In 1999, after a series of adventurous jobs working construction at the South Pole, ranching in Montana, fighting wildfires in New Mexico, and sailing private yachts around the world Sam Sheridan found himself in Australia, loaded with cash and intent on not working until he‚d spent it all. He quit smoking and began working out at a local gym, where it slowly occurred to him that now, without distractions, he could finally indulge a long-dormant obsession: fighting.

Within a year, Sheridan landed in Bangkok to train at the legendary Fairtex gym with the greatest fighter in Thai kickboxing history. Driven by a desire to know what only a fighter can about fear and violence, about the dark side of being a man, and most of all about himself he stepped through the ropes for a professional bout.

That one fight wasn’t enough. Sheridan set out to test himself on an epic journey in the world of fighting. From small-town Iowa to the beaches of Rio, from the streets of Oakland to the arenas of Tokyo, he trained, traveled, and fought with Olympic boxers, Brazilian jiu-jitsu stars, and Ultimate Fighting champions. A Fighter’s Heart is the dazzling chronicle of Sheridan’s quest. In part, it’s an insightful look at violence as a career and as a spectator sport, a behind-the-pageantry glimpse of athletes at the top of their terrifying game. At the same time, it’s a dizzying firsthand account of what it’s like to reach the peak of finely disciplined aggression, to hit and be hit.

Sam Sheridan joined the U.S. Merchant Marines after high school and then attended Harvard College, from which he graduated in 1998. He has written for Men’s Journal and Newsweek. This is his first book.

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