Publishers Weekly
★ 08/23/2021
Toews (Women Talking) continues her consideration of the theme of women’s self-determination in this indelible and darkly hilarious portrait of an unforgettable Toronto family. Framed as a long letter to eight-year-old Swiv’s absent father in her brisk, matter-of-fact voice, it also features letters to her mother and others. After being expelled from school for fighting, she grows closer to her larger-than-life grandmother, Elvira, who “has one foot in the grave” and dives into homeschooling with gusto, convening so-called editorial meetings and devising assignments to write letters to one another. Meanwhile, Swiv’s mother, Mooshie, a pregnant actor, is prone to dramatic and sometimes violent mood swings, leading Swiv to fear Mooshie might succumb to the same mental illness that led to her aunt’s and grandfather’s suicides. The harder-edged Mooshie, who wants a “cold IPA and a holiday” for her birthday, and the exuberant Elvira, are both brash and fearless, traits that alternately embarrass and inspire Swiv. Through these women’s letters and stories, readers glimpse histories of grief, loss, and abuse, making Grandma’s assertion that “joy... is resistance” even more powerful. The moving conclusion, which has its roots in a plan for Swiv and Elvira to visit family members in California, shuns sentimentality and celebrates survival. Fierce and funny, this gives undeniable testimony to the life force of family. It’s a knockout. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
Toews is a master of dialogue, swirling the adults' perspectives through Swiv's imperfect ventriloquism as if she were mixing paints.” —New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice
“Ardent, hilarious, and moving.” —NPR.org
“If the book's overwhelming tenderness makes the reader cry, they'll be, as Swiv's mother teaches her, 'tears of happiness.'” —Nadja Spiegelman, New York Times
“A touching tribute to the matrilineal bond among three women of different generations.” —Los Angeles Times
“Toews will make you cheer and sob for all concerned.” —Boston Globe
“Go Grandma Elvira!” —Margaret Atwood via Twitter
“The last book that made me cry. It took only a line or two to be reminded of why I read fiction and why I write it. Toews doesn't simply narrate a story; she fashions a world.” —Joshua Ferris, The Guardian
“A big-hearted, briskly paced family saga about the extraordinary love that binds three generations of free-spirited women together, and the tools and techniques that they've had to develop to survive.” —USA Today, "Best Books of the Year"
“You wouldn't think it's possible to write a book about a family grappling with the legacy of mental illness that's also hilarious. But Miriam is such a beautiful and funny writer. She really locates the comedy in difficult life situations. I recommend it [Fight Night] so highly.” —Rumaan Alam on NBC-TV TODAY, “What to Read”
“I laughed and cried reading this book; I can't think of a higher endorsement.” —BuzzFeed, “Best Books of the Year”
“Toews can always see the light through the darkness, and with grace and tenderness and humor, tells how to live with it, really live.” —Literary Hub, “Favorite Books of the Year"
“A love letter to our brave and brilliant matriarchs.” —Glamour
“A novel as moving as it is full of humor . . . As Susan Cole, in Now Magazine, says, 'Few authors mix humor and deep emotion with Toews's skill.'” —The Millions, “Most Anticipated”
“Miriam Toews [is] a master of the novel. Every book of hers is magic. This one's magic is terrifying, perhaps even more than others, but it's compelling and inescapable, demanding to be read.” —New York Journal of Books
“Nobody writes books like Miriam Toews-you feel her characters down to the bone, and she can straddle the horrific to the humorous across a single sentence. Fight Night is a hymn to women fighting for themselves and their families.” —New York Public Library “Staff Pick”
“Beguiling . . . [A] wonderful tragi-comic work of fiction.” —National Book Review
“Gorgeous . . . Strong, vibrant matriarchs are hard enough to come by in literature. Even more so, when they are dynamic, hilarious, kind. [Fight Night] is a master class in confronting the darker corners of reality with acceptance and a view toward the future and toward expectation of joy.” —Feminist Book Club podcast
“Fight Night brings it. Every corner of human emotion is nudged, awakened, revealed . . . This novel is a reminder of the full potential of a book to connect us to our humanity and to inspire us to fight another day.” —The Southern Bookseller Review
“Fierce and funny, this gives undeniable testimony to the life force of family . . . a knockout.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“[A] charming, open-hearted book . . . Funny and sad and exquisitely tender.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review, "Best Fiction of the Year"
“Brilliant . . . Toews gives Swiv a voice that is sophisticated, childlike and utterly believable. . . . the wonder of Fight Night is that it's a warmhearted and inventive portrait of women who have learned to fight against adversity.” —BookPage, starred review
“Women Talking author Toews is at the top of her game in this novel . . . [It's] fierce and funny, and gives undeniable testimony to the life force of family.” —Publishers Weekly, "Holiday Gift Guide"
“[A] tightknit, funny, ferocious trio . . . This novel, with its stream-of-consciousness style, unfiltered raucous humor, and hard-won wisdom is the kind of reading that makes me evangelical. I adored the girl and the women in Fight Night and am grateful to Miriam Toews to bringing them so beautifully to life.” —Gilmore Guide to Books
“In Fight Night as in her previous books, Miriam Toews is a genius. Her gigantic mind and heart are singular; her sentence-making powers, extraordinary. Living in a time when Toews is writing is a reason to rejoice.” —R.O. Kwon, author of THE INCENDIARIES
“Fight Night is a headlong rush of a novel narrated by a precocious nine-year-old girl who is doing everything she can to keep her troubled mother from falling apart and her irrepressible grandmother alive. Tender, heart-wrenching, darkly funny, and ultimately joyful, this novel pulses with life.” —Christina Baker Kline, bestselling author of THE EXILES and ORPHAN TRAIN
“Miriam Toews is wickedly funny and fearlessly honest . . . She is an artist of escape; she always finds a way for her characters, trapped by circumstance, to liberate themselves.” —The New Yorker
“I read in one sitting, it was that good.” —Sarah Polley
Library Journal
09/01/2021
Using details from her own family history, Toews (Women Talking) recounts a few weeks in the life of three generations of strong, complicated women. The novel is presented as an unsent letter from nine-year-old Swiv to her absent father. Suspended from school for fighting, Swiv helps care for her irrepressible but health-addled grandmother Elvira, while her mother, a pregnant actress, struggles with mental illness. The family history includes membership in a repressive religious community and several instances of suicide, so generational trauma is evident in the way each character approaches the world. When Swiv accompanies Elvira on a trip to California to visit two of her nephews (probably for the last time), the story becomes a comic, picaresque, and ultimately bittersweet adventure. VERDICT Swiv's narrative voice, by turns angry, sardonic, and full of both love and exasperation for her mother and grandmother, provides much of the charm and appeal of the novel. Elvira is a force of nature, charming everyone around her with her zest for life. Despite the dark elements in the story, the humor and love between the characters shine through. Recommended.—Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2021-07-10
The author of Women Talking (2018) lets a 9-year-old girl have her say.
The first thing to know about this novel is that it’s narrated by a child writing to her father, who seems to have abandoned her and her pregnant mother. The novel-as-long-letter can often feel gimmicky, it’s difficult to craft a child’s voice that is both authentic and compelling, and it would not be unreasonable for readers to be wary of a book that attempts both. Readers familiar with Toews, however, may guess—correctly—that she’s quite capable of meeting the formal challenges she’s set for herself. “Mom is afraid of losing her mindand killing herself but Grandma says she’s nowhere near losing her mind and killing herself.” This is Swiv talking. “Grandpa and Auntie Momo killed themselves, and your dad is somewhere else, those things are true.” This is Swiv’s Grandma talking. “But we’re here! We are all here now.” This exchange captures the central concerns of this charming, open-hearted book. Swiv’s mother—an actor—is a bundle of angst, rage, and stifled ambition. Swiv’s grandmother, on the other hand, is the embodiment of joie de vivre, and it’s Grandma with whom Swiv spends most of her time, filling the roles of caretaker and (sometimes reluctant) accomplice. Grandma is the type of person who befriends everyone she meets and who finds the joy in even the most ridiculous and—to her granddaughter—mortifying experiences. As the novel progresses, we discover that this ebullience isn’t the natural product of a happy life but, rather, the result of a conscious decision to endure terrible loss without becoming hard. We also come to learn why Swiv’s mom is so brittle. And we understand that Grandma, in all her glorious ridiculousness, is showing Swiv that the only way to survive is to love.
Funny and sad and exquisitely tender.
