Title: Johnny Bad Ass
Author: The Big Lefthook
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 978-0595328482
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pages: 244
Reviewed by: Barbara Bamberger Scott
Hollywood Book Reviews
In Johnny Bad Ass, an author who has selected a pen name related to the book’s theme – The Big Lefthook – displays an admirable grasp of action, plotting and especially, characterization in this tough, tender tale of a boy who learns to be a man in one of the most brutal professions of all.
Young Johnny O’Reilly is growing up fast in the downscale Brooklyn neighborhood which is, as he will learn, secretly run by a gang of hoods, scammers and thugs. Their acknowledged leader is the Old Man, whom Johnny will begin to have dealings with under extremely undesirable circumstances. Johnny is trying to make something of himself, despite the many life strikes against him – he thinks college might provide a way. But when he faces a possible prison sentence, he chooses the safety of the Old Man’s offer, and begins to realize his own personal power as a boxer, becoming the World Champion who waltzes into the ring to the strains of “Danny Boy.” By the time that transformation has occurred, Johnny has traveled from his boyhood slum to the lights of Las Vegas and beyond, with the Old Man and other mobsters fully in control of his destiny. And he has a way with women – two of them – one the daughter of one of his seeming protectors, the other from a very different realm. At times, all seems to be going well for the new champ, and money is flowing in; but some unexpected sidetracks, violence outside the ring and personal woes will knock him down as hard as any opponent’s push. When he is given a choice – blow a match or wind up back on the street with nothing to show for his glory days, Johnny’s true character begins to surface, with his reluctance to fail, his strong sense of pride in doing his best, and his determination to put on a good show for the fans even at the risk of his life all coming to the fore.
Told in flashbacks, dreams, multiple viewpoints and episodes that range from tender moments of sensual love to horrific seconds in the ring, Lefthook’s story is dynamic and credible. One suspects that he has made a diligent study, maybe even had direct experience, of the darker details of the world of professional boxing. Yet depiction of the loves of Johnny’s young life, Gina and Isabella, are as delicate and feminine as the boxing bouts are macho and vicious. Behind the author’s pen name, the reader will conclude, there must be a practiced wordsmith at the keyboard. As Johnny’s heroic, star-crossed saga unfolds, readers will be swept up in the constant action, the many setbacks and switchbacks, and most especially in the admiration they will feel for this unconventional hero.