Fiction Reviews

Julie Leroux

Going Fast
by Elaine McCluskey
Fredericton, NB: Gooslane, 2009
376 pp. $22.95

Readers not particularly interested in boxing or sports journalism might be inclined to think that Elaine McCluskey’s debut novel Going Fast is not really intended for them. However, while Tootsy’s gym, the Standard’s editorial offices and a few boxing rings do function as the backdrop of the story, McCluskey’s book is written in a way that concerns everyone and can touch anyone.

The story develops slowly in Going Fast, but McCluskey keeps us hooked nonetheless with her hilarious, original characters. Some of her characters are really larger than life, while others are so authentic that it’s sometimes hard to believe they’re not real. One of these characters is Ownie Flanagan, an old-school boxing trainer with an impressive collection of memories, memorabilia and of weird names that he copies from the obituaries every morning. Ownie’s ambition is to train one last great fighter, and that’s where loudmouthed, awkward and hilarious Trinidadian boxer Turmoil Davies comes in. Also seeking to bathe in sports-related glory once more is journalist Scott MacDonald, a former rower who now covers the news in the boxing world for The Standard. As Ownie trains his new protégé and as Turmoil climbs the echelons towards fame and fortune, Scott finds himself torn between his career and his promising past as an athlete. The reader doesn’t have access to Turmoil’s deepest thoughts – in fact, the boxer doesn’t have much depth at all – but Ownie’s and Scott’s reflections on their past and futures will certainly hit home, as all readers have their ambitions, regrets, and, most of all, their “what if-s”. McCluskey’s secondary characters are usually very entertaining: it is hard not to chuckle at the contents of the vengeful letters city editor Katherine Redgrave addresses to former teachers and lovers.

McCluskey’s writing is crisp, clear, witty and efficient: the author conjures up her characters, settings and imagery in a matter of seconds. Don’t expect lengthy descriptions from McCluskey; reading her book is like flipping through a photo album, looking at vivid, colorful snapshots and images: “Scott bit into his Danish as a stripper wobbled to the counter for smokes”. Also worth mentioning are the author’s very humorous, sometimes crude and cold descriptions: old fighter Bobcat’s wife is described as “a fire plug just over four feet tall, a despot with a kewpie-doll face and the iron will of a claims adjuster”, and Smithers, a colleague of MacDonald, is portrayed as a “pornographic cherub, round and lascivious”. Some of McCluskey’s comparisons are simply priceless and will have the reader roaring with laughter: “The man had the same stunned look of a woman he had once seen on a Cancun beach, pummeled by a wave and knocked to the swirling bottom, groping through sand and confusion”.

Going Fast is not an exclusive world reserved to those who have been compiling boxing statistics for the last few decades. More than a funny story about ambitious trainers, boxers and journalists, it is a book about life: the goals we set for ourselves and our fear of failure, the tension between living the present moment and reliving our pasts. In short, it’s a novel about dealing with our lives, as well as dealing with others. Generational and interpersonal gaps are also major topics in the book, and although these gaps are often portrayed in a stereotypical manner, they still ring true.

With her sense of irony, sarcasm and wit, and with her humorous but thoughtful use of stereotypes, Elaine McCluskey leads the reader through a series of fundamental reflections on life and on relationships, without making these too heavy or too hard to digest; in fact, the reader may be too busy laughing his head off and nodding in agreement to stop at the thought that he may have a few regrets and disappointments, too. Under McCluskey’s pen, the news world and the boxing world come together beautifully, in a touching and funny novel about ambition, pride, nostalgia, and popular culture. Definitely worth reading.