My Book about Mike Tyson, Revelation, is Released

A little shameless self-promotion while we're all social distancing and fights are cancelled indefinitely. Boxing Insider had some nice things to say about my book of prose poems about Mike Tyson, Revelation. In a sea of ghost-written fight memoirs and tweets with poor grammar, truly beautiful boxing writing is a treat. Andrew Rihn’s Revelation: An Apocalypse in Fifty-Eight Fights is one such treat that’s engaging and readable, but to tell the story of one of boxing’s greatest, Rihn uses an unexpected tool: poetry.

No problem!

To accompany the book, I created a playlist of songs. From Tupac to The Misfits to Audioslave and more. Some are actually referenced in the book, some songs reference Mike Tyson. There's even a video that explains the history of the theme music from the video game Punch-Out. Take a look and have a listen: “Ten Songs, the Sound of Ambient Noise, and the Clanking of Chains”: A Playlist for Andrew Rihn’s REVELATION: AN APOCALYPSE IN FIFTY-EIGHT FIGHTS

This is very cool- Was it difficult knowing how much biography stuff is already out on Tyson? Thanks! It wasn't difficult per se, but it was definitely something I did have to consider. Since my book is not straight biography, I didn't have to worry about overlap or competition with those types of books. Mine is a more poetic take on his career, sort of re-interpreting them and taking the fights into a very new and different direction. I did read a few biographies before I started. Offhand, I recall: "The Last Great Fight" by Joe Layden "Tyson: Nurture of the Beast" by Ellis Cashmore "Blood Season" by Phil Berger I also watched his "Undisputed" one man show on DVD, but did not read the book (or his Iron Ambition) while writing. I tried to dig into contemporaneous documents as much as I could - newspaper and magazine articles, news reports, that sort of thing. I was trying to balance having a solid grounding in the history, without letting that history dictate to voice or the direction of the book too much. That said, for 58 poems of just 100 words each, there are like 15 pages of notes to explain each quote, reference or source in the poems. So even though they are poems, there is a lot of non-fiction happening there, too.

If you've seen my signature line on my posts, you may already know this, but I have a book that was just released yesterday. I'm hesitant to self-promote it too much, but hey, I also want to sell some books. It's called Revelation: An Apocalypse in Fifty-Eight Fights. It follows the professional fights of Mike Tyson with 100-word prose poems. It combines the voices of the fight game — commentators, journalists, referees, other fighters, and yes Mike Tyson too — with the voice of an Old Testament prophet. Ultimately relating Tyson to a modern-day Elijah — climbing the mountain to do battle, and climbing back down to a world of depression, anxiety, and alienating silence. You can read excerpts from it here, here, and here. It is definitely a unique on how we can talk about boxing. And, I hope, one way to share a love of boxing with people who aren't necessarily boxing fans themselves. (My poor editor - he said Google ads has tracked his search history related to the book and now he's bombarded with ads for Everlast and whatnot.) A lot of time, energy, love, and research (it has like 15 pages of notes!) went into the book. Joyce Carol Oates has praised it, and I think it's pretty good, too. It would mean a lot to me if you'd take a look and consider picking up a copy. Information on ordering is available on the press's website here. Thank you. This is very cool- Was it difficult knowing how much biography stuff is already out on Tyson?

Thanks all for the support and kind words. For anyone who has ordered a book, please consider tossing out a review on Amazon, or some stars. For smaller release books, those can really help make a difference. Thank you! And if you see me at a boxing event, I'll buy you a drink!

Very cool and thank you. Of course Tokyo is in the book, if only briefly. Hopefully I did the night justice. I read that the Tokyo crowds were typically very silent during fights. The American writers said it gave it an odd feeling, because you could hear so much more of the fight. Is that true? And is it still the case? Yes, that would be ideal! I would love that! With his focus on cannabis, a Tyson-Poetry-Hour could actually happen, I think! It is still the case, and you can hear the thud of body shots, the corners giving instructions, and the ring side commentators giving ongoing analysis. One thing that is really odd, is they often use cute Japanese idol girls ringside and ask them to give an analysis of the fight. You can hear sill stuff from them, Kameda looks like a cheap gangster, Ryota is really handsome, etc.. One more thing to add. Very few people I know in Japan believe Tyson raped anyone. If you go to a man's hotel room, at least back then, and if you got raped, you would have such a high hurdle to get over. Japanese people back then were saying she was a cheap lying idiot, and she should not have gone with him to his hotel room if she did not want to have sex.

If you've seen my signature line on my posts, you may already know this, but I have a book that was just released yesterday. I'm hesitant to self-promote it too much, but hey, I also want to sell some books. A lot of time, energy, love, and research (it has like 15 pages of notes!) went into the book. Joyce Carol Oates has praised it, and I think it's pretty good, too. It would mean a lot to me if you'd take a look and consider picking up a copy. the press's website here. Thank you. Good on you for following your passion for boxing and writing a book on it.

Awesome, brother! All the best to you! I just read a couple of your poems, and put your book on my Amazon wishlist. Very original idea, at least one I’m unfamiliar with. The biblical angle is rather interesting too. I love the title, especially the subtitle: “An Apocalypse in Fifty-Eight Fights.” Good stuff.

Congrats... i am going to buy one. I was here in Japan when Tyson lost to Douglas, and I lost money. I met a few japanese wimmin who were saying that Tyson was drinking, and banging them two or three at a time, and seemed to not enjoy anything at that time. They said he was generous, with his money, but really sad somehow. I knew a girl, who hung out with other groupies and they had stories about everyone who partook of their goods.. lookiing forward to reading your book on my daily train ride to Nihonbashi. Very cool and thank you. Of course Tokyo is in the book, if only briefly. Hopefully I did the night justice. I read that the Tokyo crowds were typically very silent during fights. The American writers said it gave it an odd feeling, because you could hear so much more of the fight. Is that true? And is it still the case? I hope Mike Tyson gets to see this book. Would be cool to see his reaction and hear him read some of these on his podcast. Yes, that would be ideal! I would love that! With his focus on cannabis, a Tyson-Poetry-Hour could actually happen, I think!

I hope Mike Tyson gets to see this book. Would be cool to see his reaction and hear him read some of these on his podcast.

Why are you hanging out with groupies? Lmao they frequented the same clubs, and all the visiting foreigners would go to clubs I frequented. I was not the only guy who met people at clubs. Plus, these girls would be really popular and were early influencers, or whatever they are called now.

Congrats... i am going to buy one. I was here in Japan when Tyson lost to Douglas, and I lost money. I met a few japanese wimmin who were saying that Tyson was drinking, and banging them two or three at a time, and seemed to not enjoy anything at that time. They said he was generous, with his money, but really sad somehow. I knew a girl, who hung out with other groupies and they had stories about everyone who partook of their goods.. lookiing forward to reading your book on my daily train ride to Nihonbashi.

Thanks everybody for the positive vibes!

Good stuff

Congratulations on getting it published. I hope it sells well for you.

Very cool dude!

Any pictures ? In the book? No. It is a book of poems, each corresponding to a specific fight, appearing in chronological order. So there is a lot of specific imagery, shared imagery between what is the written on the page and what is in the reader's mind. Plus you can find all of Tyson's fights online (with the exception of his fight against Sims, which was not recorded), so you can watch how the poems and the fights interact, or find new iterations yourself.

Still gotta get my copy! Been busy with kids and new job so I'll pm you again about that other stuff we were talking about. I may have been a bit too ambitious.

can it be bought on kindle? No, there are no Kindle or e-book options available. Good old-fashioned, hold-it-in-your-hands paper copies only. It can be ordered through the press, Amazon, or dm me directly and I can send one your way.