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By Lyle Fitzsimmons - Like many who are proficient in a particular field, Adam Berlin sought to do something else.
The lifelong boxing fan and part-time boxing writer headed to New York City with eyes on an acting career, but, after his initial forays in front of the camera resulted in little more than frustration, he happened upon another path.
“I was working in a famous NYC bar called Chumley’s and one of the waitresses was a writer,” he said. “I gave her a few short stories I’d written and asked her to be honest in her critiques. She read my work and said I should pursue an MFA in fiction writing, which I did. It was during my two years of graduate school that I jumped into writing completely.
“You can’t learn talent but you can learn discipline and that’s what I learned. Writing was a struggle and it took me many years to publish my first novel.”
These days, the productivity comes a bit easier.
Berlin’s fourth novel, Both Members of the Club, was released Saturday and, in his words, tells the tale of Billy Carlyle, a professional fighter starting to lose. His eyes cut too easily and his friends - Gabriel, an aspiring actor, and Sam, an artist preparing for her first gallery show - try to persuade him to leave the ring. From the streets of Manhattan to the gyms of Paris, from struggling with hard pasts to harnessing the primal pull, it’s a story of friendship, ambition and violence set against the world of boxing, a place where bodies get tested and truths exposed. [Click Here To Read More]
The lifelong boxing fan and part-time boxing writer headed to New York City with eyes on an acting career, but, after his initial forays in front of the camera resulted in little more than frustration, he happened upon another path.
“I was working in a famous NYC bar called Chumley’s and one of the waitresses was a writer,” he said. “I gave her a few short stories I’d written and asked her to be honest in her critiques. She read my work and said I should pursue an MFA in fiction writing, which I did. It was during my two years of graduate school that I jumped into writing completely.
“You can’t learn talent but you can learn discipline and that’s what I learned. Writing was a struggle and it took me many years to publish my first novel.”
These days, the productivity comes a bit easier.
Berlin’s fourth novel, Both Members of the Club, was released Saturday and, in his words, tells the tale of Billy Carlyle, a professional fighter starting to lose. His eyes cut too easily and his friends - Gabriel, an aspiring actor, and Sam, an artist preparing for her first gallery show - try to persuade him to leave the ring. From the streets of Manhattan to the gyms of Paris, from struggling with hard pasts to harnessing the primal pull, it’s a story of friendship, ambition and violence set against the world of boxing, a place where bodies get tested and truths exposed. [Click Here To Read More]