"Thrown is Kerry Howley's masterful debut. A work of rigorous nonfiction that's sure to be branded experimental, but that's as involving and page-turning as any book I've read in a while." -Gary Shteyngart "Who can explain what draws a young brilliant writer-and a woman no less-to be mesmerized by the sight of a young man being pummeled in the ring? But out of this passion-maybe obsession-comes a great American story about overlooked heroes, the nature of violence, hope, love and nearly everything else that matters." -Hanna Rosin, author of The End of Men "Out of the dank basements and glitzy arenas of a brutal sport, Kerry Howley has created a story that is virtuous, rapturous, and utterly consequential. In language that's as daring as it is astute, she tells the story of two young guys from the middle of America, an overachiever and an underachiever, whom the world, it turns out, has equally little use for. It's a story we've read about a thousand times, and one we've seen nothing else like. This is a gloriously heartbreaking debut." -John D'Agata, author of The Lifespan of a Fact "Lyrical and brutal in its subject matter, the poetic voice within offers humor, heart, and grace from the first page and kept me in awe until the end. This is a powerful book reminiscent of Hemingway's early work." -Frank Bill, author of Crimes in Southern Indiana and Donnybrook In this darkly funny work of literary nonfiction, a bookish young woman insinuates herself into the lives of two cage fighters-one a young prodigy, the other an aging journeyman. Acclaimed essayist Kerry Howley follows these men for three years through the bloody world of mixed martial arts as they starve themselves, break bones, fail their families and form new ones in the quest to rise from remote Midwestern fairgrounds to packed Vegas arenas. With penetrating intelligence and wry humor, Howley exposes the profundities and absurdities of this American subculture. Kerry Howley's work has appeared in The Paris Review, New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, Slate, and frequently in Bookforum. She holds an MFA from the University of Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program"-- "Acclaimed journalist Kerry Howley infiltrates the world of mixed martial arts and the lives of aspiring cage fighters. For three years, Howley follows these fighters as they tear ligaments and lose a third of their body mass to make weight, and is drawn deeply into this riveting culture of violence"--