Fight Song

Praise

“…a Generation X call-to-arms about facing mid-life on our own terms with the unique heart that beats inside us all…Poignant, honest, and funny as hell. As diverse and unpredictable as Generation X itself, Fight Song captures the symbolism in the world we face while giving us permission to laugh at ourselves and the choices we’ve made in the process.” —Huffington Post

“For its irreverent beat, relentless energy, and sharp, funny characters, Fight Song may as well be titled Battle Cry.” —The Rumpus

“It’s hard to believe a suburban father’s desperate quest to turn his life around could be so much fun, but that’s exactly how readers are likely to react to Fight Song… a brisk, contemporary Odyssey with Cyclops and the sirens replaced by a cast of characters including a crying magician, who doubles as a marriage counselor and a bodybuilding fast-food worker who moonlights as a phone-sex operator. Mohr…brings a dollop of David Sedaris–like humor to the pathos. While irreverent, he gets to the heart of real emotion with bracing frankness…It’s a surprisingly sweet, rollicking tribute to anyone who’s ever needed a fight song to fight back.” —Booklist

“An unusual take on a mid-life crisis narrative, Mohr’s novel… offers unexpected—often brilliant—confrontations of modern clichés…Mohr’s elegant writing and colorful milieu is refreshing, an interesting mix of Charles Bukowski and Tom Robbins, with a cinematic heaping of the Coen brothers for good measure.” —Publishers Weekly

“Mohr has a clever imagination, and this book… hinges on some universal issues, namely Bob’s struggles to rekindle his romance, recapture his creativity, and regain control of his life. To the book’s credit, Mohr never loses the story’s emotional heart.” —Kirkus Reviews

“With his fourth novel, Joshua Mohr pushes himself into bold new territory and doesn’t skip a beat. Fight Song is a whimsical, madcap, delightfully depraved fable for our age.” —Jonathan Evison

“Bob Coffen of Joshua Mohr’s Fight Song is among the most vivid characters I’ve encountered in recent fiction. He’s a man so alive on the page, funny, self-depreciating, confused. We can all relate. As much love song as fight song, I found myself rooting for Coffen on every page of this surprising and poignant book.” —Peter Orner

“A wry, intelligent, and sublimely funny novel, Fight Song answers Big Questions while keeping the reader entirely absorbed and thoroughly entertained.” —Patrick deWitt, author of The Sisters Brothers

“Think This is 40 set in Silicon Valley, filtered through Little Miss Sunshine with echoes of Wall-E and American Beauty – but uplifting!” —San Francisco Magazine