SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 MILES FRANKLIN LITERARY AWARD‘I just don’t believe that man is made of flesh and blood.’ - Jack Johnson, World Heavyweight Boxing ChampionPain was Joe Grim’s self-expression, his livelihood and reason for being. In 1908–09 the Italian-American boxer toured Australia, losing fights but amazing crowds with his showmanship and extraordinary physical resilience. On the east coast Grim played a supporting role in the Jack Johnson–Tommy Burns Fight of the Century; on the west coast he was committed to an insane asylum. In between he played with the concept and reality of pain in a shocking manner not witnessed before or since.Michael Winkler braids the story of Grim in Australia and meditations on pain with thoughts on masculinity and vulnerability, plus a talking goat and questionable jokes, in a haymaker of experimental non/fiction.“The strangest book you are likely to read this year.” – JM Coetzee"Grimmish meets a need I didn't even know I had. I lurched between bursts of wild laughter, shudders of horror, and gasps of awe at Winkler’s verbal command: the freshness and muscle of his verbs, the unstoppable flow of his images, the bizarre wit of the language of pugilism – and all the while, a moving subterranean glint of strange masculine tenderness." – Helen Garner"A powerful blast of literary ingenuity and originality." – Lloyd Jones, author of Mister Pip“All the makings of a cult classic. It’s grotesque and gorgeous, smart and searching.” – Beejay Silcox, The Guardian