Why I Fight

Wyatt never knew much, but his uncle saw how he could hit someone. Leaving home with his uncle he travels around fighting in underground bare knuckle boxing matches to make money. A very good book, would recomend.

At 12 ½, Wyatt Reaves goes away with his horrible, grotesque uncle and becomes a bare-knuckle fighter, essentially a human fighting dog. For six years, Wyatt lives an itinerant life of horrific brutality while the demonic Uncle Spade profits off him. Oaks’ novel is not for the faint-hearted, and many of the characters could hold their own with the worst rogues in Dickens. The tough, jabbing prose keeps the reader going, and the story never becomes pat or falsely comforting. Strong stuff.

This is a sad book to read and is about how this kid Wyatt grows up with no parents, having to drift around most of his life. And is the prime example of why kids need parenting. The only person that came even close to being a father the Wyatt was his uncle Spade. Uncle spade decided that Wyatt was old enough to start fighting. ( )

This is a story of how you hope a child never grows up. All the same, the author pulls it off without his characters seeming helpless or pathetic. 12 year old Wyatt runs away with his Uncle Spade after his house burns down. After years of drifting about, staying with Uncle Spade's various "Lady Friends," Spade decides that Wyatt is old enough and tough enough to begin fighting. Wyatt himself goes though many different emotional phases as he ages, first content with the attention his uncle gives him, then restless because of all the moving, then finally a sense of control as he grows into his role of a man.
Written in in the voice of Wyatt, including his poor grammar (he never did finish school), it is at times both fascinating and sad, but it is hard to feel sorry for him as he fight's his way through his life, both literally and figuratively. ( )

Poor, Wyatt. This book left me depressed and wondering what this kid with just awful adults in his life and no parenting to speak of would do with his life on his own. Wyatt is the narrator who has a distinct voice and is a likeable kid, but the future is bleak for this young man abandoned by his parents and used by his uncle. ( )