As the story opens Ben Stamp, troubled Louis Bowman’s stepfather has just died following a family row. It had seemed that Ben might have given Louis the means to overcome all his problems by teaching him how to box, but now that it’s just him and his mother and Louis retells his difficult life so far and on going events as they unfold.
Louis is different from other boys and suffers the consequences, being the target of bullying. He is also embarrassed that he responds to and enjoys the physical groping from a married man he encounters on several occasions while travelling the train to visit his grandfather. Not surprisingly he is having difficulties handling all his problems and so is sent for a course of regular psychiatric help.
I found this a lively and delicious story; Louis is a lovable character despite his often self imposed problems. While he establishes a warm relationship with his therapist, his real saviour comes in a most unlikely form, the flamboyant Ray Anthony Robinson, the local rogue, both feared and respected. It occurs shortly after Ben is given a new bike for Christmas and after his first real encounter with Ray when he grabbed and then rode off on the bike; much to Ben’s surprise he returned the bike safely. The next time Louis takes his bike out he is physically set upon by some local bullies, to his surprise rescue comes when Ray intervenes on his behalf. There begins a strange but most endearing relationship between the two boys that builds to a most heart-warming and triumphant climax. ( )

Sunday You Learn How to Box tells the story of Louis Bowman, a bright and sensitive (read: “sissy”) teen who lives in the housing projects of suburban 1960s Connecticut with his abusive mother and stepfather. His mother suspects (fears?) Louis might be gay, so she sets up regular Sunday boxing lessons with his stepfather to both teach Louis how to “be a man” and to help him protect himself from the other project kids. Also, they’re a nice way to legitimize of the physical and psychological abuse Louis’s mother and stepfather already dole out. Louis faces other hardships, too, but Wright handles them skilfully and with a dry wit that takes some of the sting away. While this novel is certainly not sentimental, it does have a certain sweetness and wistfulness about it which made this novel hard to put down.

I only wish there were more of it. ( )

It was ok being that this was the first time I ever heard of a Bil Wright....not a bad book...not a best seller either..... ( )