12 Rounds in Lo's Gym: Boxing and Manhood in Appalachia

Questions of class and gender in Appalachia have in the wake of the 2016 presidential election and the runaway success of Hillbilly Elegy moved to the forefront of national conversations about politics and culture. From Todd Snyder a first generation college student turned college professor comes a passionate commentary on these themes in a family memoir set in West Virginia coal country.. 12 Rounds in Los Gym is the story of the authors father Mike Lo Snyder a fifth generation West Virginia coal miner who opened a series of makeshift boxing gyms with the goal of providing local at-risk youth with the opportunities that eluded his adolescence. Taking these hardscrabble stories as his starting point Snyder interweaves a history of the region offering a smart analysis of the costs - both financial and cultural - of an economy built around extractive industries.. Part love letter to Appalachia part rigorous social critique readers may find 12 Rounds in Los Gym - and its narrative of individual and community strength in the face of globalisms headwinds - a welcome corrective to popular narratives that blame those in the region for their troubles.