12 Rounds in Lo's Gym

<p>Questions of class and gender in Appalachia have in the wake of the 2016 presidential election and the runaway success of <em>Hillbilly Elegy</em> 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.<br /><em>12 Rounds in Lo's Gym</em> is the story of the author's 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.<br /><br />Part love letter to Appalachia part rigorous social critique readers may find <em>12 Rounds in Lo's Gym</em>--and its narrative of individual and community strength in the face of globalism's headwinds--a welcome corrective to popular narratives that blame those in the region for their troubles.</p>