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In this collaborative gut-punch of a poetry collection, Brian Oliu and Jason McCall tackle their homage to the Rocky movies from fresh and exciting angles, reflecting on the closely-held archetypes of heroes and villains, the impact of media on culture and childhood, boxing, Black experience in America, and the ways we seek out and reckon with our battered and glistening American dream. In alternating swings and hits, the two poets speak to a collective fan experience through the personal. This is a collection that will leave you breathless on the floor.

Brian Oliu teaches, writes, and fights out of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. His publications include three chapbooks and five full-length collections of nonfiction, ranging on topics from Craigslist Missed Connections, to computer viruses, to the arcade game NBA Jam. His newest book of essays, Body Drop: Notes on Fandom and Pain in Professional Wrestling is forthcoming in 2021 by The University of North Carolina Press.

Jason McCall holds an MFA from the University of Miami. His collections include Two-Face God; Dear Hero, (winner of the 2012 Marsh Hawk Press Poetry Prize); Silver; I Can Explain; and Mother, Less Child (co-winner of the 2013 Paper Nautilus Vella Chapbook Prize); and A Man Ain’t Nothin’. He and P.J. Williams are the editors of It Was Written: Poetry Inspired by Hip-Hop. He is a native of Montgomery, Alabama, and he teaches at the University of North Alabama.