BRUISER is the story and the nickname of a nine-year-old boy living in a highly dysfunctional family in the 1970's (a bit like "The Ice Storm" on the Upper West Side) whose search for meaning and answers leads him to the open road and, eventually, the seeds of wisdom. Through the limitations of a young boy's awareness, we see the deteriorating marriage of his distant father and struggling mother, and the effects of their conflicts on Bruiser and his two older brothers. The disjunction between his literal misinterpretations, which often contain an emotional truth, and our adult understanding of the circumstances, creates the tension that runs throughout the novel. Bruiser has a kindred spirit in Darla, the prococious daughter in an already broken home who lives across the alleyway. As the tension mounts in each household, Darla conceives of a plan for the two of them that takes Bruiser on the most frightening and illuminating journey of his life, and one that will have tragic consequences.

The New York Times bestselling author of Challenger Deep, Neal Shusterman, delivers a suspenseful, eloquent, and thrilling novel that you won't be able to stop thinking about after you've put it down. Tennyson is not surprised, really, when his family begins to fall apart, or when his twin sister, Brontë, starts dating the misunderstood bully, Brewster (or The Bruiser, as the entire high school calls him). Tennyson is determined to get to the bottom of The Bruiser's reputation, even if it means gearing up for a fight. Brontë, on the other hand, thinks there's something special underneath that tough exterior. And she's right…but neither she nor Tennyson is prepared for the truth of what lies below the surface. Told through Tennyson, Brontë, and Bruiser's points of view, this dark, twisting novel explores friendship, family, and the sacrifices we make for the people we love. A Texas Lone Star Reading List selection A Book Page Top Ten Book of the Year A Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year A Cooperative Children's Book Center Choice

Today, more than 18 years after his death, professional wrestling fans still talk about Bruiser Brody with reverence and awe in their voice. Hardcore fans consider him to be the greatest brawler in the history of the sport. Frank "Bruiser Brody" Goodish was known as a brawler, a wild-man, and an outlaw. His style and character have been copied by countless other wrestlers. Mick Foley (Cactus Jack/Mankind), whose name is synonymous with the hardcore style of wrestling, claims to have studied Brody's Japan tapes for hours while training to be a pro wrestler, and patterned his ring style after him. However, like the old saying, "Often imitated, never duplicated," that applies to Bruiser Brody. There will never be another one like him. Brody was a great athlete and an exciting performer, but he was also one of the most unpredictable men ever to step into the ring. As an independent (some call him an outlaw), he marched to his own drummer, and refused to bow to either of the two powerful American promotions-the World Wide Wrestling Federation and the National Wrestling Alliance. On any given night, he might or might not do what the promoters asked of him. As a result, promoters hated him, but they also loved him, because when he was billed on a card, the fans turned out in droves to see him wrestle. Brody feuded with the top names in the sport-Ric Flair, Dory Funk, Terry Funk, the Von Erich family, Bruno Sammartino, Andre the Giant, and Dick the Bruiser. His most remembered feud, however, was against Abdullah the Butcher. When those two met in the ring, fans could count on the blood flowing like tap water. In 1988, Brody was murdered in a dressing room in Puerto Rico-by one of his fellow wrestlers! This book is the story of Bruiser Brody, told in the words of those who knew him best-childhood friends, family members, fellow wrestlers, photographers, and newspaper reporters. No punches are pulled and the rulebook has been thrown out. This is THE definitive ¿ Bruiser Brody.

"Richard House's sad, beautifully crafted novel is a triumph of story telling. His engaging characters leave the reader both astonished and hopeful. Here is an amazing writer."-David Sedaris Bruiser is the story of a love between two men wary of emotional commitment. Adrian fends for himself as a waiter, boxer and hustler until he meets Paul, a lonely British expatriate old enough to be his father. Rejecting their lives in Chicago, they embark on a road trip to Brazil. On the journey, they both find that they cannot abandon the fear of intimacy. Richard House's first novel is a sensual portrayal of lives lived on the margins.

Portrait of the legendary Bruiser Brody - a wrestler who dominated the pro scene despite his refusal to accept scripted defeats, until he was savagely murdered in 1988, allegedly by another wrestler.

The first novel in a sexy series featuring the hockey players of the Brooklyn Bruisers and the women who win their hearts—from the USA Today bestselling author of the Ivy Years series. In high school they were the perfect couple—until the day Georgia left Leo in the cold... Hockey player Leo Trevi has spent the last six years trying to do two things: get over the girl who broke his heart, and succeed in the NHL. But on the first day he’s called up to the newly franchised Brooklyn Bruisers, Leo gets checked on both sides, first by the team’s coach—who has a long simmering grudge, and then by the Bruisers’ sexy, icy publicist—his former girlfriend Georgia Worthington. Saying goodbye to Leo was one of the hardest things Georgia ever had to do—and saying hello again isn’t much easier. Georgia is determined to keep their relationship strictly professional, but when a press conference microphone catches Leo declaring his feelings for her, things get really personal, really fast....

"This genre-defying account (novel? narrative poem?) of the troubled love of a young man for an emotionally stunted older one in the bars and apartments of megalopolitan Denver is written with such a spooking purity of line and with such an audaciously stark, grave wisdom that it already feels like a classic of its kind. Big Bruiser Dope Boy's undecorated, indecorous sentences cut right through you and into the soul you might not have even known you still had. Something Gross is his most triumphant book yet. You are sure to wish you had written it." -Garielle Lutz

"Were you lost and alone? Scared of the dark? Did giant dogs chase you? Did they snarl and bark?" July 4, 2015 was a day that changed the fate of one special cat's life forever. This story is about a cat who was alone and scared, bullied and neglected. More important, it's about a family who loved him and gave him another chance at life. This true story about Bruiser's rescue will warm the hearts of readers young and old.

"The voice of this book. It has everything I want and yet I really can't explain it. It's hurt shit. A laugh that ends with a turned head and a teary eye. Each poem sings for lost unknowns to come home. It's funny, straightforward, absurd, sad, and, ultimately, true in the way that only art can be. Say hello to the gay Rodney Dangerfield. Say hello to the Boom Doctor. Say hello to your first real boyfriend. Join me in welcoming this new voice. The Big Bruiser Dope Boy. One of the new wolves. May he forever huff and puff. We will never escape his cartoon." --Sam Pink, author of Person & The Garbage Times/White Ibis

Mojo Mickybo - The waiting list - I won't dance - Don't ask me.