Eugene S. Robinson: Fight: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ass-Kicking but Were Afraid You'd Get Your Ass Kicked for Asking

Some very fine spoken-word action on the art of butt-whoopin' by the scary but articulate frontman of rad avant-metal behemoths Oxbow. Also a frequent contributor to boxing- and martial-arts mags, Robinson at first and second glances would appear to be one very big, black biker baddie, replete with bulging biceps and terrifying tats. Inside, however, he's sensitive as shit, and boasts an equally frightening command of the English language, plus one obscurely enormous incentive to spew it in your face. Anyway, this two-disc set is based on his book of the same title, and why should you care about such a foreboding fella's poetic poop and artful historical bullpuckey on the whys and wherefores of whamwhamwham? 'Cause it's interesting as hell, and hugely entertaining. Prison shivving, how not to become a Kenpo karate master, how to hold your head up while beating a hasty retreat (most important) and, best of all, some gruesomely graphic payback fantasies make this document far more enlightening than Joyce Carol Oates — and twice as manly.