It’s the voice that grabs you by the throat in Arkansas teacher and ex-quarterback Eli Cranor’s astonishing debut. Billy Lowe, a tough teen who shoulders the dreams of many in the backwater of Denton. A simmering volcano of a high school footballer who lives in a trailer park and gets his neck used as an ashtray by his mother’s abusive boyfriend.
California coach Trent Powers didn’t see Denton in his plans, a town of poultry farms and trailer parks. His wife, Marley, wants a State title even more than he does: it’s their ticket to escape, to reclaim some of what they should have had. They need Billy, and when he crosses the line, Trent takes him into his home, seeking redemption as well as wins. Then the rotting body of Billy’s abuser is found. Secrets aplenty. Who will survive?
Cranor delivers a powerful tale full of darkness, desperation, and humanity. Don’t Know Tough is an exceptional slice of Southern Gothic. Cranor takes readers into the grimy underbelly of high school sports, but this tale is about far more than football. A clash of values and principles, between characters and within them. Evocative prose, and an extraordinary first-person voice in Billy’s passages. A triumph of a debut.
Reviewed by Craig Sisterson
0 Comments