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Cheating in Boxing

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Eloy's cocaine addiction

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Relevant Link on Dan's angioplasty

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The angioplasty surgery Dan went through (link)

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Chicky had to have noticed the change in his grandfather's appearance as his cocaine addiction continued but likely attributed it to his alcoholism. (link)

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I noticed that after Tim Pat's death, Dan turned to drinking. He continued to drink heavily and constantly until he returns home from his road trip. His heavy and constant drinking -his inability to function without alcohol in his system- seemed to clearly point to alcoholism. However, after the road trip, the man seemed to go cold turkey with little difficulty. This didn't make any sense at all. For a man to go from taking shots when he woke up in the morning to functioning effectively without it does not make sense. This was entirely unrealistic and makes me question the author's idea of alcoholism, or if Dan was truly an alcoholic.

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Chicky likely fought against other boxers who were more street fighters than boxers. (link)

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Dan Cooley certainly changed the most from the beginning to the end of the book. In the beginning, Dan still grieved the loss of his children from time to time, but he found hope in his grandson, Tim Pat. Tim Pat helped Dan find life again and have something to dedicate himself to. Once Tim Pat was accidentally killed when he tripped in front of a moving car, Dan sank into a terrible mental place. He began to stalk the girl that was driving the car that killed Tim Pat. He watched her for weeks, eventually bringing a gun with the intent of shooting her. Though he stopped himself, he was nowhere near stable.  Not long after this, he went on a road trip with the intent of killing himself and leaving no trace of the act. A few days into the trip, he found a half-dead dog on the road and began both the dog's recovery and his own. With this dog, Dan found reason to live. He returns home and not long after, finds another reason to live, Chicky. He begins training Chicky after he saves his life from some gangsters. Though Dan still finds waking up difficult, at the end of the book, he has found reason to live on for those around him.

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The book, to me, lacked a real ending. I know this was likely because F.X. Toole died before completing the novel, which makes me wonder what could have happened, had he lived on. I couldn't find any information on when FX Toole's writing ends and whoever finished the book begins, so I can only infer this information. I have to guess that FX Toole's own writing ends before or around when Dan returns to the hospital, due to complications associated with his angioplasty. I get the feeling that had FX Toole lived, this novel would either have an unsuccessful sequel, or lasted entirely too long. The novel is already around 400 pages, and would require 100-200 more to properly cover Chicky's rise through the ranks. At this point, any reader would have tired of the plotline or at least Toole's tragically awful writing style. Either way, both options lead to disappointment.