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A Final Word from F.X. Toole: 'Pound for Pound'

F.X. Toole (right) did not live quite long enough to see Clint Eastwood (left) direct and star in 'Million Dollar Baby.'
F.X. Toole (right) did not live quite long enough to see Clint Eastwood (left) direct and star in 'Million Dollar Baby.'

The writer F.X. Toole died in 2002, before he could see his boxing stories adapted into Million Dollar Baby, a film that won the Oscar for Best Picture.

In fact, Toole wrote fiction all his life, but his work didn't make it into print until he was 70 years old. And his characters -- whose lives revolve around a gritty gym -- reflect a grim familiarity with life's hard knocks and disappointments.

Now, Toole fans will get a chance to read a previously unpublished novel, Pound for Pound, which expounds on many of the same themes.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Tom Vitale
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