You can’t go wrong picking up any Fight Card story. Most of them are set in the 30’s or 40’s, the heyday of the classic boxing/mobster story. Push is a fight story, but not a boxing story and it is not set in the 30’s or 40’s. Welcome to the late 80’s and the world of professional wrestling. If you remember watching it on television as a kid, you will love this book. It brings back all the crazy costumes, all the endless routines including bouncing off the ropes, drop kicks, standing on the ring poles and jumping, giants squashing everyone else, tag teams, and more. The lead character of this story is a jobber, that is, a wrestler who is not a star, but fills in the card wherever its needed and against whoever is needed. But, that was before he saw someone walk into the ring bigger and badder than anyone ever and other wrestlers carried out on stretchers. What’s great about this story is that it combines the playacting of wrestling with serious fighting and, while admitting that some of the action is staged and improvised, also lets you know that getting pounded to the mat can hurt and that the steel chairs and concrete floor outside the ring are punishing. ( )