October 30, 2006
Just out of Harvard University, Sheridan set out to discover if he had what it took to be a fighter. His quest takes the reader around the globe and through most of the major martial arts disciplines—muay thai in Thailand, jiu-jitsu in Brazil, tai chi in New York City and boxing in Oakland, Calif., to name a few. On his way, Sheridan trains beside, lives with and learns from some of the most dangerous men in the world. He even gets into the ring himself and beats a Japanese karate champion in his very first fight. It's impossible not to admire Sheridan's bravery and tenacity—he's done more wild things in 10 years than the average man would in a hundred lifetimes (Sheridan also worked in the merchant marine, as a smoke jumper and as a construction worker in Antarctica). However, Sheridan's attempt to cram so many of his adventures into one book diffuses their impact, reading more like a bunch of magazine articles strung together. Sheridan's prose is straightforward and illuminating at times, but he jumps so quickly from one adventure to the next that readers don't have the opportunity to immerse themselves in any of them.