Jamie is an American in Montreal just after Christmas in 1971. He’s eyeing a poster for an upcoming wrestling match when he’s offered admission in exchange for helping to set up. Soon, he begins refereeing and wrestling, mentored by a guy named Frenchie. Their plan is to head west, to participate in the Calgary Stampede competition. The wrestling is harsh, the learning curve is steep, and the pay is low, but Jamie is avoiding the Vietnam War, which Frenchie and others in his orbit can understand. Traveling from place to place, they sometimes sleep in the van (“Stretched out under comforters and sleeping bags stinking of motor oil, feet pressed against a spare tire”). Jamie has left behind a girl named Irene in America and thinks she’s forgotten him. Now his eye is on Donna, a pretty ticket agent, but she figures he has a girlfriend back home. As Frenchie throws Jamie into increasingly difficult situations, including a battle royale, Jamie literally rolls with the punches and survives (mostly) unscathed (“The handful of fans scrambled out of the way as I crashed into their seats, landing in one of them”). Longing for home but caught up in his fast-paced new career, Jamie holds his own but worries about the future. LeGrande’s road-trip novel is also an engaging coming-of-age tale that starts with a bang and doesn’t skimp on the action. Wrestling fans will particularly enjoy the protagonist’s journey as he learns all the moves and ekes out a living driving from place to place. Jamie’s backstory is revealed slowly in brief flashbacks, which could have been expanded to give the novel more texture. Still, the detailed descriptions of the fights, the gonzo personalities of the characters, and the bruising descriptions of the physical and emotional tolls of the sport all make for a compelling narrative.