I’m not sure why I’ve always been attracted to certain themes in writing. One is running. One is boxing. The only fights I ever had while growing up was with my older brother and his friends in our backyard…but they weren’t really real. Sure, I was knocked senseless a few times, but it was still just joking around; there wasn’t the threat of that raw-burning doubt of what would happen next.

   So what is it?

   Why boxing?

   I think as the youngest of four kids, it always took me longer to grasp things. My brother, who was closest in age to me, was a natural at most things that seemed important (like football, like athletics), whereas I generally had to toil to get anywhere close. Maybe I took that attitude into writing (as I have into most things).

   Which brings me to The Half Brother – one of my favourites.I have to admit that whenever I give this book as a gift to someone, they don’t usually thank me; it’s unnervingly massive upon first inspection – but what a book! When I was in Norway a few years ago, I was asked by an interviewer how long my new book was taking. I said, “Four years, so far.” She responded: “Well, The Half Brother took Christensen twenty-five.” That sure shut me up…

    To be fair, there isn’t even that much boxing in the book, but the sequence, midway through – when Fred (the half brother of the title) embarks on a boxing career – is one of the strangest and most compelling victories I’ve ever read.

   Another unforgettable moment is the demise of the boys’ father. As someone who wouldn’t have minded knocking off my own dad at any number of sporting venues in my adolescence, The Half Brother does it in style – and I might be ruining things now (skip to the next paragraph if you don’t want the spoiler) but Death By DISCUS is a pretty embarrassing-yet-poetic way to go…

   In the end, there’s nothing about this book that doesn’t leave a mark on me. It’s one of the sadder books you’ll ever read. It’s also one of the toughest, one of the truest and one of the best…and I can recall the last line to this day. It’s perfect.