Sumo is the fattest, fastest sport in the world. The average jock weighs 320 pounds, the average match is over in six seconds. It’s the only sport on earth in which every “game” ends in laughter.

Author David Benjamin approaches the explanation of sumo with a keen eye for the sport’s nuances, but also with tongue in cheek and a sympathy for the reader. His goal is not merely to explain sumo but also to entertain, even if this requires him to digress into realms far distant from sports, including — for example — Victor Hugo’s analysis of the Battle of Waterloo, or Nobel laureate Neils Bohr’s fondness for Western movies.

(Published by Tuttle Books)