Excerpt from The Fighter by Jean-Jacques Greif, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

“The owner of the stables wants me to feed the horses. I told him you would help me. We can eat as much as we want.”

“Horse food?”

“Potatoes. We grind potatoes and mix them with oats.”

We can even put potatoes into our pockets and bring them home. The owner of the stables doesn’t care. We cost much less than regular workers. I’m glad I’m using a spade and turning the grinder’s crank. Since my legs are weak, I want to strengthen my arms. I have decided to become very strong. I lift up stones, I climb trees, I carry crates for the peasants.

Even when we gain weight, we still suffer from skin rashes because we don’t get enough vitamins. That’s one way you can know whether someone is poor: we poor people scratch ourselves all the time.

Excerpted from The Fighter by Jean-Jacques Greif, Copyright © 2006 by Jean-Jacques Greif. Excerpted by permission of Bloomsbury USA. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.