review=<b>Synopsis</b>

Not exactly a wise follow up to the commercial success of Man on Platform 5, but a book I am very proud of. Punchbag tells the tale of Nick, a nightclub bouncer and bit of a no hoper who gets roped into being the padded assailant in a womenÕs self defence class. He is not a natural when it comes to dealing with womenÕs anger, but heÕs very good at fighting, which is his job. He wears a state of the art padded suit and stands in a room with 14 women who take turns to beat the daylights out of him. Of course, in doing this the women learn how to fight as well as, iof not better than Nick. The experience is life changing for him and he takes to his new role with gusto, and thought doing so gradually grows up and starts to sort out his messy life. This story was inspired very much by the work of the Bay Area Model Mugging group, from Redwood City in California with whom I spent some time researching the book. The background to the story is entirely based on actual techniques used by these remarkable women. The book deals with the sharp end of the interaction between men and women, but I think gives hope that there may be a way out. As they say in womenÕs self defence, the way out is through.

<b>Review of Punchbag from the Amazon.com, Sept 24th 1999</b>

A welcome male presence in "the women's movement" (4 stars) 

Having taken a self-defense course taught by BAMM president Cori Couture (also one of Llewellyn's model-mugging teachers,) I was curious indeed to know how the technique is experienced by the men in the padded suits, so I sent all the way to England for my copy of "Punchbag". It was well worth the lousy exchange rate and international postage. As always, Robert Llewellyn shows keen insight with great sensitivity and clarity of expression, as he takes the reader (and tough-guy main character Nick) between the crunchy-granola San Francisco Bay Area and the more macho London, where the women's self-defense course is less well-received. Nick's growth throughout the course of the novel is significant but believable, and none of the obvious possible pairings comes out by the end. Congrats to Llewellyn for once again eschewing pat endings!