At the Fights: American Writers on Boxing: A Library of America Special Publication

ISBN 10: 1598530925 / ISBN 13: 9781598530926

Published by Library of America, 2011

Very Good condition. Very Good dust jacket. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp. Seller Inventory # F18B-03953

Synopsis:

A collection of essays by James Baldwin, Norman Mailer, and other beloved American writers on the primal contest in the boxing ring--and the crazy carnival world outside it

From neighborhood gyms and smoke-filled arenas to star-studded casinos and exotic locales, American writers have chronicled unforgettable stories about determination and dissipation, about great champions and punch-drunk has-beens, about colorful entourages and outrageous promoters, and, inevitably along the way, about race, class, and violence in America. Like baseball, boxing has a vivid culture and language all its own, one that has proven irresistible to career journalists and literary writers alike.

The Library of America presents a gritty and glittering anthology of a century of the very best writing and reportage about the fights. Here is Jack London on the immortal Jack Johnson; H. L. Mencken and Irvin S. Cobb on Jack Dempsey vs. Georges Carpentier, dubbed "The Fight of the Century"; Richard Wright on Joe Louis's historic victory over Max Schmeling; A. J. Liebling's brilliantly comic portrait of a manager who really identifies with his fighter; Jimmy Cannon on the inimitable Archie Moore; James Baldwin and Gay Talese on the haunted Floyd Patterson; George Plimpton on Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X; Norman Mailer on the "Rumble in the Jungle"; Mark Kram on the "Thrilla in Manila"; Pete Hamill on legendary trainer and manager Cus D'Amato; Mark Kriegel on Oscar de la Hoya; and David Remnick and Joyce Carol Oates on Mike Tyson. National Book Award-winning novelist Colum McCann (Let the Great World Spin) weighs in with a foreword.

About the Author: GEORGE KIMBALL (1943-2011) was a longtime sportswriter (Boston Herald) and the author of Four Kings: Leonrad, Hagler, Hearns, and Duran and the Last Great Era of Boxing.

JOHN SCHULIAN was a sports columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and Philadelphia Daily News before moving to Hollywood, where he was the co-creator of Xena: Warrior Princess. He is the author of Writers' Fighters and Other Sweet Scientists. Both are recipients of the Nat Fleischer Award for Excellence in Boxing Journalism, awarded by the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Bibliographic Details

Title: At the Fights: American Writers on Boxing: A...
Publisher: Library of America
Publication Date: 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included