Public Libraries of Suffolk County, New York

At the fights, American writers on boxing, edited by George Kimball & John Schulian ; foreword by Colum McCann

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

index present

non fiction

At the fights

bibliography

edited by George Kimball & John Schulian ; foreword by Colum McCann

The Library of America

American writers on boxing

American writers have been fascinated by the ring, both the primal contest inside the ropes and the crazy carnival world outside them. From neighborhood gyms and smoke-filled arenas to star-studded casinos and exotic locales, they 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

Johnson vs. Jeffries / Jack London -- Cobb fights it over again / Irvin S. Cobb -- Dempsey vs. Carpentier / H. L. Mencken -- The orthodox champion / Heywood Broun -- My fights with Jack Dempsey / Gene Tunney -- Brown bomber / Sherwood Anderson -- Pity the poor giant / Paul Gallico -- Louis knocks out Schmeling / Bob Considine -- High tide in Harlem: Joe Louis as a symbol of freedom / Richard Wright -- Brownsville bum / W. C. Heinz -- Night for Joe Louis / Red Smith -- Down great purple valleys / John Lardner -- As it was in the long ago / Frank Graham -- Kearns by a knockout ; Ahab and nemesis / A. J. Liebling -- Archie / Jimmy Cannon -- The fight: Patterson vs. Liston / James Baldwin -- Floyd Patterson / Gay Talese -- from James Norris and the decline of boxing / Barney Nagler --The champ and the chump / Murray Kempton -- Miami notebook: Cassius Clay and Malcolm X / George Plimpton -- Beethoven to boxing / Larry Merchant -- Amen to Sonny / Joe Flaherty -- Muhammad Ali then and now / Dick Schaap -- from The fight / Norman Mailer -- Pride of the tiger / Robert Lipsyte -- "Lawdy, lawdy, he's great" / Mark Kram -- Nowhere to run / John Schulian -- Roberto Duran's New York state of mind / Vic Ziegel -- Sweeter than sugar / Leonard Gardner -- The fight (the king is dead) ; from Moving pictures / Budd Schulberg -- Then all the joy turned to sorrow / Ralph Wiley -- Eight minutes of fury / Pat Putnam -- Up the stairs with Cus D'Amato / Pete Hamill -- from Paper trails / Pete Dexter -- from The black lights / Thomas Hauser -- Never say never: Ray Mancini's last fight / Bill Barich -- Leonard-Hagler: the fight and its aftermath / George Kimball -- Ringworld / Gerald Early -- Still hungry after all these years / Richard Hoffer -- Donfire of the vanities / Mike Lupica -- Rape and the boxing ring / Joyce Carol Oates -- My friend, my teacher / Jerry Izenberg -- "The fight's over, Joe" / William Nack -- The great (almost) white hope / Mark Kriegel -- Kid Dynamite blows up: Mike Tyson / David Remnick -- The knockout: Lucia Rijker / Katherine Dunn -- from Compass points: how I lived / Edward Hoagland -- Champion at twilight / Carlo Rotella

adult

American writers on boxing