Book Corner

[mking55]

I have read 3 boxing books in the last month and I was pleased with 2 of them and disappointed in the 3rd. I am not a reviewer (I like what I like, and I don't like what I don't like), but I would be curious to hear from others on 2 subjects.

Did you read the books I read, and if so, what did you think?

Can you recommend any boxing books?

'Cut Time: An Education at the fights' by Carlo Rotella.
Released August, 2003
Excellent. The man can write and that helps.
He writes about some of the fighters he has had contact with (no big timers except Larry Holmes), his experience at the fights, and the analogies of life and fights/fighters. His section on how his grandmother reminds him of a fighter is fantastic.
I recommend it highly but don't quote me.

'Bummy Davis vs. Murder Inc.' by Ron Ross
Released November, 2003
Very good.
It reads like a novel. How could you not want to read a book about a fighter named 'Bummy'.
I knew absolutely nothing about this fighter and had never heard of him. I knew a little about Murder Inc. The book covers the life and career of Bummy Davis from Brownsville against the backdrop of his community and Murder Inc.'s hold on it.
Brush up on your Yiddish before reading but if you can't, there is a glossary included in the book.
When I finished I wanted to learn more about the man and the reality of how he was covered in the press. It seems there is a HUGE discrepency between the author's view and the view held in the media at the time. If anyone knows where I can get ahold of some articles that were written about Bummy at the time, I would be interested.
It is worth reading if the 30's and 40's, boxing, and gangsters interest you in any way.

'The Devil and Sonny Liston' by Nick Tosches
Released April, 2000
Good reviews but I didn't really like it.
"Nick Tosches writes like Sonny Liston hit"--Chuck Wepner, who fought them both.
I have always been fascinated by Sonny Liston ever since he failed to answer the bell for the 7th round back in 1964. I was a 9 year old who knew nothing about boxing except that Sonny Liston was going to knock Cassius Clay's block off. Was I shocked!
I was hoping to gain an understanding of the man and the myth. Was he really as bad as he was made out to be? Was he evil personified in the black man?
The book tries to explain him and tries hard to gather information from many sources. The number of names thrown around made my head spin.
Although we are given 'excuses' and some understanding of what he came from, I still found the characterization of the man to be very one-dimensional. Maybe he was.
The author believes both Clay/Ali fights were fixed and gives his reasons. The arguments are good.
The author seems to have a strong dislike for Clay/Ali that is funny to read. (Although his points are valid).
I was just hoping to learn more about Sonny. Maybe that isn't possible.
Does anyone know of any credible books about Sonny Liston they can pass along or is this it?

That's it. Comments? Other readers? Recommended reading? Please discuss.

[crusadecat]

I just read the Roger Kahn book about Jack Dempsey . A flame of Pure Fire I believe it was called , I enjoyed that greatly. There is another good one I read a few months ago , It was called something like This Bloody Mary is the last thing I own which was very good as well.

[mking55]

I read 'A Flame of Pure Fire' by Roger Kahn also. It was a few years ago. I remember I quite enjoyed that. It captured the times quite well I thought.

I knew nothing really about Jack Dempsey when I read it. Just that he was this real, tough boxer. After I read it I thought, yes, he was good but not great.

It was no 'Boys of Summer' (very few are) but it was still quite good.

I have never heard of 'This Bloody Mary is the Last Thing I own: A Journey to the End of Boxing' by Jonathan Rendall (August, 1999). I looked it up to get the title and the author. Might be interesting as these will be stories about people I know nothing about.

[PittPanther]

Dark Trade

[Cap]

If you can find them, try 'The Fighting Fisherman" about Yvon Durelle, "Tommy Burns: Canada's Unknown Heavyweight Champion, and "Going the Distance" a series of short bios on Canadian pro fighters.

It's very hard to find boxing titles these days. Unless it has Muhammad Ali's picture on the cover the stores don't seem to carry it. Probably best place to go is a good used book store if you have one handy.

Cap

[mking55]

Speaking of Ali, that reminded me that I read 'King of the World' by David Remnick (October, 1999). That was a great book. It had fascinating reading on the Liston-Patterson fights to set the background up. The whole thing was a great read.

Do you think a small city in Texas will have a bookstore (used or otherwise) about Canadian fighters? I thought not. Durelle and Burns are two fighters I always wanted to know more about. Thanks for the titles. I will hunt them down.

Will someone ever write the definitive biography of Ken Lakusta?

[David Myers]

Wepner's blurb for <i>The Devil and Sonny Liston</i> should have been "Nick Tosches writes like my face took punches." When he lacks information--say, about Liston's boyhood or mob connections--Tosches blows smoke, writing long passages that sound like they must be saying something profound until you examine them closely. They turn out to be nonsense. Tosches also makes the astonishing claim that Archie Moore took a dive in his title fight against Rocky Marciano. Neither evidence nor argument is offered to substantiate the claim. Tosches makes the assertion as if it were self-evident.

The book is a complete waste of time.

Roger Kahn's <i>Heart of Pure Flame</i> suffers from similar faults. Long passages about the Twenties are supposed to describe the cultural context in which Dempsey rose to prominence, but they are largely beside the question. Kahn's leftist politics and giggling obsession with sex (Warren G. Harding's, Tex Rickard's arraignment on charges of child molestation, the antics of the Algonguin Circle) keep breaking up the narrative. And when he turns to boxing, Kahn makes errors (calling Stanley Ketchel "Steve," for example) when he isn't just silly.

A much better recent title is Hugh McIlvanney's <i>Hardest Game</i> (Chicago: Contemporary Books, $14.95). McIlvanney is Britain's best boxing writer. He opens this collection of his best articles with a bracing defense of boxing against the goo-goos who would outlaw it. Then he ranges from Muhammad Ali vs. Henry Cooper (May 1966) to "Mike Tyson's gobbling of Evander Holyfield's ears. . . ." Included are some wrenching accounts of the doomed Johnny Owen, who died after fighting Lupe Pintor in September 1980.

The other boxing writer who is always worth reading, of course, is the great A. J. Liebling. If you can find a used copy of <i>The Sweet Science</I> (1956), snap it up. Liebling wrote a classic account of Archie Moore, "Ahab and Nemesis," which serves as an antidote to Tosches's slander.

[Cap]

Actually, Dave, I hate to mention this, but Ketchel was known as Steve for a time on the East Coast (and no, I don't mean Nova Scotia).

Cap

[David Myers]

Cap,

Kahn mentions the fact that he was known by both names, and then settles on "Steve Ketchel" as the name he repeats. This would be the same as noting that Yogi Berra started his minor league career being called Larry, and then writing a history of baseball in the 50s in which you refer several times to Larry Berra.

Six different boxers used the name Steve Ketchel[l] between 1910 and 1947, including a heavyweight who was knocked out by Joe Louis in January 1937. I wonder if Kahn just got confused.

[Antonin]

Originally posted by mking55

Did you read the books I read, and if so, what did you think?

'Cut Time: An Education at the fights' by Carlo Rotella.
Released August, 2003
Excellent. The man can write and that helps..

I also read this recently and I agree completely with your assessment.

Originally posted by mking55

'The Devil and Sonny Liston' by Nick Tosches
Released April, 2000
Good reviews but I didn't really like it.
"Nick Tosches writes like Sonny Liston hit"--Chuck Wepner, who fought them both.

I was hoping to gain an understanding of the man and the myth. Was he really as bad as he was made out to be? Was he evil personified in the black man?

...

Although we are given 'excuses' and some understanding of what he came from, I still found the characterization of the man to be very one-dimensional. Maybe he was.

I read this book last summer and enjoyed it despite its dark and depressing tone. Tosches does write rather well. I think it is a good place to start for someone who does not know a great deal about Liston.

I think that book and "Ghosts of Manila," which I also read last summer, would be better understood if the reader is either a) African-American or b) understands Afr-Am culture and life really, really well. I read many passages in "The Devil and Sonny Liston" that are very, very "black." Impressions and observations that anybody who is not "a" or "b" above would have a hard time understanding. Tosches impressed me with his ability to achieve these insights and get them down on paper.

As for his one-dimensional portrayal of Liston the human being, well, some people do have less substance than others. But I don't intend to let Tosches' book be the last word on Sonny Liston for me.

[Bronx Bomber 15]

I've been wanting to read "The Devil and Sonny Liston" and "Dark Trade" for some time, just haven't got around to it yet.

A book I read quite some time ago (maybe time to read it again) that I really enjoyed was "Boxing Babylon: Behing The Shadowy World of the Prize Ring" by Nigel Collins. Not so much about boxing directly, but about some of the tragedies and scandals surrounding some boxing stars. An interesting look beyond the ring.
A few others I'd recommend:
Lightning Strikes - Gerald Suster
Raging Bull - Jake LaMotta
Beyond the Ring - Jeff Sammons
Punch Lines - Phil Berger
Bad Intentions - Peter Heller
Let's Get It On - Milles Lane
Muhammed Ali: His Life and Times - Thomas Heller

and of course there are the numerous "encyclopedia" style books I make my way back to like "The Book of Boxing", "The Ring 20th Century", etc. etc.

Nothing like some good old fashioned reading to stimulate and educate the mind.

[wildhawke11]

For anyone new to boxing, two books i can recommend for easy reading, and learning about the fight game at the same time.

A Pictorial History of Boxing by Sam Andre and Nat Fleischer.
and another which i was going to search on the web for till i checked my collection and found i already had it.

The Illustrated History of Boxing by Harry Mullen

I have quite a few similar to the above in fact but the two i have given you are top value.

They are large books, great pics and history all thrown in. Even if a little dear compared to some books they really will enhance your knowledge of the fight game.

As for books on Ali hell i am sick of them, i have so many my son bought me, that most i have not even read as yet.

[mking55]

Originally posted by wildhawke11
As for books on Ali hell i am sick of them, i have so many my son bought me, that most i have not even read as yet.

I agree that their are too many books on Ali and that makes it hard to see the really good ones. However, if you have "King of the World" by David Remnick and have not read it, you are doing yourself a disservice.

It is more than just another Ali book.

[Tosti]

Good reference book, with backgrounds on all the inductees and their 'major fights'. Also managed to find 'The Ring' chronicle of boxing second hand, which acts as a good introductory calendar.

[Antonin]

Originally posted by wildhawke11
As for books on Ali hell i am sick of them, i have so many my son bought me, that most i have not even read as yet.

But if you have not read "Ghosts of Manila," please do. The author does a very, very good job of examining the Frazier-Ali dynamic.