Category: Uncategorized
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#111: ‘Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments’ by Saidiya Hartman
In ‘Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments’, Saidiya Hartman uses extensive research of a range of archival materials to expand, retell and imagine the lives of black women born in America in the early twentieth century – the first generation after emancipation. I came across this book as it’s on the reading list of my current module…
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#110: ‘Chasing The Great Gatsby: Freddie Welsh’s Saga’ by Gene Pantalone
‘Chasing The Great Gatsby’ is essentially a biography of former world lightweight champion Freddie Welsh, by Gene Pantalone. There is, however, a large twist to this book which sets it apart from other boxer biographies: Pantalone’s theory that F. Scott Fitzgerald based the character of Jay Gatsby, protagonist of ‘The Great Gatsby’, on Welsh. This…
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#109: ‘President of Pandemonium’ by Luke G. Williams
‘President of Pandemonium’ is Luke G. Williams’ attempt to document the wild life story of 1990s heavyweight prospect Ike Ibeabuchi. Published by Hamilcar Noir. This might seem quite a claim considering some of the crazy life stories written about in the books on this blog, but this might be the saddest boxing story I’ve read.…
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#108: ‘Going for Gold’ by Lisa Lintott
‘Going for Gold’ by Lisa Lintott is a play based on the remarkable and sad story of Frankie Lucas. The play is currently on at Park Theatre in Finsbury Park, London, until 30 November 2024. The play text is published by Salamander Street. Born in St. Vincent, Lucas moved to Croydon, south London as a…
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#107: ‘Pugilistic Queer Performance: Working Through and Working Out’ by Fintan Walsh
‘Pugilistic Queer Performance: Working Through and Working Out’ by Professor Fintan Walsh was published in volume 26, issue 4 of GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, and is also available to download (minus the featured images) via the Birkbeck University website. Walsh is currently Head of the School of Creative Arts, Culture and…
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#106: ‘Sweet Fighting Man: Ring of Truth’ by Melanie Lloyd
Hi! It’s been a couple of months since I last posted. As I mentioned in my last post, I’m preparing to start a creative writing MA so have a lot of pre-reading (and writing!) that I’ve chosen to get into ahead of that course beginning. Also, for any of you that don’t already know, Lizzy…
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#105: ‘The Promise of Women’s Boxing: A Momentous New Era for the Sweet Science’ by Malissa Smith
In The Promise of Women’s Boxing, the follow up to her book A History of Women’s Boxing, author Malissa Smith covers the international developments in women’s boxing between 2012 and 2014. The book is published by Rowman and Littlefield. (This will likely be my last book post for a while as I’m due to start…
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#104: ‘Fights’ by Steven J. Fowler
This 2nd edition of Steven J. Fowler‘s Fights was published in 2015 by Veer Books, and from what I understand is a more slimmed down, and considered, version of the 2011 1st edition (also Veer Books). I know Steven from when my life existed almost entirely beneath the shadow of poetry. This all seems so…
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#103: ‘Thirty Dollars and a Cut Eye: 50 years in boxing’ by J. Russell Peltz
Thirty Dollars and a Cut Eye is J. Russell Peltz’s look back at his 50-year career as a boxing promoter and matchmaker. Peltz took his first steps as a promoter in 1969, at the now legendary Blue Horizon in north Philadelphia. At the age of 22 this was, and still would be, a very bold…
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#102: ‘The Grass Arena’ by John Healy
The Grass Arena is the, at times, harrowing autobiography of John Healy, recounting his years living homeless with a severe alcohol addiction. I have been wanting to read this book for a few years now, after watching the documentary about Healy’s life, Barbaric Genius. I had intended it to be a break from reading solely…
Writers on Boxing 