Tag: books
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#15: ‘Amateur’ by Thomas Page McBee
‘Amateur’ by Thomas Page McBee tracks the author’s journey from boxing as a means to test one’s limits, to white collar boxer, to being the first trans man to box on a bill at Madison Square Garden. I always enjoy stories in which amateurs describe their own relationships to and journey through boxing, as there…
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#14: ‘Journeymen’ by Mark Turley
‘Journeymen’ by Mark Turley is a collection of interviews with professional boxers making a living as supporting cast members to those trying to climb the ratings ladder and build their records. I think this type of book is a vital insight into how the professional game functions; how vital journeyman boxers are to the development…
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#13: ‘Bunce’s Big Fat Short History of British Boxing’ by Steve Bunce
‘Bunce’s BFSHoBB’ is a summary of the diaries and notebooks Steve Bunce has meticulously kept in his role as possibly the most prominent boxing correspondent and broadcaster currently working in Britain. The book spans 1970-2017, with each chapter focusing on an individual year and giving a remarkably detailed overview of that year’s action. I have…
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#12: ‘Fighting Ruben Wolfe’ by Markus Zusak
‘Fighting Ruben Wolfe’ is a fiction novel written for the Young Adult audience by Markus Zusak. Set in Australia, this book is centred around two brothers, Ruben and Cameron, who accidentally find their way into the world of underground unlicensed boxing. The book explores themes of class, aggression, violence and masculinity through the eyes of…
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#11: ‘The Boxer’ by Reinhard Kleist
‘The Boxer’ by Reinhard Kleist is a non-fiction graphic novel, telling the story of Holocaust survivor Hertzko ‘Harry’ Haft. I haven’t read many graphic novels before as I find the mixture of text and detailed images a little overwhelming – as embarrassing as this is to admit, with children regularly coping with far more complicated…
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#10: ‘A Man’s World’ by Donald McRae
I LOVE THIS BOOK!! ‘A Man’s World (The Double Life of Emile Griffith)’ by Donald McRae is an utterly absorbing and, at times, distressing account of the life and boxing career of Emile Griffith. The book follows Griffith’s arrival in New York from the Virgin Islands, his beginnings as a boxer, the sad death of…
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#9: ‘On Boxing’ by Joyce Carol Oates
‘On Boxing’ is a collection of essays written by Joyce Carol Oates, which has proved pretty influential over how other writers approach boxing as a subject. It’s also the main influence for the choice of name for this blog. This book holds a rare place in the canon due to it being written by a…
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#8: ‘Boxiana’ by Pierce Egan
Now, I need to say upfront that I haven’t yet finished this book, but I wanted to include it now as I have no idea when I will get around to finishing it. ‘Boxiana, volume 1’ is a collection of journalistic articles written in the early 1800s by Pierce Egan. This book is probably the…
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#7: ‘In the Corner’ by Dave Anderson
‘In the Corner’ is a collection of interviews recorded and presented by noted sports journalist Dave Anderson. Some of the greatest American trainers from the early to mid 20th Century feature, including Angelo Dundee, Ray Arcel, Emanuel Steward and Eddie Futch. I particularly enjoyed the chapter with Goody Petronelli describing how he and his brother…
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#6: ‘Dark Trade’ by Donald McRae
This is the first of what will be several posts about books by Donald McRae. ‘Dark Trade’ is McRae’s exploration of the, often murky, business of boxing and what attracts the fighters who entertain fans of the sport. Some of the sport’s biggest names of the 90s appear throughout, though there is a particular focus…
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