Barney Ross: The Life of a Jewish Fighter (Jewish Encounters) [Paperback]

Douglas Century (Author)

Book Description

Series: Jewish Encounters | Publication Date: August 11, 2009

Born Dov-Ber Rasofsky to Eastern European immigrant parents, Barney Ross grew up in a tough Chicago neighborhood and witnessed his father’s murder, his mother’s nervous breakdown, and the dispatching of his three younger siblings to an orphanage, all before he turned fourteen. To make enough money to reunite the family, Ross became a petty thief, a gambler, a messenger boy for Al Capone, and, eventually, an amateur boxer. Turning professional at nineteen, he would capture the lightweight, junior welterweight, and welterweight titles over the course of a ten-year career.

Ross began his career as the scrappy “Jew kid,” ended it as an American sports icon, and went on to become a hero during World War II, earning a Silver Star for his heroic actions at Guadalcanal. While recovering from war wounds and malaria he became addicted to morphine, but with fierce effort he ultimately kicked his habit and then campaigned fervently against drug abuse. And the fighter who brought his father’s religious books to training camp also retained powerful ties to the world from which he came. Ross worked for the creation of a Jewish state, running guns to Palestine and offering to lead a brigade of Jewish American war veterans.

This first biography of one of the most colorful boxers of the twentieth century is a galvanizing account of an emblematic life: a revelation of both an extraordinary athlete and a remarkable man.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. A powerful account of the career of "one of the two greatest Jewish boxers of the twentieth century," this third volume in Schocken's Jewish Encounters series delivers a short but fascinating account of life in Chicago's Maxwell Street ghetto in the 1920s and '30s: "a riotous dream of Jewish gunmen and bookmakers, fighting furriers and smashed-nose boxers." Barney Ross (1909–1967) was the son of Eastern European immigrants; his father was killed in a robbery just before Ross's 14th birthday. The teenage Ross started boxing to earn money to free his siblings from an orphanage and went on to earn three world championship titles. Century (Street Kingdom) evokes the atmosphere of Ross's youth in a notorious neighborhood, as well as his later professional battles, especially a trio of now legendary 1930s bouts with Jimmy "The Babyfaced Assassin" McLarnin: "As the fighters made their entrances, pearl-grey fedoras bobbed expectantly and wisps of cigar smoke swirled into the night sky." Century also charts the "second narrative" of Ross's life, including heroism at Guadalcanal during WWII, a highly publicized struggle with morphine addiction and running guns to Palestine to aid the Jewish fight for a state—to show how Ross's life "was everything the Diaspora tradition had warned Jews not to become, but a fulfillment as well of its secret fantasy." Photos. (Feb. 7)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“An excellent story of a man and his times. And proof positive that time does not relinquish its hold over men or monuments. In a sport devoted to fashioning halos for its superstars, Ross wore a special nimbus, and this book properly fi ts him for that.”
—Bert Randolph Sugar, The New York Times Book Review

“Will a better book on the fighter ever be written? I have to doubt it. The research is impressive yet unostentatious. The prose is trim and elegant, and lands its emotional blows with very effective precision . . . Century doesn’t waste a single paragraph.”
—Scott McLemee, Newsday

“Barney Ross’s life is a curious mix: a boxer with a religious streak who was haunted by the death of his own dad. Douglas Century has managed to deal with all of Ross’s contradictions and mysteries, when Jewish fighters were like gods of the ghetto. This is a deeply moving book.”
—Jerome Charyn, author of Savage Shorthand: The Life and Death of Isaac Babel

“Fascinating . . . A powerful account of the career of ‘one of the two greatest Jewish boxers of the twentieth century.’”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“If there is still a queue of writers mining the Depression Era for racehorses or prizefighters with inspirational stories that will resonate with today’s readers, Douglas Century has beaten them to the punch . . . Ross’s consummate boxing skills and toughness made him one of the last heirs to a largely untold tradition of formidable Jewish pugilists.”
—Kirkus Reviews

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Schocken; Reprint edition (August 11, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080521173X
• ISBN-13: 978-0805211733
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #451,975 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Douglas Century is the author of "Barney Ross: The Life of a Jewish Fighter" and "Street Kingdom: Five Years Inside of the Franklin Avenue Posse." He has coauthored several best-sellers, including "Takedown: The Fall of the Last Mafia Empire," with Rick Cowan, which was a Finalist for the Edgar Award - Best Fact Crime, and "If Not Now, When?" with Colonel Jack Jacobs (Retired), Recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor.


Century's books have been featured and reviewed in many leading publications, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, Parade Magazine and Publisher's Weekly. They have received coverage on The Today Show, National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" and "This American Life," among many other radio and television programs.


Douglas Century is currently at work on a work of narrative nonfiction and an original screenplay adaptation of "Street Kingdom." He is a contributing editor at Tablet Magazine: A New Read on Jewish Life.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The story of a true champion, February 19, 2006

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Barney Ross (Jewish Encounters) (Hardcover)

Bert Sugar the dean of Boxing Writers reviews this book for the NY Times and finds it to be outstanding. Jeff Z. Klein in 'Nextbook.com' interviews Douglas Century and gets an inside view of his fundamental conception of Barney Ross. Century's articulate and insightful responses to Klein give the sense that this book is first-class.
Barney Ross was along with Benny Leonard one of the two greatest Jewish prizefighters of all time. He at one time held three titles. His three- fight series with Jimmy McLarnin in which Ross won the first and the third are considered among the great classics of the sport. In his final fight Ross took a terrible fifteen round beating from the one Sugar considers to be pound-for-pound the second greatest fighter of all time Henry Armstrong. Ross despite the insistence of his handlers would not throw in the towel. And he did not go down. He went out like a champion- on his feet. And afterwards he kept his promise to never fight again if beaten.
Later as a thirty- four year old ex- champ he volunteered and went to the Second World War. One night on Guadacanal his unit was attacked by the Japanese. He personally killed twenty- two enemy soldiers while saving the lives of two other wounded members of his platoon. For this he won the Silver Star. However it was at Guadacanal that he was first given the morphine which would be the destructive force of his life, and lead to his addiction.
Century says that Ross was unusual for a fighter, especially sensitive, and with a desire to not really hurt others. He says that often in training sessions Ross would stop if he saw the sparring partner was hurt. He tells the story of Ross from the time he is an orphan in Chicago, all through the years of his career and beyond. This includes the role Ross played in getting arms to the struggling just declared state of Israel when attacked by five surrounding armies.
Century in the course of writing the book came to know Ross' brother who gave him many interesting personal anecdotes. One tells about how Ross would come to his brother's house, ask him to come along, and then walk silently with him for a few hours through the night. And this perhaps an indication of how lonely this great American hero could be.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BARNEY ROSS AND BARNEY SUGERMAN WERE BEST FRIENDS, May 12, 2006

By 

charmingman68 "myron" (new jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barney Ross (Jewish Encounters) (Hardcover)

I KNEW BARNEY ROSS WHEN I WAS A YOUNG LAD GROWING UP IN THE SUBURS OF NEWARK NEW JERSEY. BARNEY SUGERMAN Z'L, MY FATHER AND BARNEY ROSS WERE CLOSE CLOSE FRIENDS. SUGIE AS MY FATHER WAS ALSO KNOWN WAS IN THE JUKE BOX AND GAME BUSINESS. HE CAME OUT OF THAT VERY SPECIAL WORLD OF PROHIBITION, ROARING 20'S, PROUD JEWS INCLUDING MOBSTERS AND PRIZE FIGHTERS. POP HAD HIS OFFICES AND BUSINESS ON JUKE BOX ROW, TENTH AVENUE AND 43RD STREET IN MANHATTAN. BARNEY ROSS WAS AT THE OFFICE TWO OR THREE TIMES A WEEK AND AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK, THE TWO BARNEYS WOULD MAKE THE ROUNDS IN THE CITY. DOUGLAS CENTURY DID AN OUTSTANDING JOB OF CONVEYING THE TRUE PERSONALITY AND CHARACTER OF BARNEY ROSS. THE BOOK IS OUTSTANDING. IT CAPTURES THE TRUE SPIRIT OF BARNEY ROSS. I WILL TELL YOU THAT WHEN BARNEY ROSS WOULD SAY HELLO TO YOU, IT MADE YOU FEEL YOU WERE SPECIAL. HE HUGGED YOU, KISSED YOU, AND HE BLESSED YOU IN PERFECT HEBREW AND IN PERFECT YIDDISHE. HE WAS A REAL PROUD JEW AND HE KNEW THAT HE CARRIED ON HIS SHOULDERS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF JEWISH PRIDE TO A NATION THAT HAD NOT YET FULLY ACCEPTED THE JEWISH PEOPLE. IN FACT GROWING UP, ANTI SEMITISM WAS NOT A RARE OCCURENCE. BARNEY CARRIED THE CROWN OF JEWISH PRIDE WHEREVER HE WENT. I WILL TELL ONE STORY. IN THE MID 50'S I WAS A STUDENT AT BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY WHICH WAS A SCHOOL ASSOCIATED WITH THE BAPTISTS. IN THOSE DAYS, THERE WAS A LIMIT ON JEWS GOING TO BUCKNELL, WE HAD A 5% QUOTA. SO WE HAD ONE JEWISH FRATERNITY HOUSE. IN MY JUNION YEAR, 1958, WE HAD AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR THE ANNUAL SPORTS EVENING. ALL THE ATHLETES OF THE SCHOOL WENT TO THE ANNUAL DINNER. SOMEBODY KNEW THAT MY FATHER AND BARNEY ROSS WERE CLOSE FRIENDS, AND THE SCHOOL BOXING COMMITTEE ASKED ME IF IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE TO INVITE BARNEY ROSS TO COME UP TO THE SCHOOL TO GIVE A SPEECH. I CALLED POP. HE SPOKE TO BARNEY ROSS. BARNEY RIGHT AWAY SAID OF COURSE HE WOULD BE HAPPY TO DO IT. THAT WAS BARNEY ROSS. THE WORD "NO" DIDN'T EXIST IN HIS VOCABULARY. I TOLD POP TO MAKE SURE HE WAS UP BY 4 OR 4.30 BECAUSE THE DINNER WAS SCHEDULED FOR 6 PM. POP PICKED BARNEY UP EARLY IN THE MORNING. IT WAS NO MORE THAN A 4 HOUR DRIVE UP THROUGH ROUTE 22 TO MAKE IT TO LEWISBURG PENNSYLVANIA. BUT NO SIGN OF THE TWO BARNEYS AND BY 5 PM. I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO LOOK LIKE THE LAUGHING STOCK OF THE SCHOOL. FINALLY AT SIX PM ON THE DOT THE BIG BLUE FOUR DOOR CADILLAC PULLED UP AND OUT CAME BARNEY ROSS WITH BARNEY SUGERMAN. BARNEY ROSS SMELLED LIKE HE FELL INTO A BATH TUB OF WHISKEY. I ASKED POP WHAT THE HELL TOOK HIM SO LONG. POP EXPLAINED THAT BETWEEN NEW YORK CITY AND LEWISBURG PENNSYLVANIA BARNEY ROSS INSISTED ON STOPPING IN EACH TOWN AND HAVE A DRINK. AS SOON AS HE WALKED INTO A BAR IN THOSE LITTLE BLUE COLLAR TOWNS IN NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA, GUYS IMMEIDATELY RECOGNIZED HIM AND BEFORE LONG, "BARNEY HAVE ANOTHER DRINK ON THE HOUSE, AND TELL US ABOUT THE FIGHT WITH TONY CANZONERI, WITH JIMMY MC LARNIN, ETC."

WE BROUGHT BARNEY INTO OUR SAMMY HOUSE FRATERNITY. HE WAS SURROUNDED BY ALL THE GUYS IN THE FRATERNITY WHO WANTED TO SAY HELLO TO BARNEY ROSS AND SHAKE HIS HAND, ETC. BARNEY ROSS HOWEVER WAS THREE SHEETS TO THE WIND. I WAS WONDERING HOW THE HELL HE WAS GOING TO GIVE A SPEECH AT THE SPORTS NIGHT EVENT.

WE WENT TO THE DINNER. THE PLACE WAS MOBBED WITH ALL THE JOCKS AT BUCKNELL. NATURALLY, THE VAST MAJORITY WERE NOT JEWISH. BARNEY GOT UP TO SPEAK. HE HUGGED THE MICROPHONE AND HE STARTED TO SPEAK. HE SPOKE SO QUIETLY, BUT SO ELOQUENTLY AND SO PASSIONATELY ABOUT HIS LIFE GROWING UP AS A JEWISH BOY IN CHICAGO, HIS FATHER'S TRAGIC MURDER, HIS ENTRY INTO BOXING, HIS CAREER, HIS FIGHTS, HIS WAR TIME EXPERIENCE, HIS DRUG ADDICTION AS A RESULT OF THE WOUNDS HE SUFFERED DURING THE BATTLE AT GUADACANAL AND HIS STUGGLE TO BEAT THE HABIT. THAT EVENT TOOK PLACE NEARLY FIFTY YEARS AGO. I REMEMBER IT LIKE IT HAPPENED TONIGHT. BARNEY ROSS WAS A CHAMPION AS A FIGHTER, BOTH IN THE RING AND IN THE BATTLEFIELD BUT THAT NIGHT HE WAS A CHAMPION OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE. KOLHAKAVOD TO DOUGLAS CENTURY. HIS BOOK IS A TRIBUTE TO THE TRUE CHARACTER OF BARNEY ROSS

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars awesome story ; a must read, March 10, 2006

By 

jorge abaroa (Bartlett, IL USA (Chicago)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barney Ross (Jewish Encounters) (Hardcover)

Whether you are a fan of boxing or not; you will appreciate this truly remarkable story. It is real life at it's best! Douglas Century has written a beautiful book steeped in history about Chicago, New York and really the world. Barney Ross was a great man, his story both inspires and captivates the reader. Thanks to Mr.Century his incredible life will live to inspire others. I went to Barney's grave site to pay my respects. I left a little blue boxing glove on his headstone. It seemed only fitting for a man who fought his whole life, in and out of the ring; and in the end gave much more than he took. Thanks Barney. Read the book, you will NOT be dissapointed....