Customer Reviews

Boxer: An Anthology of Writings on Boxing and the Visual Arts

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"Boxer" is a soft cover, large format trade paperback which is beautifully printed and bound. Like the sport of boxing, "Boxer", however, is a mixed bag of impressions. Although the book was well photographed and had a clean and professional layout, as both a writer (18th century studies, including pugilism) AND someone who used to box, in its dry, academic whittering I felt it contained little that conveyed the essence of the sport and its real translation into society. But there is gold amongst the dross if one persists. Sarah Hyde's chapter on boxing and visual culture in the 18th century, for instance, I found annoying in its arduous hair splitting (there is little conclusion to be made from a boxer performing as an artist's model other than for a few extra quid, but somehow this is made into class conflict), and she doesn't seem to accept the essential social contradictions of this century, but the chronology of the sport and discussions of particular artists are worthwhile. The chapters dealing directly with cinema and photography, are worthwhile reads, with very good photography, and "The Ring of Impossibility" intriguing. The chapter on women's boxing "Bruising Peg to Boxaerobics" reduced me to laughter, however. It has a good discussion on the history of women's boxing, but I have the distinct feeling that the author leaves the discussion without the faintest idea of why women *really* fight, and the whole chapter ultimately descends into a squeamish feminist hissy-fit "...the deep desire that some women have to enter a sport which highlights aggression and abuse can be viewed as worryingly reactionary trend rather than a radical reconstruction of the feminine." (Next, we'll have a discussion of baseball and the masculine imperative, including the symbolism of the "bat" and the "balls"?). This is Victorian vapor, and sounds very like the huffing of female social dictators against women taking up bicycling in the late 19th century. She also missed the point of why women move into "masculine" sports but men not into "feminine-appropriate" sports (huh?) -- there *are* no worthwhile traditional solely "feminine-appropriate" sports (although many traditionally contested by both men and women), and I don't think aerobics, as excellent as it is, will satisfy the competitive urges of most men, or many women.

The squeamish academics aside, the photography is excellent; the chapter "From Joe Louis to the Sluggers" in particular gave a fascinating look at photographic representation of boxers and boxing -- it alone is worth the price of the book.

This isn't a bad book, but if you really want to understanding boxing and its impact on society, spend your money on A.J. Leibling -- he won't waste your time.