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31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
There are second acts to American lives, June 3, 2005
F. Scott Fitzgerald once said that there were no second acts to American lives. Yet, a fellow Irishman (one much less gloomy) proved him very, very wrong. This book is the homage that James J. Braddock has always deserved. Braddock's amazing story has been slowly fading from public memory, as well as the memory of modern boxing fans, steadily over the years. This book puts things right. Author, Jeremy Schaap, has written a Godsend of a book for Braddock fans, and his clean, direct style is perfectly suited to telling this story. If Schaap were a boxer, he would be referred to as a cagey, "cute" fighter; meaning that it might appear that he isn't doing much, but what he does counts and he will be there at the end of the fight with his glove raised. To put it another way, there is nothing prosy in Schaap's writing; but he really knows the way to hit the right spots. Like any very good writer, he recognizes true moments of drama and plays these moments with a pure economy of words that come at you from the blue. Bang! Suddenly I found myself very moved and didn't even see it coming. James J. Braddock was in so many ways the perfect product of the Great Depression. He was a washed-up fighter, his best years behind him. He had been cleaned out by the depression, desperately trying to feed his family by taking odd jobs at the docks in New Jersey, even going on relief (which so humiliated him he wouldn't tell anyone, not even his mother). Yet dock work had made him lean and tough, so when his second chance came, the hard knocks of life had prepared him. People loved him not because he was white, or Irish. Americans loved him because he was like them - all of them - and he represented a hope. He had been crushed and humiliated by life, yet he did not quit. He literally fought his way back. One of the most telling moments in the book, described beautifully by the author, was when Braddock walked into the pubic relief office. He had the amount that he had been given in cash in his pocket, and he wished to pay it back. While this book is a pleasure for the mainstream reader, hard-core fight fans will have nothing to complain about either. His descriptions of the fights of Braddock's career make it plain the author knows his boxing as well. As an unexpected bonus, Schaap has portraits of many other fighters that entered Braddock's sphere; among them Primo Carnera, Max Bear and the great light-heavy, Tommy Laughran. This book is a long-needed and wonderful portrait of a champion, as well as an important addition to boxing literature.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Could not put it down, May 16, 2005
It is the best sports book I have ever read! The author pulled no punches in detailing the amazing story of Braddock. The boxer's highs and lows were vividly portrayed. You could smell the gym, feel the training, and taste the victory. Moreover, the political, economic and social state of the world in those times was marvelously woven into the fabric of the story. This book was truly a joy to experience. By the end of the story, two champions emerged, Braddock and Schaap.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Admiring tribute to a great comeback fighter, January 8, 2006
James J. Braddock wasn't a great Heavyweight Champ; he lost the title in his first defense bout after he'd won it. But his is, perhaps, the greatest comeback story of 20th century pugilism. The CINDERELLA MAN had heart. Author Jeremy Schaap's book begins with the commencement of Braddock's comeback in June 1934 with his victory over "Corn" Griffin. Jim's last previous fight had been nine months earlier, at the end of which, with a right hand that had been repeatedly broken and numerous defeats under his belt, he was thought to be washed up. To the point of the Griffin match-up, he was barely able to feed his family with odd jobs on the New York and New Jersey docks and welfare help; it was the Depression, and Braddock's fortunes were at their rock bottom. Then, Schaap regresses in time to the period 1926-33 when Jim fought as a light heavyweight, almost winning that title in 1929. The author alternates the early Braddock saga with the same for the 1929-1934 career of Max Baer, who won the heavyweight title from Primo Canera, also in June 1934, thus setting up the confrontation that established Jim's fame and won him the heavyweight crown, the Braddock-Baer bout in June 1935. Schaap's summaries of Braddock's eighty-three fights and Baer's forty-seven prior to their epic battle are, almost by necessity in a volume of only 276 pages, spotty in detail, yet are sufficient to establish the two fighters' characters. There is an adequate section of photographs, as well as the complete ring records of both Braddock and Baer and a complete listing of all the heavyweight division champs since John L. Sullivan. (Who is Hasim Rahman, champ in 2001, for Pete's sake?!) For a boxing aficionado, CINDERELLA MAN is perhaps, despite its relative brevity, a must read. For those who otherwise couldn't care less about the sport, then viewing the excellent 2005 film CINDERELLA MAN, starring Russell Crowe in the title role, is the preferred, shorter option that provides all the basics. The visual version skips the preliminaries, starts with Braddock's last fight in 1933, his and his family's descent into near destitution, his enduring relationships with his wife Mae (Renee Zellweger) and manager Joe Gould (Paul Giamatti), his comeback contests versus Griffin, Lewis, and Lasky, and his win by decision over Baer in 15 gritty rounds. Though it wasn't the author's intent, I gather, it was Baer's personality that came across as the more intriguing, at least for me. Max was a hard-punching, underachieving champ who fell more in love with the perks of his achievements - the fame, women, fine clothes, good food, showmanship - than with the commitment to his profession and hard work necessary to stay at the top. It's one of his quotes that stays with me: "Listen, I don't want to be one of those champions who fights once a year. I need to fight. Dames are expensive." Truer words were never spoken.
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