The sport is cockfighting, and Frank Mansfield is the Cockfighter--a silent and fiercely contrary man whose obsession with winning will cost him almost everything. In this haunting, ribald, and percussively violent work, the author of the Hoke Mosely detective novels yields a floodlit vision of the cockpits and criminal underbelly of the rural South.
The Cockfighter (Illustrated)
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"No one writes a better crime novel than Charles Willeford." --Elmore Leonard
"Charles Willeford renders the sport [of cockfighting] with such knowledge and attention to detail that . . . I had the almost inexpressible impression of being on my knees again beside the great fighting pits of the southern circuit." --Harry Crews
"Charles Willeford renders the sport [of cockfighting] with such knowledge and attention to detail that . . . I had the almost inexpressible impression of being on my knees again beside the great fighting pits of the southern circuit." --Harry Crews
From the Inside Flap
The sport is cockfighting, and Frank Mansfield is the Cockfighter--a silent and fiercely contrary man whose obsession with winning will cost him almost everything. In this haunting, ribald, and percussively violent work, the author of the Hoke Mosely detective novels yields a floodlit vision of the cockpits and criminal underbelly of the rural South.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cockfighter is the Moby Dick of cockfighting.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Cockfighter (Mass Market Paperback)
Every once in a while we realize, as a former professor once told me, that the perfect destroys the good. Cockfighter is not perfect, nor does it attempt to be. Willeford, as in all his other novels, dissects a slice of blood and guts Americana, without apologies and with no holds barred. The story of a man who chooses to remain silent until he redeems his status as a champion cockfighter is as unusual as it is simple. Like Moby Dick we learn all or too much of what we wanted to know about the subject. But if you want to take a trip to the redneck South of fifty years ago and get all dusty and sweaty and drunk and maybe killed--and still be home for dinner, then you'll find this book will do the job. More importantly, Willeford knows people and knows how to paint them so you'll never forget them or the sport they so ritualistically followed. If you, like many of us also have a visual need, find the video of the movie. In it, with a small part by the author, you'll get a complete picture of this unique aspect of our culture.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absorbing fictional look into a colorful subculture,
This review is from: Cockfighter (Mass Market Paperback)
You can't really relate to another man's (or woman's) obsession, but "Cockfighter" does a impressive job of drawing the reader into the psyche of Frank Mansfield, the single-minded hero of this pretty intense novel. Frank's goal in life is to win the Cockfighter of the Year award, and he's taken a vow not to speak another word until he does so. In relating silent Frank's journey, the author takes us on a memorable trip through the cockfighting pits of the Southern U.S. and allows us a close-up look at the rugged, obsessive, fiercely individualistic types who haunt them. You will learn from this novel virtually everything you could conceivably wish to know about cockfighting; the details feel absolutely authentic. Above all, though, it's a convincing portrait of a man driven half-mad by his private demons.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Still haven't recovered,
By
This review is from: Cockfighter (Paperback)
I read it years ago and I still haven't recovered. When you are through, you will understand how gambling becomes insanity, its rituals imposing a twisted order on full blown psychosis. As a work of first person narrative, it's breathtaking. The other books by the same author will not prepare you for the intensity of this story. If Jim Thompson is too dark for you, don't read this: you will be jumping right out of the window.
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