Customer Reviews

Joe Louis, Man and Super-Fighter

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This is indeed a very old book. Van Every's biography of Joe Louis ends before WWII had broken out and thus misses out on much of Louis' career. That being said, what is does capture is very important. It's rare that you would get a biography of American icon written while they were on the rise rather than after the legend had set in. The author writes in the trademark style of an old-time boxing reporter - a combination of breathless recounting and a building sense of drama.

I found my copy in a library shelf while researching the lives of famous black boxers. Man and Superfighter was by far my favorite. It has well stood the test of time, despite actually missing many facts due to when it was published. Most surprisingly there is no hint of racism in the text nor, on the opposite end, the worthless pedantic worship that fills up biographies of modern athletes.

If the lack of book information or reviews is holding you back, you have little to worry about. It is worth reading both to get a sense of Louis, his boxing strategies (to which the author goes into some depth) and the general picture of the era.