Ringside: A Treasury of Boxing Reportage [Hardcover]

Budd Schulberg (Author), Hugh McIlvanney (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 12, 2006

In this bountiful collection of his best boxing writing of a lifetime, Mr. Schulberg takes his fans all the way back to an epic bare-knuckle contest in England two hundred years ago; draws a revealing portrait of Uncle Mike Jacobs, the impresario of boxing in its Golden Age; expertly places Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali in the social history of their times; brings fans up to date in the careers of the great names of recent decades-Tyson, Holyfield, DeLaHoya, Hopkins, Chico Corrales; and much more. His writing sparkles with authority and insight. Here is great prose on great fighters, laced with a realistic sense of boxing's wrongs as well as its rights. Publication of Ringside is an event in the world of sports reportage.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In more than five decades of writing about boxing, Schulberg has distinguished himself by knowing as much about the sport as he does about writing. The likes of Oates and Plimpton and even Remnick may turn a phrase, but only Schulberg has seen most every important fight since Louis-Schmeling. This collection gathers together reviews, biographical sketches, and boxing reportage from throughout his life. The pieces are largely brief and often very recent--chapters are devoted to the likes of Arturo Gati and Prince Nasseem Hamed (whom Schulberg calls "the little prince"). Throughout, Schulberg exhibits a boxing IQ matched by his wit. He writes, for instance, of Archie Moore's "beautifully timed and perfectly thrown right hands, which remind one of well-told stories, short and to the point." With relatively few punch-by-punch recounts of fights and quite a lot of strategy analysis, this collection will appeal most to seasoned boxing fans. But most anyone can enjoy the wonderful 80-page piece that closes the book, a stirring eulogy for the famously greedy and self-involved fight promoter Mike Jacobs. John Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Throughout, Schulberg exhibits a boxing IQ matched by his wit. (Booklist )

Brims with fascinating stories.... Essential reading for all serious students of the sweet science. (Gordon Marino New York Times )

There’s an operatic, carnival-barker quality to Schulberg’s reporting...that reflects the high-low vertigo of the best sports writing. (Benjamin Healy and Benjamin Schwartz The Atlantic Monthly )

Ringside contains Schulberg's mix of erudition and street authenticity. (Robert David Jaffee Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles )

Having covered boxing for more than 60 years...Budd Schulberg knows a thing or two about the sweet science. (Carole Goldberg Hartford Courant )

A knockout of a sportswriting collection. (Dartmouth Alumni Magazine )

Schulberg's prose is imperious…Anybody with the slightest interest in the literature of sport should try to get their hands on this book. (Andrew Baker Telegraph )

Ringside is that rare thing: a sports book by a writer who has truly lived his subject. Boxing has consumed Shulberg for over half a century and it shows on every absorbing page of this wonderful collection. (Nick Clarke Independent )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R. Dee (October 12, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566637074
• ISBN-13: 978-1566637077
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,661,681 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A T.K.O., October 27, 2006

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ringside: A Treasury of Boxing Reportage (Hardcover)

Budd Schulberg at ninety is still punching. In this collection of his boxing writing he brings us back to some of the most exciting moments in his long ring history. He concludes with a lengthy portrait of the famed boxing promoter Lew Jacobs.

Schulberg is a real aficionado of the sport who knows it from inside. And those who love the sport will greatly enjoy the collection. Most touching in it is his concern for what happens to fighters after they leave the ring.