Serenity: A Boxing Memoir [Paperback]

Ralph Wiley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2000

"This is a surprising book, a terrific book. It's not about boxing, but about an odd, demanding world in which boxing is the thread, the key to existence. Wiley deftly broadens the delineation of this world and its people. Perceptive reporting is the foundation and perceptive reporting is rare enough. Wiley enhances it with clear, quick writing laced with humor and with a sensitivity that lends brilliance to this impressive work."-Robert W. Creamer, author of Baseball and Other Matters in 1941. "Ralph Wiley, with Serenity, has produced an original book about the ring. . . . He can dig beneath the surface and show us what really happened in a bout: why Thomas Hearns, with too much faith in his powerful right hand, lost to Sugar Ray Leonard in their first match. . . . Or why Roberto Durán was acting out of prudence, not cowardice, when he quit in his second fight against Leonard. . . . Yet the book is not really about boxing. Boxing in Serenity is what T. S. Eliot, speaking of plot, called the meat a burglar brings to distract the watchdog. The book is really about growing up in a world where you had to defend yourself physically to survive."-New York Times. "Wiley's rapport with boxers is profound."-Publisher's Weekly. "Wiley is one writer who really knows his way around a boxing ring. . . . [He writes] with passion and understanding about complex, violent men and their oddly redemptive sport."-Booklist. Ralph Wiley is the author or coauthor of several works, most recently Born to Play: The Eric Davis Story.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Prizefighters, opines Sports Illustrated writer Wiley, have serenity to a greater degree than ordinary folk, his theme here as he reminisces about his contacts with practitioners of the sweet science. He covers them from the ham-and-eggers who are victims of future champions on their way to the top, to the outstanding boxers of the past two decades--as well as the shattered hulks of the once-great who have taken too many punches. The most memorable chapters are devoted to Sugar Ray Leonard, unwilling to retire, Thomas "Hit Man" Hearns, who claims not to want to be liked (and indeed is not very likable) and Mike Tyson, depicted as a boy in a man's body. The glimpses of Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, a victim of Alzheimer's disease, and Muhammad Ali, old at 47, are affecting, as are looks at those who have killed other fighters in the ring, like Ray Mancini. Wiley's rapport with boxers is profound.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Sportswriter Wiley has written an interesting memoir dealing with his association with boxing. The sport has fascinated him, and he has met many champions. Some of them are given separate chapters, and Wiley's insights into these boxers are often very revealing. The late Sugar Ray Robinson, who is acknowledged by many to be the greatest fighter pound for pound, has his career detailed from its beginning, when he had nothing, to its end, when he had nothing. The boxing career of Ray Leonard, who adopted the name Sugar Ray, is chronicled, and Wiley attempts to find the motivation for hisreturn to the ring. Manager Emmanuel Steward, his fighter Thomas Hearns, and boxers Roberto Duran, Muhammad Ali, and Larry Holmes are covered in summary fashion. Recommended for libraries where there is interest in boxing or sports writing.
- David L. Mills, Brooklyn P.L., New York
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803298161
• ISBN-13: 978-0803298163
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #720,254 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Pain Business, December 26, 2002

By 

Smoten (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Serenity: A Boxing Memoir (Paperback)

Intellectuals have long had a fascination with boxing, an athletic contest reduced to its very essence-two semi-naked men trying to kill each other for the enjoyment of a crowd. That's about as stark as it gets. A long and varied list of literary heavyweights have fallen under boxing's spell-Hemingway, Mailer, Oates, Earley, etc., etc., etc. Ralph Wiley belongs up there with the best of them. The ideas he expresses in "Serenity" are meaty and delivered in a style that is both clear and artistic. Mr. Wiley can flat-out write and my goodness does he have an eye for detail and an ear for dialogue. His descriptions of knockout blows are downright poetic; one fighter "... went out like a broken light bulb"; another was struck so hard that the blow "... sent his eyes into the top of his head like snapped windowshades". The sights and sounds and smells of the gym all ring true in "Serenity", from the lowliest trainer ("...with a trainwreck of a yellowing smile") to the beatific Ali.

Mr. Wiley defines serenity as "...the inner peace which comes from doing something well enough to understand it". Boxers, per Wiley, can only acheive pugilistic serenity after they understand that pain, and maybe death, are part of the equation. Pain can not be avoided, no matter how skilled the fighter. So why do so many of them continue on, or return for more once they retire, even (or, perhaps, especially) the successful ones? Larry Holmes, one of the best, (whose latest comeback, at age 50, was against a 300 pound sideshow attraction named "Butterbean") is quoted that a fighter has "... gotta enjoy the ones you take just like the ones you give". Sugar Ray Leonard, like Holmes a wealthy man, made more comebacks than Marley's ghost and risked permanent blindness in the process. Bobby Chacon, another champion, "...smiles at the sight of his own blood". The title of a Gerald Earley essay-"I Only Like It Better When The Pain Comes"-is a direct quote from an early '80's crowd-pleasing Philadelphia middleweight Frank "The Animal" Fletcher. (Aside-Frank "The Animal" once fought James "Hard Rock" Green in a brutal, blood-gushing bout, a great nickname bout, where Mr. Fletcher's mother spurred her son on by leading the crowd in chants of "AN-I-MAL, AN-I-MAL, AN-I-MAL".) Do these otherwise intelligent men actually enjoy getting hit? Hardly. Mr. Wiley has delved deeply into the psyches of men who fight for pay searching for motive, for purpose, and he has succeeded. This is good stuff. "Serenity", like Evander Holyfield, is the Real Deal.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ralph Wiley Is The Greatest Sportswriter Of All Time..., August 3, 2004

By 

Jakeymon (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Serenity: A Boxing Memoir (Paperback)

I was a great fan of Ralph Wiley's regular columns on ESPN's Page 2, and when he passed on (earlier this summer) I decided that it was well past time to get one of his books and see how he did in a longer form.

I'm glad I did. Wiley wrote a vivid description of the art and science of boxing; with every page offering insights that are provocative, disturbing, and important. It's as much about Wiley as it is about Leonard, Hearns, Hagler, Ali, and Tyson. That's not a problem as Wiley was an articulate, interesting, and experienced Black man.

Wiley relates that when he was a copyboy for the Oakland Trib, he would type "RALPH WILEY IS THE GREATEST SPORTSWRITER OF ALL TIME, BAR NONE" on the old IBM Selectric from time to time. It's a shame that so few sports fans seem to know him these days, especially now that he's gone. This great little book, which destroys boxing as completely as boxing seems to destroy its greatest talents, is quite an argument for Wiley's place in the pantheon of the greatest sports writers of all time.

If you enjoyed Wiley's columns, or his writing in SI, or his work on other subjects, OR if you have a passing interest in, or disgust over, or passion for boxing, you will enjoy this book. If you enjoy reading about one man's developing views on an activity that he at first approached with veneration and eventually came to see as horrific, you will enjoy this book. If you read Bill Simmons' columns, you will enjoy this book.

It's such shame that we don't have Wiley with us any more; and I'll miss him, but now that he's gone on maybe he's met Joe Louis at the gates and had that talk with him. We can only hope so.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Books on Boxing Ever, June 19, 2004

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A customer "mistermaxxx" (usa) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Serenity: A Boxing Memoir (Paperback)

this was where you truly could appreciate the Greatness of Ralph Wiley.He knew His Boxing&the way He broke down each subject matter is Classic.Boxing has had many Fighters but you know the Guys that you still debate&talk about many years later.Great takes on Ali,HitMan hearns,Sugar Ray Leonard,Mike Tyson&Everyone else mentioned.A Knockout of a Book from start to finish.