Sparring with Hemingway: And Other Legends of the Fight Game [Hardcover]

Budd Schulberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1995

Budd Schulberg's love affair with boxing began when he was twelve, when he saw his first bouts at the Hollywood Legion. Over the years, between novels, he was Sports Illustrated's first boxing editor and covered title fights for Playboy, Esquire, Newsday, and the New York Post. This new book collects the best of Mr. Schulberg's reportage on the Sweet Science, from Benny Leonard to Muhammad Ali to George Foreman. In addition to pieces on the great fights and great fighters of the last seventy-five years, Mr. Schulberg offers reflections on the social history of the fight game; the mystique of the heavyweight championship; the seamy side of the boxing business; and his own sparring match with Ernest Hemingway, when two aficionados of prizefighting had a verbal go at each other. Throughout, Mr. Schulberg is a pleasure to read and a passionate defender of an often maligned sport. "Boxing and civilization—any civilization—stand in delicate balance," he writes. "But if our civilization is indeed declining and if it finally falls, it will not be because Joe Louis clobbered Schmeling or took the measure of Billy Conn. Or because Ali made Bad Sonny Liston quit in his corner. Or because Joe Frazier landed a tremendous, humbling left hook on the controversial jaw of gallant braggadocio Muhammad Ali.”

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Schulberg, whose novel The Harder They Fall was misinterpreted as an attack on boxing, is nonetheless of two minds about the sport, as this collection of essays and reportage from 1954 to 1994 demonstrates. "As much as I love boxing, I hate it," he confesses, asserting at one point that the Sweet Science is not dehumanizing and elsewhere castigating it as "the slum of sports." There are two fine pieces here, the first about Hemingway, the second about Muhammad Ali. While he proclaims his near reverence for Hemingway as a writer, he gives the impression that Papa was a thoroughly obnoxious human being with an aggressively proprietary attitude toward anything or anyone that interested him. And Schulberg's view of Ali, the man who lived up to his own billing as a child of the 1960s, "the fifth Beatle," is a perceptive analysis. But excellent as the essays are, the reportage that fills out the book is pedestrian.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Schulberg is best known as the author of On the Waterfront, What Makes Sammy Run, and The Harder They Fall, all popular novels that later became memorable films. He's also had a lifelong interest in boxing, both as a fan and a journalist. He was Sports Illustrated's first boxing editor and covered title bouts for Playboy, Esquire, and Newsday. This is the first collection of his boxing essays, and they provide an intelligent overview of the last 40 years in the sport's checkered history. The title piece refers to a series of serendipitous contacts with macho author Hemingway that began with a nasty contest of boxing knowledge and the threat of physical violence. Highlights include an account of the 1955 Rocky Marciano^-Archie Moore title fight in which Schulberg finally recognizes the Rock's greatness; appraisals of both Leonard-Duran battles; and an insightful portrait of Gerry Cooney, the ill-fated "white hope" of the 1980s. The writing is uniformly excellent, and Schulberg's passion for the sport and its warriors never abates. Wes Lukowsky

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R Dee; First Edition edition (April 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566630800
• ISBN-13: 978-1566630801
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 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: #2,001,599 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A an exciting book detailing boxing history., September 14, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Sparring with Hemingway: And Other Legends of the Fight Game (Hardcover)

This collection of boxing articles weaved together by the author is an exciting and detailed account of the some of the most famous boxing matches of the century. Mr. Schulberg writes with such exuberance and shows his deep passion for the art of fisticuffs. His ringside perspective allows the reader a first-hand view of the boxing world. He takes us to Zaire for Ali and Foreman, a historic boxing event which he portrays so vividly. Anybody at all interested in this incredible sport should pick up this book and experience the amazing ability of the author to incorporate his perspective of these historic battles into wonderful articles. One of our greatest novelist's this century has ever seen delights the boxing world with this book. Boxing fans, it's a must read.