A.J. Liebling: The Sweet Science and Other Writings: The Earl of Louisiana / The Jollity Building / Between Meals / The Press (Library of America No. 191) (Hardcover)

~ A.J. Liebling (Author), Pete Hamill (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

For the first time in one volume, Pete Hamill presents five great books that demonstrate A. J. Liebling’s extraordinary vitality, humor, and versatility as a writer. Named the best sports book of all time by Sports Illustrated in 2002, The Sweet Science (1956) is a lively and idiosyncratic portrait of boxing in the early 1950s, when Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, and Floyd Patterson ruled the ring. A classic of political reporting, The Earl of Louisiana (1961) is a vivid account of Governor Earl Long’s bid for reelection after his release from a mental asylum in 1959. The Jollity Building (1962) collects hilarious true-life stories of Manhattan night-club promoters, cigar store owners, and scheming “Telephone Booth Indians,” as well as a portrait of “The Honest Rainmaker,” the racing columnist and confidence man extraordinaire, Colonel John R. Stingo. Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris (1962) is a richly evocative memoir of Liebling’s introduction to Paris and its food and wine as a student in the late 1920s. The Press (1964) brings together the best of Liebling’s influential and insightful “Wayward Press” pieces, in which he established himself as the first great media critic. Together with a 2008 companion Library of America volume, World War II?Writings, this is the essential Liebling.

About the Author

Pete Hamill editor, is the author of 22 books, including News Is a Verb: Journalism at the End of the Twentieth Century and the novels Forever and North River. As a journalist he has reported on wars in Vietnam, Nicaragua, Lebanon, and Northern Ireland, written columns for several newspapers and magazines, and served as editor-in-chief of both the New York Post and the New York Daily News. He is a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1050 pages
• Publisher: Library of America (March 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598530402
• ISBN-13: 978-1598530407
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #268,323 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Liebling, bad Hamill, April 18, 2009

By	James H. Mann (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

These are classic Liebling books, of course (although one might have hoped for the inclusion of The Second City and The Honest Rainmaker too -perhaps they'll be the backbone of a third volume). The problem is the editing. Pete Hamill has used The Jollity Building rather than The Telephone Booth Indian, and, worse, the 1964 version of the The Press rather than the augmented version edited by Liebling's widow. No Mickey Jelke, no O.O. McIntyre, no Mortimer N. Buckner. Reprinting the books as Liebling oversaw them during his life is a fine editorial theory, but readers would be better served by having "Of Yesteryear" etc. preserved between hard covers. It's not as if the omitted material had been written by somebody else! Cherish your North Point Press paperbacks and save your money; the Library of America blew it with this one.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true knockout, June 2, 2009

By	Bill Twain - See all my reviews

An excellent collection from a true master. Thoroughly enjoyable whether the subject is the sweet science or skewering the press for its "on-the- one-hand this, on-the-other-hand that," expert analysis. Too bad Liebling isn't around now to comment on the cable-TV gasbags. And although another reviewer knocked editor Pete Hamill, I have no qualms with the selections offered here.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This Book is Like Al "Ice" Cole: An Excellent Cruiserweight who could not keep up with the heavyweights, November 6, 2009

By	K. Michael Derby "College administrator and ... (Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A.J. Liebling was a fine writer and "The Sweet Science" rightfully ranks as one of the greatest books on sport that anyone has ever produced. But, while "The Sweet Science" is a classic, I am not sure if this entire work ranks up to the admittedly high standards of the Library of America. Who is this book for? Liebling's variety, one of his stregnths as a journalist, is what is so confounding about this book. Here is Liebling pondering the various careers of Archie Moore, Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Marciano, Floyd Patterson and Joe Louis. Now he is traversing across the bayous as Earl Long, heir to his brother the Kingfish Huey, tries to come back to political power in Louisiana. Now he is writing about fine French food. Now pondering newspapers and their future (reading all the various "future of newspapers" articles here in 2009, I think Liebling may have set a rather unpleasant trend among journalists).

Where do you even put this book in the bookstore? I found a copy under the sports section--just where all books on Southern politics of the mid 20th century can be found. Hey, do you have a book on Estes Kefavuver? Sure, it's between the various autobiographies of professional wrestlers and an account of the 1990 Cincinnati Reds.

Liebling's fine craftsmanship helps redeem the randomness of the various subjects and readers who appreciate boxing, politics and the various other topics will love parts of the book and skip over other parts.

I keep thinking of Archie Moore, who Liebling adored, Floyd Patterson, who Liebling did a nice profile of, and Ezzard Charles who also pops up in the "Sweet Science." Moore, Patterson and Charles were very skilled light heavyweights who all made a run at the heavyweight crown. While Moore came up short, Patterson and Charles won the title only to quickly lose it and, with all due respect to them, I think it is fair to say that Patterson and Charles would not have won the heavyweight belt at stronger periods in that division's history. A small heavyweight can win a belt-Chris Byrd, Michael Moorer, Roy Jones, Michael Spinks, Gene Tunney. With the exception of Evander Holyfield, most of these small heavyweight champions did not stay long at the top or would be close to considered one of the all time greats in the division. The Library of America is for heavyweights-Whitman, Poe, Melville, Hawthorne, James, Steinbeck. While Liebling could get it all together and create a masterpiece, much the way Moorer was able to beat Holyfield one night, he simply does not have the ability or the size or the chin to go the distance-just like Moorer who lost the belt in his first defense to the much older George Foreman. While Liebling could create a great book, he simply is not the great writer that readers of the LOA works are accustomed to.