Reddit reviews At the Fights: American Writers on Boxing: A Library of America Special Publication
We found 3 Reddit comments about At the Fights: American Writers on Boxing: A Library of America Special Publication. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
At the Fights is a fantastic anthology of 20th century sportswriting, highly recommended
I've got a number of books I can suggest.
This one's a great history of the sport in the bare-knuckle era, 19th century sporting culture, and the transition to modern boxing.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Manly-Art-Bare-Knuckle-Fighting/dp/0801476089
Probably the best boxing novel ever written. I can't believe this isn't a movie.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Professional-W-c-Heinz/dp/0306810581
The book that got me into the sport when I sat down to read it at a Borders Books when I was 16. An awesome overview of the history of each weight class with over 400 photos and illustrations.
http://www.amazon.com/AN-Illustrated-History-Of-Boxing/dp/0806522011
An excellent anthology of fiction and newspaper articles.
http://www.amazon.com/At-Fights-American-Writers-Boxing/dp/1598532057
The guy spends a little too much time bashing other martial arts, but it's an excellent read about how boxing is useful in a street fight and old school bare knuckle techniques.
http://www.amazon.com/Championship-Streetfighting-Boxing-Martial-Art/dp/0873649346
A superb series of observations from a woman who has spent her life watching boxing. One of the more literary attempts at explaining the primal appeal of a boxing match.
http://www.amazon.com/On-Boxing-Joyce-Carol-Oates/dp/0060874503
I'm not home and don't have access to my library right now, but let me know if you want a few more. I'd say that any one of those is a great gift for a boxing enthusiast. /u/Choccybizzle is right, Four Kings is awesome, and /u/zombiezs suggestion for The Sweet Science is a good one as well. There's a lot of boxing books out there, but you know your friend so you'll know which of those will appeal to him the most.
IMO, this is a must read for boxing fans... https://www.amazon.com/At-Fights-American-Writers-Boxing/dp/1598532057
> Named a best book of 2011 by the San Francisco Chronicle, At the Fights is a gritty and glittering anthology of the very best writing about boxing. Here are Jack London on the immortal Jack Johnson; Richard Wright on Joe Louis’s historic victory over Max Schmeling; A. J. Liebling’s brilliantly comic portrait of a manager who really identifies with his fighter; Jimmy Cannon on Archie Moore, the greatest fighter of the 1950s; James Baldwin and Gay Talese on Floyd Patterson’s epic fight with Sonny Liston; George Plimpton on Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X; Norman Mailer on the Rumble in the Jungle; Mark Kram on the Thrilla in Manila; Pete Hamill on legendary trainer and manager Cus D’Amato; Mark Kriegel on Oscar De La Hoya; and David Remnick and Joyce Carol Oates on Mike Tyson. National Book Award–winning novelist Colum McCann (Let the Great World Spin) offers a foreword and, in a new preface, John Schulian pays tribute to his co-editor, George Kimball, who lost his battle with cancer in 2011.
So, it's a compilation of stories throughout time from various newspapers, magazines, and snippets from full length books. Features some of the biggest moments in boxing history with some very accomplished writers. It's a great read for both a journalists and boxing fans. I really love how some of them take you back and put you in the moment ringside... or some of the behind the scenes aspects of the fights and fighters/trainers/promoters.