A Neutral Corner: Boxing Essays

by A. J. Liebling, Fred Warner (Editor), James Barbour (Editor)

Overview

A Neutral Corner collects fifteen previously unpublished boxing pieces written by legendary sportswriter A.J. Liebling between 1952 and 1963.

Demonstrating A.J. Liebling's abiding passion for the "sweet science" of boxing, A Neutral Corner brings together previously unpublished material. Antic, clear-eyed, and wildly entertaining, these essays showcase a The New Yorker journalist at the top of his form. Here one relives the high drama of the classic Patterson-Johansson championship bout of 1959, and Liebling's early prescient portrayal of Cassius Clay's style as a boxer and a poet is not to be missed.

Liebling always finds the human story that makes these essays appealing to aficionados of boxing and prose alike. Alive with a true fan's reverence for the sport, yet balanced by a true skeptic's disdain for sentiment, A Neutral Corner is an American treasure.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780865474956
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	08/31/1996
Pages:	245
Sales rank:	936,873
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.58(d)

About the Author

A.J. Liebling joined the staff of The New Yorker in 1935 and wrote for the magazine until his death in 1963. His books include Between Meals, A Neutral Corner, and The Honest Rainmaker.

Fred Warner and James Barbour are emeritus professors at the University of New Mexico.

Editorial Reviews

Fans who thought there was no more vintage Liebling to savor on a winter's eve can now rejoice. These fifteen previously uncollected prizefighting pieces . . . add to the wordsmith's impressive knockout record.” —Time

“Nobody wrote about boxing with more grace and enthusiasm than Joe Liebling.” —Red Smith, The New York Times

From the Publisher

Liebling (1904-1963) was an impeccable stylist, whether covering the vagaries of the American press, the glories of France or the simple pleasures of good food. He may have reserved his best literary efforts, however, for boxing, a contention borne out by the 15 essays in this collection, all originally published in the New Yorker between 1952 and 1963. His talent for extended metaphor is beautifully displayed in ``The University of Eighth Avenue,'' about Stillman's Gym in Manhattan; for a simile in a class of its own, see his description of heavyweight champion Ingemar Johansson going down ``like a double portion of Swedish pancakes with lingonberries and sour cream.'' Liebling's brevity happily infects his description of Indianapolis as ``built around two large monuments to the wartime dead, which set the urban tone.'' These pieces are not blow-by-blow, round-by-round accounts of great fights, but observations of sporting people and places. Anyone who appreciates good prose, if not boxing, will find surprises and satisfaction here. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Fans who thought there was no more vintage Liebling to savor on a winter's eve can now rejoice. These fifteen previously uncollected prize-fighting pieces... add to the wordsmith's impressive knockout record.

Time

Long before Tom Wolfe and Hunter S. Thompson were out of diapers, chubby Joe Liebling was taking his readers on excursions through the hidden and often hilarious levels of the bruised subculture [of boxing].... Liebling has the knack of informing and entertaining the uninitiated without boring the aficionados.
— The Los Angeles Times Book Review

Katherine Dunn

No modern writer makes better company.
— Newsweek

Malcolm Jones, Jr.