The Knockout Artist

by Harry Crews, S. A. Cosby Narrated by Matt Godfrey

Overview

Crews's novel about a boxer with the gift of knocking himself unconscious, with a new foreword by New York Times-bestselling author S. A. Cosby

A Penguin Classic

A favorite of longtime Harry Crews fans, The Knockout Artist (1988) portrays Eugene Talmadge Biggs, a young boxer from rural Georgia whose champion rise is diverted by a vulnerability, or gift, for knocking himself unconscious. As he begins to exploit his talents, the notorious Knockout Artist journeys a hero's descent into the New Orleans underworld and meets characters who have long since checked their morals at the door.* The unforgettable climax shows Crews at his virtuoso best, when Eugene confronts his truth, and sets out to claim his freedom and win his own self-respect.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Crews, one of the most inventive practitioners in modern American letters, returns to a milieu that has long fascinated him: the seedy world of fighters and musclemen. Eugene Talmadge Biggs, ex-farmboy and ex-boxer (he won 13 fights and lost the next four by knockouts), knows an amazing trickhe can knock himself out with one punch to the jaw. Abandoned by his manager, Crews's glass-jawed hero has to support himself by exhibiting his trick at parties. After 73 self-inflicted KO's, the routine gets a little wearing. Meanwhile, Eugene is taken up by Charity, a rich, all-but-the-dissertation Ph.D. candidate bent on constructing a thesis that relates every fact in the world to every other fact. She thinks Eugene and his prizefighting friends are a gold mine of information for this dubious project. A brilliant specialist in black humor, Crews delivers the goods once again. His deadpan prose style is uncannily effective in meshing the surreal and everyday life. While the characters are mainly freaks, they come across so directly, often with an affecting sweetness, that they acquire extraordinary vibrancy. Crews is a modernist all right, but he isn't a facile one. The moral here and elsewhere in his work is old-fashioned: to thine own self be true. (April)

Library Journal

A superbly crafted novel of deceptions and darkness, this look at the underside of a strange group in New Orleans moves inexorably toward a stunning climax. Eugene Gibbs, a failed boxer, becomes popular on the kinky circuit and is taken in hand by Charity, a wealthy girl who beds him. Eugene is drawn into the circle of another boxer, his addict girlfriend, a hooker/lesbian, and a wealthy businessman who gets his kicks by controlling people by day and being led about with a leash by night. Basically decent, Eugene is tormented because he is deceived and let down by everyone, except a young boxer he is training. Characterization, incidents, and tone are all beautifully sustained in this unusual book. R. H. Donahugh, Youngstown and Mahoning Cty. P.L., Ohio

From the Publisher

“The Knockout Artist (1988) is a high point of the fruitful second chapter of Crews’s career... The Knockout Artist, for all of its grimness and horror, shows that he was still the sensitive boy from A Childhood, tenderly fascinated by the disfigurements that shape our fortunes.” —Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal

“This was a movement for which I’m tempted to use a shorthand drawn from three of its best writers: Harry, Barry and Larry. I am talking about Harry Crews (1935-2012), Barry Hannah (1942-2010) and Larry Brown (1951-2004). They were at the vanguard of a genre sometimes referred to as Grit Lit, or Rough South.(…) They provided me, in a way more highbrow writers might not have, with core literary values. Among them: Dry is better than wet. Funny beats somber. Liberal (in the small “l” sense) is better than conservative. Writing about ordinary lives is, nine times out of 10, more valuable and more interesting than reading about cosseted or artistic ones.(…) Like the filmmaker Mike Leigh, Harry, Barry and Larry refused to condescend to working-class people. (…) They were in absolute sync with the world’s misfits, dissidents and jokers. All three had a mistrust of authority. Few writers have better lived up to Charlotte Brontë’s epic declaration in Jane Eyre: ‘I would always rather be happy than dignified.’” —Dwight Garner, The New York Times

SEPTEMBER 2024 - AudioFile

Crews's novel, published in 1988, is finally on audio, and it's worth the wait. Matt Godfrey's masterful storytelling brings it to life. Part of "Southern grit lit," the story focuses on Eugene Talmadge Biggs, a prizefighter who discovers that his most lucrative skill is his ability to knock himself unconscious. Biggs capitalizes on the public's thirst to see this talent, attracting figures from the gritty New Orleans underworld. The most nuanced is Charity, a wealthy Texan who sees Biggs as a "research project," unearthing traits he had not imagined. Godfrey's nuanced performance gives Biggs an aura of sweetness as Charity's eventual betrayal leads to unforeseen consequences. Godfrey shines in the final scene in which Biggs faces tough decisions that will leave a lasting impression on the listener. D.J.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940159503503
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	06/11/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged

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