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A Neutral Corner collects fifteen previously unpublished boxing pieces written by legendary sportswriter A.J. Liebling between 1952 and 1963.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A.J. Liebling's abiding passion for the "sweet science" of boxing, A Neutral Corner brings together previously unpublished material.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
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.57(d)

About the Author

A. J. Liebling, born October 18, 1904, joined the staff of The New Yorker in 1935 and contributed innumerable articles before his death in 1963.

Fred Warner is an emeritus professor at the University of New Mexico.

James Barbour is an emeritus professor 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

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.