fiction/poems/plays about boxing & boxers

May 6, 2009 2:29 PM

We've had a couple good threads on good books about boxers & boxing (here and here) but I'd like to ask about boxing books once more -- this time with a twist.

Most of the last recommendations were biographies, essays and sports journalism. I'm looking to widen the scope of those previous questions to focus on novels, short stories, plays, poems -- that sort of thing. What are the best writings on boxing that aren't biographies, histories of specific fights, or general essays? Specifically I have in mind things like Leonard Gardner's Fat City, or Philip Levine's "The Right Cross" (both "literary" but I'm interested in genre fiction too) but I'd like to cast the net as wide as possible.

posted by .kobayashi. to sports, hobbies, & recreation (6 comments total)

Cashel Byron's Profession by Shaw (who also did a little boxing).
posted by canoehead at 3:12 PM on May 6

I don't know if his work was mentioned in those other threads you referenced, but I heartily recommend Thom Jones. There's something of a boxing ethos that permeates his stories, even if they aren't all specifically about boxing (but quite a few of them are).
posted by Bron at 7:16 PM on May 6

The Contender.
posted by coffeefilter at 10:42 PM on May 6

Maybe not his absolute best, but The Harder They Fall by Budd Schulberg is a great boxing novel. (Bonus fact: the movie adaptation was Humphrey Bogart's final role.)
posted by j-dawg at 9:06 AM on May 7

I strongly agree with Bron's recommendation of Thom Jones, especially the collection The Pugilist at Rest.
posted by infinitywaltz at 10:13 AM on May 7

The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
posted by BigBwana at 10:37 AM on May 7