The Fight

Norman Mailer

The Fight
Format
Paperback
Publisher
Random House USA Inc
Country
United States
Published
15 October 2013
Pages
256
ISBN
9780812986129

The Fight

Norman Mailer

In 1974 in Kinshasa, Zaire, two African American boxers were paid five million dollars apiece to fight each other. One was Muhammad Ali, the aging but irrepressible professor of boxing. The other was George Foreman, who was as taciturn as Ali was voluble. Observing them was Norman Mailer, a commentator of unparalleled energy, acumen, and audacity. Whether he is analyzing the fighters’ moves, interpreting their characters, or weighing their competing claims on the African and American souls, Mailer’s grasp of the titanic battle’s feints and stratagems-and his sensitivity to their deeper symbolism-makes this book a masterpiece of the literature of sport.

Praise for The Fight

Exquisitely refined and attenuated … [a] sensitive portrait of an extraordinary athlete and man, and a pugilistic drama fully as exciting as the reality on which it is based. -The New York Times

One of the defining texts of sports journalism. Not only does Mailer recall the violent combat with a scholar’s eye … he also makes the whole act of reporting seem as exciting as what’s occurring in the ring. -GQ

Stylistically, Mailer was the greatest boxing writer of all time. -Chuck Klosterman, Esquire

One of Mailer’s finest books. -Louis Menand, The New Yorker

Praise for Norman Mailer

[Norman Mailer] loomed over American letters longer and larger than any other writer of his generation. -The New York Times

A writer of the greatest and most reckless talent. -The New Yorker

Mailer is indispensable, an American treasure. -The Washington Post

A devastatingly alive and original creative mind. -Life

Mailer is fierce, courageous, and reckless and nearly everything he writes has sections of headlong brilliance. -The New York Review of Books

The largest mind and imagination [in modern] American literature … Unlike just about every American writer since Henry James, Mailer has managed to grow and become richer in wisdom with each new book. -Chicago Tribune

Mailer is a master of his craft. His language carries you through the story like a leaf on a stream. -The Cincinnati Post

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