When John Salley was playing for the Detroit Pistons he said of the NBA's roughness that "the only way to learn how to fight is by getting beat up." And so the only way to learn about man's attraction and obsession with climbing into the ring - short of doing it yourself - is by reading "This Bloody Mary Is The Last Thing I Own." Jonathan Rendall uses a master storyteller's touch to introduce real-life great characters whom anyone will find interesting and compelling regardless of whether they're fans of the sweet science, or hate boxing completely. "This Bloody Mary" not only tells the story of legendary brawlers like Kid Chocolate and Jack "Kid" Berg but explains with the casualness of a kindly stranger seated next to you at a bar why some men like to fight, why others have to fight, and why nearly every one of them - in the end - eventually wants to stop fighting. From a sweaty gym at Oxford, to the bright lights of Las Vegas, to the ruins of the Polo Grounds in New York City - "This Bloody Mary" takes you on a trip through boxing's highs and lows and lets us peer into the hearts and minds of the men who just keep fighting. Don't pass it up. This Bloody Mary Is the Last Thing I Own: A Journey to the End of Boxing
Very enjoyable read wether you are into boxing or not. Many anecdotes on travels, famous and not so famous people who add color to this well written and entertaining read. Shows some of the questionable business practices at the top of any profession and shows a glimpse at what it's like to manage a profesional athlete to the top and all that comes with that too. You will turn the pages one by one once you get started...
This book describes the experiences of a young writer who fell in love with the art of boxing at an early age, fought and was badly beaten while at University, and was then able to realise his dream of managing a talented fighter to a World title. At once engaging, but also very funny, this is an extraordinary insight to the rather seedy world in which Rendall found himself. What makes it perhaps unique is the way in which he describes his upbringing, the places he visited (Las Vegas),and the characters he met (the "astonishing" Jack Kid Berg) I could not put it down and read it in one night. Not just for boxing fans - this is a great story about life and a great one for the beach this summer.
This is a non-fiction book about the fight game by a guy who goes from easily beaten young college fighter to professional sportswriter to manager of a world champion, and the people he meets and things he sees along the way. There are many heart-wrenching sequences set in and out of the ring, some great fear, great exhiliration, and great sadness. This guy's powers of observation and description powers are phenomenal. This one really hit me hard.
This guy has a gift for the scary. His search for old-time legend Kid Chocolate in Cuba is lively and colorful and time and again unsettling and nerve-wracking. His getting helplessly caught up in the wrong party with the wrong, and very unsavory, people, while safety helplessly and unstoppably drifts away as if in slow motion, makes for a vivid, torturous waking nightmare.
But he's also funny. His description of the dressing down of a prime Sony Liston by the a tiny tough as nails ex-pro and streetfighter provides an absolutely hilarious come-uppance of the legendary thug by someone who wouldn't put up with a bit of it no matter how small he was nor how big and sure of himself was the heavyweight champion of the world.
Rendall manages to capture the terrible liveliness of the world of boxing in writing whose keen observation and honesty lays both himself and his subject almost uncomfortably bare. Here is a man who has truly felt what he has written about, and takes us to places we can't help but be fascinated by but are grateful to encounter only on a well-written page.
Funny book, great perspective on boxing, I just wish he'd put a bit more about some of the incidents he witnessed and people he met. The talk about the trip to Cuba was pretty saddening. Quite different from standard boxing books, but very enjoyable!
This was a strange book as the first half of it was excellent and the author spun some interesting tales about a pair of old-time boxers and the rise of his own boxer.
Then at about the half-way mark, the lustre of the book seems to fade and it becomes fairly mundane. It is almost as if the author lost the energy to write as well as he had for the second half as he did for the first half.
Disappointing.
The underside of the boxing world from seedy gyms in London and NY to the Vegas fight scene is examined in this book. It is interesting for even a casual boxing fan because it describes how boxing chews people up and spits them out. Very few recieve the lasting notoriety of an Ali or a Foreman. The death this week of Jerry Quarry who suffered terribly from brain damage sustained during his boxing career and the sad stories in this book have convinced me that boxing should be banned.'
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