|
The Fight | 
 enlarge | Author: Norman Mailer
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $7.77
You Save: $6.18 (44%)
New (32) Used (18) from $7.77
Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 94588
Media: Paperback
Pages: 240
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.6
ISBN: 0375700382
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.83
EAN: 9780375700385
ASIN: 0375700382
Publication Date: September 30, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Norman Mailer's, "The Fight" focuses on the 1975 World Heavyweight Boxing Championship in Kinshasa, Zaire. Muhammad Ali met George Foreman in the ring. Foreman's genius employed silence, serenity and cunning. He had never been defeated. His hands were his instrument, and 'he kept them in his pockets the way a hunter lays his rifle back into its velvet case'. Together the two men made boxing history in an explosive meeting of two great minds, two iron wills and monumental egos.
Amazon.com Review
There are sporting events that transcend the world of sports, and the 1974 heavyweight title fight in which Muhammad Ali regained his crown by improbably kayoing George Foreman in the middle of the African night was certainly one of them. Metaphorically, it was a writer's dream: two imposing black warriors, one all grace, the other brute force, one the iconoclast, the other the blind patriot, battling each other. Fatefully, the appropriate writer threw his pen into the ring. Norman Mailer's masterful account goes far beyond the ropes to capture the primal ethos of the sport, the larger social canvas this particular fight was drawn on, and the remarkable cast of personalities--not the least of which is Mailer himself--who converged to make this "Rumble in the Jungle" a landmark in sports history and a clear knockout in Mailer's journalistic portfolio.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 17 more reviews...
 Ali vs. Mailer - A great read! January 22, 2008
D. Evans (Cornelius, NC)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If ever two egos needed to meet, these were the two. Only Norman Mailer could've made a Muhammad Ali-centered event like "The Rumble In The Jungle" so much about himself. And yet in his way, Mailer makes one want to read and re-read every page. He crafts a tale that makes it easy to sense the chaos preceding a heavyweight title fight, as well as the almost universal expectation that Ali was simply going to get himself killed by George Foreman. I loved Mailer's attempts to draw out Ali, and loved Ali's constant tug-of-war with Mailer, "the press" and the Foreman camp. Were the small cracks in Ali's confidence real, or was it part of the show? Did he use Mailer, or did Mailer use Ali? Having watched the fight many times over the years, I knew how the book would end. And yet I was enthralled by the ebb and flow of Mailer's thoughts as the fight approached and unfolded. No newspaper account...this is a marvelous take on a legendary sporting event, and well worth reading as a fight fan or a literature fan.
My first influence as a writer; I'm sad as I write this. November 10, 2007
Davis Miller (North Carolina)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Norman Mailer died today. He was my first and maybe largest influence as a writer. (Those who admire and dislike my books have often compared my voice to Mailer's.) THE FIGHT was my introduction to Mailer. It's certainly among the best writing about Ali and about the act of boxing. I wish I'd made the opportunity to tell Mailer of his influence on me. And, heck, I wish I'd had the chance to box with him.
I'm sad this afternoon. I'll miss this outsized, ridiculous, singularly talented person.
Davis Miller (author of THE TAO OF MUHAMMAD ALI, THE ZEN OF MUHAMMAD ALI AND OTHER OBSESSIONS, THE TAO OF BRUCE LEE: A MARTIAL ARTS MEMOIR)
Mailer At His Self-Indulgent Best January 5, 2007
Mr. Richard D. Coreno (Berea, Ohio USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Norman Mailer delivered a classic in his coverage of the October 30, 1974, "Rumble in the Jungle," in the May 20th Stadium in Kinshasa, Zaire, when heavy underdog Muhammad Ali shocked the world one more time with his 8th round knockout of champion George Foreman.
Referring to himself in the third-person, Mailer captures the various angles of the fight that was oftentimes more interesting with the personalities and controversies outside the ring.
There are interviews with George Plimpton and Hunter S. Thompson - the Gonzo journalist who could go toe-to-toe with Mailer in the world ego championship - along with the bitter Joe Frazier and vastly underrated contender Ken Norton. This was Don King's first boxing promotion, who got into the game with a boost from Ali.
While Mailer gives perhaps the best sketch of Ali's famous cornerman, Drew "Bundini" Brown, it is nearly a throwaway comment on what appeared to be Ali struggling at times with his quick quips that may have been one of the earliest signs of what became permanent neurological damage.
Going into the fight, Foreman - who earlier in his pro career enlisted Sonny Liston as a sparring partner - was considered unbeatable, with fears that Ali would get severely hurt in a heroic, but losing effort. After the loss, Foreman claimed - though later recanted - that his water bottle was tampered with & he was drugged.
Foreman also claimed - but also recanted - that members of Ali's had loosened the ring ropes, so his punching power was negated by Ali leaning his upper torso & head far outside the ring.
The Fight is not the typical coverage of a sporting event, but Mailer proved to be up to the task and delivered some of the best writing in his storied career.
Right Hand Jab... June 25, 2006
Bret Dougherty (Chapel Hill, NC USA)
Kinhasa Zaire...1974...One of the most publicized and adored fights of the 1970s, and what better writer to depict the settings than Mailer. This book was a tough find until '96 when the legendary documentary, "When We Were Kings" was released. Mailer's descriptions of the fight throughout the film were compelling enough to make me search out his read.
Many people forget that the fight was postponed for two weeks by Foreman's camp, and the fight almost didn't go off, which leads to chaotic story. Mailer's settings in the Zaire heat and his descriptions of icons such as Hunter Thompson, George Plimpton, Jim Brown, and Don King roaming the lobby of Zaire's Inter-Continental Hotel are so good that you'll feel as if you've been thrown back for two weeks through a time-machine to 1974. A true time period when sports was straight-up for men's men
Now, I'm not so into the romaticized Ali depictions seen through the eyes of Michael Mann, 'limo liberals' and other misinformed academians, and I will never adopt the modern day pre-fabbed tributes to Ali. Accompany this read with a viewing of "When We Were Kings" or with a read of Thomas Hauser's "King of the World" and Mark Kram's "Ghosts of Manila", and you'll catch my drift.
Avoiding a Ali tribute, Mailer loves the sport of boxing, and it shows throughout the book. "The Fight" is a great read that depicts a chaotic time, Zaire, the characters and the life surrounding the classic fight.. Lead with a right-hand jab, and pick this read up. -BD 5/03
 Bigger ego: Ali or Mailer? November 17, 2004
C.D. Usselman (Northfield, MN)
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
The Rumble in the Jungle is a seminal moment in boxing, and for that reason alone it deserves an account. The fact that a boxing fan/skilled writer and social critic wrote the account would appear to be to the benefit of the reader. And Mailer does two things particularly well. The first is his description of the fight itself, which captures the drama of the struggle in a captivating and thrilling manner. The second is Mailer's attention to the political struggle in Zaire during the '60's (This is akin to holding a title fight in Serbia in the mid-90's). But, Mailer has to ruin a great little book by injecting himself into the action. He doesn't have to be the fly on the wall and he has every right to admit his personal bias. But it's nauseatingly tiresome to refer to yourself in the third person and speculate as to how people think about you, "the famous writer." What an unbelievable ego. It's not only an annoying personal trait, but it disrupts the flow of the book and takes from the titular reason that many people picked up this book. See if your library has it, but don't bother paying for a very good account marred by one man's need to talk about himself.
|
|
|
|
