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The Fight (Penguin Modern Classics)
 
 
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The Fight (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)

by Norman Mailer (Author) "There is always a shock in seeing him again ..." (more)
4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin; New Ed edition (27 Jul 2000)
  • ISBN-10: 0141184140
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141184142
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.2 x 1.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 22,800 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > Fiction > 20th Century Classics > Mailer, Norman
    #8 in  Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > Criticism & Theory > Modernism
    #11 in  Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > Combat Sports & Self-Defence > Boxing

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Product Description

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.
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There is always a shock in seeing him again. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
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4 star:
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3 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great non-fiction, 14 Mar 2002
By R. McDermott (leeds UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
One of the greatest sportsmen of our world, and this was possibly one of the greatest moments of his sporting career. This book is not just about a fight but about Africa, the nature of men, race and racism and superhuman achievement.

Mailer is completely honest throughout the book, and sometimes what he says, particularly about race, can be a little shocking. But the author is being honest with us about what he thinks, and his thoughts are interesting and thought-provoking.

The image of Ali, bouncing off the ropes for the first 6 rounds despite promising the world he was going to dance is vividly painted. The description of Foreman's training on the heavy bag, which he hit so hard he left dent in it, is close to mind when in the later chapters ali is absorbing those same punches.

The book also deals with the author's own celebrity, and makes this a very personal account of a great moment.

I left this book with one overpowering feeling - i wish i had been there.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A collision of egos inside and outside the ring, 12 Nov 2007
By Timothy De Ferrars (France) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
The Fight is a vivid account of the 1974 world heavyweight boxing match in Zaire, billed as The Rumble in the Jungle, between George Foreman and Mohammad Ali. Mailer writes about Africa with more than a nod to Joseph Conrad, and writes about boxing with all the sweep and authority that Hemingway showed on bullfighting, but this book is about more than boxing. Mailer, a white Jew from New York, confronts his prejudices about blacks and about Africa, and while this seems less than remarkable now, it is easy to forget that mild racism was not only normal then among English-speaking whites, but was in fact the received wisdom of the time. This book was therefore a work of some courage and risk for a writer of Norman Mailer's stature.

The use of the third person to describe the author is strange at first, and it seems possible that Mailer's ego might overshadow even the monstrous ego of Ali. But what emerges is more sensitive than that. Ali is portrayed as an aging prodigy tortured by doubt and surrounded by a retinue of oddballs, and Mailer succeeds in first isolating and then overcoming his buried prejudice and superstition.

This is a powerful and at times moving book, and I would recommend it to all, including those who are uninterested or even repelled by the sport of boxing.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic - although Penquin got the year wrong '74, not '75, 4 Nov 2004
This is a classic piece of sports writing and goes way beyond 'the fight' and into the atmosphere of all the pre hype. It covers one of the most important sporting (shock) events ever to have taken place..."The Rumble in the Jungle" and you get a real sense of this in Mailer's enthusiam. If you're an Ali fan, you should've read it by now....if you're not a fan, you'll still love the detail described in this book. It's one of those books that people remember reading years later. It's a shame that Penquin got the year of the fight wrong in their synopsis...and I've told them!. Rumble in the Jungle was October 1974, not 1975....(which was the "Trilla in Manila", now there's another story!)
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading
A superb snapshot of a particular time and place; this is written in typical Norman Mailer style -allowing the reader amazing insight at times and a very personal, distanced view... Read more
Published on 18 Jun 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great follow up to "when we were kings"
If you have seen the oscar winning documentary "When we were kings" and wished for "more" , this is a good book to read. Read more
Published on 17 Sep 2000

3.0 out of 5 stars Poetic Rumbles
As with an earlier reviewer I'm glad I hung in there past the first few rounds. The initial chapters had me close to throwing in the towel but after that the gem was revealed... Read more
Published on 30 Aug 1999

4.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful view, before the storm
Anyone who has witnessed this greatest of fights and knows something of the build-up to this epic encounter will revel in this book. Read more
Published on 14 Aug 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Muhammed Ali for President
If you liked the film When We Were Kings, which also featured Norman Mailer, you'll love The Fight.

Mailer's eulogy of Ali is as believable as it is captivating. Read more

Published on 25 Mar 1999

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