Book Review: The Fight by Norman Mailer

Book Review: The Fight by Norman Mailer

512

By: Stephanie Kent

In The Fight, we follow Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Norman Mailer during the suspenseful weeks leading up to 1974’s “Rumble in the Jungle” matchup between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Even the most casual of fight fans are familiar with the historic bout, but Mailer unveils a behind-the-scenes story that’ll have readers convinced the fight could go either way by the time the heavyweights step into the ring.

The Fight begins with an ode-like chapter on Muhammad Ali, and what it’s like to behold him in person as he trains. From the start, the book paints a picture of a frustrated Ali, bored with training, lacking his usual luster. Held up beside 25-year-old champion George Foreman’s camp, the Louisville Lip immediately assumes the role of underdog in this telling.

Mailer writes about himself as a central figure in The Fight. The character Norman is respected by both fighters; by Ali who fancies himself a poet, and Foreman, who’s rumored to be working on a debut book himself. As a member of the press corps, he gains incredible access to the athletes. In one epic chapter, Mailer joins Ali for a run, surprised at the easy pace and short length of the roadwork (the ageing, hungover Mailer even manages to keep up for the first half!). Mailer uses this insider access to look at the fighters — their sparring sessions, their apparent strategies, even their confidence levels — side by side. All signs point to defeat for Ali.

The play-by-play of the fight is the most exciting chapter in the book. After a hundred pages detailing sparring, mindset, and training regimens, Mailer watches in awe Ali’s audacity to throw lead right hands in the early rounds. He marvels at the rope-a-dope, and shares the crowd’s mania when Foreman hits the canvas in the eighth round. These pages are some of the best boxing writing in history.

Reading The Fight in 2019 (which was first published in 1975) is both joyful and challenging. In our era of too many belts, professional boxing is reckoning with itself; it’s thrilling to read of a time when the whole world would stop to watch a boxing match. On the contrary, much of the prose feels dated in 2019. It’s impossible to write of 1970’s Kinasha an the fight itself without writing of race, but Mailer writes it in big, broad strokes that resonate naive at best and offensive at worst in the current social climate.

Most who pick up The Fight already know how that it ends with a victorious Muhammad Ali. The gain in reading it in the twenty-first century doesn’t come from the suspenseful telling, or the lesser-known encounters Norman Mailer had during his time in Zaire. The Rumble in the Jungle had all the makings of an incredible tale: a fallen hero, over-the-top sidekicks, adoring fans with a catchy war cry (Ali, bomaye!). As such, it’s worthwhile to revisit this myth-like boxing story, an enduring one that’s thrilling to consume forty years later and paints a picture of what boxing might once again become.

Tags:

512 Comments

  1. droversointeru
    11/05/2024,

    You actually make it seem really easy along with your presentation but I to find this matter to be really one thing that I believe I might never understand. It seems too complex and extremely wide for me. I am taking a look forward to your next put up, I’ll attempt to get the dangle of it!

  9. Jameswhabe
    03/24/2025,

    India Med Fast: IndiaMedFast – lowest prescription prices online india

  60. WilliamGar
    03/29/2025,

    pinup 2025 – пин ап казино официальный сайт

  117. TrentChobe
    04/05/2025,

    canada drugs online reviews: GoCanadaPharm – online canadian pharmacy reviews

  133. MichaelRit
    04/07/2025,

    amoxicillin 500mg buy online uk: AmOnlinePharm – amoxicillin 500mg buy online canada

  152. WeldonCob
    04/09/2025,

    lisansl? casino siteleri: casino siteleri – deneme bonusu veren siteler casinositeleri1st.com

  156. Robertglarp
    04/09/2025,

    oyun sitesi: casibom 1st – slot oyunlarД±nda en Г§ok kazandД±ran oyun casibom1st.com

  162. Robertglarp
    04/10/2025,

    deneme veren siteler: casibom 1st – betboo giriЕџ casibom1st.com

  176. Cletuskak
    04/12/2025,

    mexican border pharmacies shipping to usa: Us Mex Pharm – Mexican pharmacy ship to USA

  223. Dwightreela
    04/17/2025,

    buy prescription drugs from canada cheap: USACanadaPharm – cross border pharmacy canada

  248. VictorDeers
    04/21/2025,

    olympe casino en ligne: olympe – olympe

  257. PeterQuogy
    04/24/2025,

    acheter mГ©dicament en ligne sans ordonnance pharmacie en ligne pharmacie en ligne pas cher pharmafst.shop

  259. BillieRef
    04/24/2025,

    pharmacie en ligne france livraison internationale: pharmacie en ligne – pharmacie en ligne france livraison belgique pharmafst.com

  260. PeterQuogy
    04/24/2025,

    pharmacie en ligne france livraison internationale pharmacie en ligne vente de mГ©dicament en ligne pharmafst.shop

  262. PeterQuogy
    04/24/2025,

    pharmacie en ligne france pas cher Livraison rapide pharmacie en ligne france fiable pharmafst.shop

  274. Bradleyeages
    04/25/2025,

    Acheter Viagra Cialis sans ordonnance: Acheter Cialis – Tadalafil sans ordonnance en ligne tadalmed.shop

  278. BillieRef
    04/25/2025,

    pharmacie en ligne fiable: Livraison rapide – pharmacie en ligne france livraison internationale pharmafst.com

  318. RichardSmatt
    04/30/2025,

    пин ап зеркало [url=http://pinuprus.pro/#]пинап казино[/url] пин ап вход

  334. Brianthigo
    05/01/2025,

    pin up azerbaycan: pin-up – pin up azerbaycan

  342. Brianthigo
    05/02/2025,

    вавада официальный сайт: vavada – вавада

  348. ElmerDaw
    05/03/2025,

    вавада официальный сайт: vavada – вавада официальный сайт

  362. KennethSnind
    05/05/2025,

    вавада официальный сайт: vavada вход – вавада официальный сайт

  446. RussellEdups
    05/13/2025,

    can i buy cheap clomid tablets: Clom Health – cost of cheap clomid without a prescription

  447. Oscardaf
    05/13/2025,

    how to buy cheap clomid now: Clom Health – can i get cheap clomid tablets

  451. ScottCug
    05/14/2025,

    cialis no prescription overnight delivery: TadalAccess – cialis price canada

  454. JosephLaf
    05/14/2025,

    does cialis shrink the prostate TadalAccess does cialis raise blood pressure

  463. ScottCug
    05/15/2025,

    difference between tadalafil and sildenafil: cialis alcohol – buy cialis without prescription

  464. ScottCug
    05/15/2025,

    para que sirve las tabletas cialis tadalafil de 5mg: super cialis – buy cialis toronto

  465. LorenBonee
    05/16/2025,

    cialis before and after: TadalAccess – does cialis shrink the prostate

  467. ScottCug
    05/16/2025,

    safest and most reliable pharmacy to buy cialis: TadalAccess – where to buy cialis over the counter

  474. ScottCug
    05/16/2025,

    tadalafil and voice problems: Tadal Access – cialis covered by insurance

  481. ScottCug
    05/17/2025,

    buy cialis overnight shipping: Tadal Access – cialis manufacturer coupon 2018

  484. JosephLaf
    05/18/2025,

    buy tadalafil cheap [url=https://tadalaccess.com/#]pharmacy 365 cialis[/url] whats cialis

  494. ScottCug
    05/19/2025,

    cialis high blood pressure: TadalAccess – cialis manufacturer coupon 2018

  503. ScottCug
    05/20/2025,

    how long does cialis stay in your system: Tadal Access – cialis price south africa

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *