Oates, Joyce Carol – On Boxing

Description

Oates, Joyce Carol ‘On Boxing’ 1987 1st edition. 118 pages. VG/VG.

Book Description & Physical Specifications:
Originally published in the United States by Dolphin / Doubleday & Company, New York in 1987 (and simultaneously by Bloomsbury in the UK), this slim but incredibly potent volume expanded upon an essay Oates originally wrote for The New York Times Magazine. It is widely celebrated as a masterpiece of sports literature, placing a renowned literary fiction icon at the ringside of “The Sweet Science”.
• Content: Oates filters professional boxing through the multifaceted lenses of art, history, gender, poverty, and raw human sociology. Rather than dismissing it as mindless violence, she frames the boxing ring as “America’s tragic theater”—a space where men perform an atavistic rite of survival and existential struggle. She touches on legendary icons like Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, and Muhammad Ali, alongside the “stiffs and bums” who make their living out of losing, while providing sharp critiques of the sports’ surrounding corruption, media circus, and promoters.
• Format: Octavo (8vo, approx. 8.5 in. x 5.75 in.), consisting of 118 pages.
• Binding: Hardcover bound in two-tone brown paper boards with a dark brown cloth spine, featuring crisp gold title lettering stamped down the spine.
• Illustrations: Enhanced throughout with striking, gritty black-and-white documentary photographs taken by John Ranard, which capture the raw atmosphere of local boxing gyms and professional rings.
• Dust Jacket: Features a striking, wrap-around documentary photograph from John Ranard’s collection, displaying the original $14.95 retail price intact on the front flap.