The Killings of Stanley Ketchel
A Novel
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4.0 • 7 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
The author of the brutal and brilliant Handsome Harry returns with the story of one of the greatest matches in boxing history. . . . “The Killings of Stanley Ketchel is a stunner. This is brilliant iconography, righteous Americana, and brutally powerful prose. A triumph!”—James Ellroy
Hailed as “one of the greatest chroniclers of the mythical American outlaw life” (Entertainment Weekly), James Carlos Blake brings to life the blazing story of Stanley Ketchel, the ragtime-era middleweight boxing champion and daring rakehell whose brief and meteoric life blazed with violence and tragedy in and out of the ring. Fierce and tender, sexy and funny, vast in setting and rich in historical detail, The Killings of Stanley Ketchel is this monumental talent at his robust and lyrical best.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The short, brutish life of Stanley Ketchel, the middleweight champion of the ragtime era who ruled the ring until his murder at age 24, serves as inspiration for Blake's action-packed new novel (after Handsome Harry). Blake follows Ketchel's career as he runs away from a loveless, violent farm home at age 15, "rides the rods" with the hoboes to Butte, Mont., where he first steps in the ring, and then goes pro in San Francisco. When Jack Johnson becomes heavyweight champ, the nation goes mad, and none more so than Ketchel, who itches to vanquish the confident black pugilist in a rematch. From Gibson Girl Evelyn Nesbitt, who enjoys a passionate liaison with Ketchel, to Emmett Dalton, last of the old-time outlaws, Blake brings to life a huge cast of characters across a glittering, vital America. The author writes with a loopy narrative drive, equal parts Dos Passos and Doctorow, suggesting vaguely that Ketchel's rage and murderous passions were at least in part inspired by a nostalgia for the Old West he had missed by a mere decade. Though the liberal embellishments of sex and violence can sometimes tip the book into weary clich , Blake has spun a fascinating tale.
Customer Reviews
Bold & Hairy
My only complaint is that Blake doesn't write faster. All of his books are rich with the history, detail and gritty character of the times he chooses to portray. Some of his character descriptions are downright hilarious. A great story teller. I apply the above praise to all the books by Blake. Write more Bucko!