A Neutral Corner

"Vintage Liebling . . . These fifteen previously uncollected prize-fighting pieces . . . add to the wordsmith's impressive knockout record." —Time

Demonstrating A. J. Liebling's abiding passion for the "sweet science" of boxing, A Neutral Corner brings together previously unpublished material. Antic, clear-eyed, and wildly entertaining, these essays showcase the New Yorker journalist at the top of his form. Here one relives the high drama of the classic Patterson-Johansson championship bout of 1959, and Liebling's early prescient portrayal of Cassius Clay's style as a boxer and a poet is not to be missed.

Liebling always finds the human story that makes these essays appealing to aficionados of boxing and prose alike. Alive with a true fan's reverence for the sport, yet balanced by a true skeptic's disdain for sentiment, A Neutral Corner is an American treasure.

Praise for A. J. Liebling and A Neutral Corner

"Nobody wrote about boxing with more grace and enthusiasm than Joe Liebling." —Red Smith, The New York Times

"Long before Tom Wolfe and Hunter S. Thompson were out of diapers, chubby Joe Liebling was taking his readers on excursions through the hidden and often hilarious levels of the bruised subculture [of boxing] . . . Liebling has the knack of informing and entertaining the uninitiated without boring the aficionados." —Katherine Dunn, Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Anyone who appreciates good prose, if not boxing, will find surprises and satisfaction here." —Publishers Weekly

"No modern writer makes better company." —Malcolm Jones, Jr., Newsweek