Night Train: A Biography of Sonny Liston

(Paperback)

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Description

In 1962, Sonny Liston became boxing's world heavyweight champion. He was a poor plantation boy and a bruiser for the mob who had done time for armed robbery, but he had fought his way to the top. Those he met in the ring said he was unstoppable, even dangerous. Sonny, however, knew differently. His mob connections and his violent drunkeness made him an unpopular but feared champion; and when he lost his title to Muhammad Ali with barely a struggle, no one, least of all Liston, seemed to care. He had begun his descent into the depths, which only ended with his mysterious death. In prose as hard-hitting as Liston's left hook, Nick Tosches excavates the life of Sonny Liston from the murky underworld which never let him go.

Reviews

Dazzling, unforgiving... Tosches and Liston smash their way through fights and beaten men... Tosches understood the large heart and vicious ways of Liston and together they take an unforgettable journey to some of boxing's darkest places -- Steve Bunce, author of 'Bunce's Big Fat Short History of British Boxing'
Shooting from the hip, Nick Tosches brings Liston and the lurid underworld of boxing brilliantly to life... The fullest portrait yet of this troubled man. Told in the spare, muscular prose Tosches is known for, Liston's story is the tale of a man who "died on the day he was born" * Esquire *
Liston's story comes alive though hard facts and breathtaking writing... As much about boxing as it is about the darkest side of the American Dream * Time Out *
Tosches has a talent for getting inside the skin of men [and] drawing out meaty stories... The prose sizzles - hard, tough writing suited to a hard, tough subject * New York Times Book Review *
Crackling [and] unmissable... A warped fairy tale and a dark murder mystery * Maxim *
Brash [and] astute... Tosches gets in the ring and slugs it out from the first bell as if he were the twin reincarnation of John L. Sullivan and Jack Dempsey. [He] picks the dirtiest, ugliest, saddest man the fight game has thrown up in a hundred years and rides the story all the way to the grave * Observer *
A fantastic book about a life that started in darkness and continued to go deeper into the darkness until the only light was death. Nick Tosches is an extraordinary writer -- Hubert Selby Jr, author of 'Requiem for a Dream'
A profound voyage into the twisted psyche of a sportsman... Brings you face to face with [a] hard life and ugly death * FHM *
Tosches is a remarkable reporter... While Liston demolishes opponents with the brutality of his blows, Tosches goes down the mean streets of professional boxing, ventures into the shadowy corners of mob dealings and dares to reveal the fixed fights... A great story * Salon *
[A] hyper-noir meditation on the devil and his relationship to Sonny Liston... Tosches has attitude to spare, agile and sublime, smooth and cool... A captivating, tragic tale * Austin Chronicle *
Grandmaster of grit lit, Tosches writes eloquently about America's underbelly * Boston Globe *

Author Bio

Nick Tosches was born in New Jersey and is the author of HELLFIRE, and the bestselling DINO.