When Boxing Was a Jewish Sport

(Hardback)

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Description

An oral history of a time in the 1920s and 1930s when Jewish athletes were the dominant ethnic group in professional boxing in the United States. The author draws on his own personal experience in New York City's fight arenas, and incorporates interviews with more than 30 former boxers, trainers, managers, promoters, and boxing judges. It explores the careers of Jewish boxers both outside and inside the ring, many of whom went on to become successful trainers, managers, and promoters in the world of professional boxing.

Reviews

.,."Allen Bodner reminds us in this welcome work of devoted research, clearly a labor of love, that we have seen in the first half of the 20th century a Golden Age of Jewish Boxing, score on score of Jewish champions of the world, not to mention fierce and gifted contenders like Allie Stolz, Artie Levine, Maxie Shapiro, Georgie Abrams, Leach Cross...the brave boys who made their statement for all of us."-Budd Schulberg Screenwriter, On the Waterfront and The Harder They Fall
"A very satisfying trip down boxing's memory lane. When Boxing was a Jewish Sport captures the flavor, history and pride of an era when Jewish athletes were kings of the ring."-Mike Silver Boxing historian and journalist, Ring Magazine
"Finally, an insightful study of the world of Jewish boxing."-Henry Feingold Professor and editor, The Jewish People in America
.,."Bodner has written a readable book about a mostly forgotten phase of American history, one whose like the American Jewish community will probably never see again. You don't have to be Jewish, and you don't have to be a sports fan, to appreciate his achievement."-Washington Post Book World
.,."Bodner offers a valuable addition to the numerous tomes that chronicle the Jewish experience in America. In giving us more than just another recitation of Jewish sports greats, he treats us to a look at a time that no longer exists through the eyes of the people who made it what it was."-The Jerusalem Report
.,."Bodner often manages to capture the long-gone, blue-collar, Julius Kniplesque world of smoky arenas, surly ticket-takers, and clattering manual typewriters that permeated his boxing-fan childhood."-Washington City Paper
"With first person accounts, Bodner vividly retells of life inside and outside the ring in [this] overdue tribute."-Jewish Telegraph
...Bodner has written a readable book about a mostly forgotten phase of American history, one whose like the American Jewish community will probably never see again. You don't have to be Jewish, and you don't have to be a sports fan, to appreciate his achievement.-Washington Post Book World
...Bodner offers a valuable addition to the numerous tomes that chronicle the Jewish experience in America. In giving us more than just another recitation of Jewish sports greats, he treats us to a look at a time that no longer exists through the eyes of the people who made it what it was.-The Jerusalem Report
...Bodner often manages to capture the long-gone, blue-collar, Julius Kniplesque world of smoky arenas, surly ticket-takers, and clattering manual typewriters that permeated his boxing-fan childhood.-Washington City Paper
[Bodner] presents a concise overview of boxing as it involved Jewish participants, as well as a capsule social history of the Jewish experience in 20th-century New York City....Generally New York's leading Yiddish paper, the Daily Forward, ignored the exploits of boxers, as do most major Jewish histories, so Bodner has rescued many from oblivion. Boxing fans will be intrigued by the arcana here.-Publishers Weekly
Bodner has written a wonderfully engaging book about a little-known aspect of American Jewish life.-Multicultural Review
Bodner is extremely informative. His historical perspective of the Jews in America...is enlightening....It's the people, those actual boxers telling of their youth and fights, that makes the book pay off for readers....Bodner's oral history is an important contribution to what would ultimately become part of the social fabric of America.-The West Coast Review of Books
Bodner's book is less about boxing than it is about boxers, and it is a loving and thoughtful tribute to a generation of fighters whose stories might otherwise go untold....The affection he feels for the ex-fighters he met underscores his entire book and, more than anything else, makes it a compelling chronicle....Bodner's tribute to the men he was able to meet and interview is a thoughtful and moving collection of stories about what it meant to earn a living as a Jew in a distinctly American game. Passionate without romanticizing its subject, When Boxing was a Jewish Sport preserves some of the first-hand stories we were in danger of losing altogether.-Jewish Book Guide
Mr. Bodner's book is a welcome addition to the literature on Jews in American sports.-Forward
The strength of the book...concerns the struggles and triumphs of the fighters.-Newsday
With first person accounts, Bodner vividly retells of life inside and outside the ring in [this] overdue tribute.-Jewish Telegraph
"Bodner presents a concise overview of boxing as it involved Jewish participants, as well as a capsule social history of the Jewish experience in 20th-century New York City....Generally New York's leading Yiddish paper, the Daily Forward, ignored the exploits of boxers, as do most major Jewish histories, so Bodner has rescued many from oblivion. Boxing fans will be intrigued by the arcana here."-Publishers Weekly
..."Bodner has written a readable book about a mostly forgotten phase of American history, one whose like the American Jewish community will probably never see again. You don't have to be Jewish, and you don't have to be a sports fan, to appreciate his achievement."-Washington Post Book World
..."Bodner offers a valuable addition to the numerous tomes that chronicle the Jewish experience in America. In giving us more than just another recitation of Jewish sports greats, he treats us to a look at a time that no longer exists through the eyes of the people who made it what it was."-The Jerusalem Report
..."Bodner often manages to capture the long-gone, blue-collar, Julius Kniplesque world of smoky arenas, surly ticket-takers, and clattering manual typewriters that permeated his boxing-fan childhood."-Washington City Paper
"[Bodner] presents a concise overview of boxing as it involved Jewish participants, as well as a capsule social history of the Jewish experience in 20th-century New York City....Generally New York's leading Yiddish paper, the Daily Forward, ignored the exploits of boxers, as do most major Jewish histories, so Bodner has rescued many from oblivion. Boxing fans will be intrigued by the arcana here."-Publishers Weekly
"Bodner has written a wonderfully engaging book about a little-known aspect of American Jewish life."-Multicultural Review
"Bodner is extremely informative. His historical perspective of the Jews in America...is enlightening....It's the people, those actual boxers telling of their youth and fights, that makes the book pay off for readers....Bodner's oral history is an important contribution to what would ultimately become part of the social fabric of America."-The West Coast Review of Books
"Mr. Bodner's book is a welcome addition to the literature on Jews in American sports."-Forward
"The strength of the book...concerns the struggles and triumphs of the fighters."-Newsday
"Bodner's book is less about boxing than it is about boxers, and it is a loving and thoughtful tribute to a generation of fighters whose stories might otherwise go untold....The affection he feels for the ex-fighters he met underscores his entire book and, more than anything else, makes it a compelling chronicle....Bodner's tribute to the men he was able to meet and interview is a thoughtful and moving collection of stories about what it meant to earn a living as a Jew in a distinctly American game. Passionate without romanticizing its subject, When Boxing was a Jewish Sport preserves some of the first-hand stories we were in danger of losing altogether."-Jewish Book Guide

Author Bio

ALLEN BODNER is an attorney with a remarkable entry into the world of boxing as his father was an amateur boxer during the 1920s and a professional manager during the 1930s and 1940s.