Evinces some of Robinson’s sweetness and flair, but doesn’t pack as much power.
An examination of the life of boxer Sugar Ray Robinson and his influence—both direct and indirect—on athletes who came after.
This digression-laden biography is less an in-depth character study than a prism through which to view the evolution of the modern celebrity athlete. Shropshire (The Business of Sports Agents, 2002, etc.) contends that Robinson’s combination of talent, charisma and style enabled him to attain an iconic status unrealized by previous sports superstars. Born Walker Smith Jr., Robinson grew up in poverty, with boxing one of the few avenues that provided a chance for escape. Despite a slender build, his skill was apparent early on, and he quickly rose through the ranks to become one of the greatest (attaining both the welterweight and middleweight championship titles) and prolific (fighting nearly 200 times, a figure that dwarfs the number of bouts fought by Muhammad Ali and other legends) fighters ever. It was Robinson’s influence outside of the ring, however, that the author claims had the greatest cultural impact. With his innate sense of “cool,” flamingo-pink Cadillac and million-watt smile, Robinson influenced celebrities outside of the boxing world (Miles Davis), younger fighters (Ali) and countless future athletes. These qualities, combined with his commitment to building businesses in the black community, made him a beloved icon despite his arrogance, womanizing and later financial difficulties. Paradoxically, his popularity surged as his skills eroded late in his career. Shropshire’s insights aren’t always profound, as he often tracks trends that are readily apparent to even semi-serious sports fans. When he delves deeper, however, and discusses the dearth of star athletes with the charisma, intelligence and awareness to take advantage of their positions to agitate for social change (he cites John Carlos and Tommie Smith as models), his skillful analysis serves to highlight the convergence of sports and culture.
Evinces some of Robinson’s sweetness and flair, but doesn’t pack as much power.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2007
ISBN: 0-465-07803-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Basic Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the...
Elie Wiesel spent his early years in a small Transylvanian town as one of four children.
He was the only one of the family to survive what Francois Maurois, in his introduction, calls the "human holocaust" of the persecution of the Jews, which began with the restrictions, the singularization of the yellow star, the enclosure within the ghetto, and went on to the mass deportations to the ovens of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. There are unforgettable and horrifying scenes here in this spare and sombre memoir of this experience of the hanging of a child, of his first farewell with his father who leaves him an inheritance of a knife and a spoon, and of his last goodbye at Buchenwald his father's corpse is already cold let alone the long months of survival under unconscionable conditions.
Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2006
ISBN: 0374500010
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Hill & Wang
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
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