A. J. Liebling ─ The Sweet Science and Other Writings

For the first time in one volume, Pete Hamill presents five great books that demonstrate A. J. LieblingA's extraordinary vitality, humor, and versatility as a writer. Named the best sports book of all time by Sports Illustrated in 2002, The Sweet Science (1956) is a lively and idiosyncratic portrait of boxing in the early 1950s, when Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, and Floyd Patterson ruled the ring. A classic of political reporting, The Earl of Louisiana (1961) is a vivid account of Governor Earl LongA's bid for reelection after his release from a mental asylum in 1959. The Jollity Building (1962) collects hilarious true-life stories of Manhattan night-club promoters, cigar store owners, and scheming A"Telephone Booth Indians,A" as well as a portrait of A"The Honest Rainmaker,A" the racing columnist and confidence man extraordinaire, Colonel John R. Stingo. Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris (1962) is a richly evocative memoir of LieblingA's introduction to Paris and its food and wine as a student in the late 1920s. The Press (1964) brings together the best of LieblingA's influential and insightful A"Wayward PressA" pieces, in which he established himself as the first great media critic. Together with a 2008 companion Library of America volume, World War II?Writings, this is the essential Liebling.

Pete Hamill editor, is the author of 22 books, including News Is a Verb: Journalism at the End of the Twentieth Century and the novels Forever and North River. As a journalist he has reported on wars in Vietnam, Nicaragua, Lebanon, and Northern Ireland, written columns for several newspapers and magazines, and served as editor-in-chief of both the New York Post and the New York Daily News. He is a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University.