The Manly Art

By Elliott J. Gorn,

Book cover of The Manly Art: Bare-Knuckle Prize Fighting in America

Book description

"It didn't occur to me until fairly late in the work that I was writing a book about the beginnings of a national celebrity culture. By 1860, a few boxers had become heroes to working-class men, and big fights drew considerable newspaper coverage, most of it quite negative since the…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Manly Art as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

My next pick is a masterful account of astute analysis written in vibrant prose that recounts the working class version of pugilism during the Antebellum period and the Gilded Age of the nineteenth century. In the frontier communities, males issued public challenges to other individuals or, in general, appealed to any challengers to test one's masculinity.

Lacking rules, such contests allowed for brutal tactics, including eye gouging and even castration, unless or until an opponent admitted defeat. Rather than the middle and upper-class virtues of piety, sobriety, and social mobility, such altercations provided a compensatory value system that rewarded physical…

Want books like The Manly Art?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Manly Art.

Browse books like The Manly Art

Book cover of Selections from the Prison Notebooks of Antonio Gramsci
Book cover of From Ritual to Record: The Nature of Modern Sports
Book cover of Choosing Sides: Playground and Street Life on the Lower East Side

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,223

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in boxing, Leo Tolstoy, and the working class?

Boxing 43 books
Leo Tolstoy 30 books
The Working Class 109 books