"Ms. Oates takes the violence of boxing in her stride, for she knows as well as anyone that many of us do violence to other people - in love, in business, in friendship and in print, and that each of these is more painful than punches. On Boxing is better than its subject. Ms. Oates is truer to the sport than most boxers are. She is game, as they say in the vernacular. If it is too coarse a verdict to call On Boxing a knockout, Ms. Oates has certainly scored a stunning TKO, or technical victory." — New York Times
“In On Boxing, Joyce Carol Oates offers a collection of powerful essays on the sport that has long fascinated her. She’s able to explore issues of masculinity, racial exploitation, and corruption without oversimplification and also convey the enthusiasm of an aficionado. The great characters of boxing history receive their due, from Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali to Sugar Ray Leonard and Mike Tyson. On Boxing, enhanced by John Ranard’s evocative photographs, is a testimony to our endless fascination with boxing and the seemingly endless variety and skill in the work of Joyce Carol Oates.” — Midwest Book Review
“A fight fan since her youth, novelist Oates follows in the tradition of boxing-loving writers like Hemingway and Mailer. In a slim volume expanded from a New York Times Magazine article, she candidly assays “The Sweet Science” for its spectacle, aesthetic elements, and its history--from ancient Greece and Rome to today’s ring dominated by callous promoters, casinos, and TV. Oates concedes boxing’s brutality and often seamy side but finds positive merits as tragic theater. Good fare for fans and haters alike.” — Library Journal
