I second your recommendation of both Gardmer's FAT CITY and
Kersh's NIGHT AND THE CITY, both of which had interesting
movie adaptations with John Houston's "Fat City" one of his
small scale classics. I have always been intrigued that he
cast former world welterweight champion Curtis Cokes in the
non-athletic role as a bar patron and boyfriend of the girl
who took up with Stacy Keach. Cokes was excellent in a
difficult role. Sometimes watching the television program "My
Name Is Earl" I think the actor playing The Crab Man is
channeling the Cokes portrayal. Another former boxer in the
film is former light heavyweight Sixto Rodriquez who is
Keach's opponent in his big comeback film. With little or no
dialogue, Rodriquez is shown arriving by bus from Mexico,
sitting alone in his hotel room, preparing for his battle
among strangers and grimacing at old and new pains and
wounds. It is a great performance as is that of Nicholas
Colasanto as a trainer/manager.
But back to your question. It is easier to come up with
hardboiled novels in a sports setting than noir. William
Campbell Gault did several (such as DAY OF THE RAM featuring
football and more than one with boxers).
Richard Moore
--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Channing"
<filmtroll@...> wrote:
>
> I'm currently enjoying Leonard Gardner's "Fat City"
about the seedy
boxing world in Stockton,
> CA. And I recently read and loved Gerald Kersh's
"Night And the
City" which had a good
> amount of seedy wrestling. Does anyone recommend any
other sports
noir books? Or if
> there even are any? There's nothing more low-down
and gritty than a
locker room, in a world
> where winning and losing is everything. Why aren't
there more noir
sports stories? There
> have been quite a few noirish boxing movies, but
where are the books?
>
> Chan
>
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