Boxing the Octopus


Book Description

Fourth book in the Cape Weather Mystery Series! If you're gonna box an octopus, best bring some extra arms... At the height of tourist season, an armored car drives off a crowded pier and sinks to the bottom of San Francisco Bay. By the time divers find the wreck, the cash is gone and the driver has vanished. The police are convinced it's an inside job, but local merchant Vera Young, whose boyfriend drove the armored car, claims it was much more than a simple heist. Vera swears the missing driver is innocent and wants him found before the police can throw him in jail. San Francisco detective Cape Weathers reluctantly takes the case but warns Vera that her boyfriend is likely guilty—or dead. What starts as a manhunt uncovers a criminal conspiracy of money laundering, illegal drug testing, and a network of corporations willing to do anything to protect their stock price. It's a case that Cape, the witty PI, can't get his arms around. And while his relationship with Vera is getting complicated, the list of people who want him dead is getting longer. Boxing the Octopus is a runaway tour of San Francisco's underworld which reminds us that when things get out of hand, having eight arms is always better than two. These quick-paced, often humorous San Francisco mysteries are: Perfect for fans of Laura Lippman and Thomas Perry For readers who enjoy private detective and California based mysteries




Fox Tossing, Octopus Wrestling and Other Forgotten Sports


Book Description

'An entertaining new book… which looks back at the most bizarre sporting activities ever devised by mankind' Daily Mail 'Perfect book for the Christmas stockings of adults and curious children' Wall Street Journal For those who enjoyed the quirkiness of Schott's Miscellany, the erudition of The Etymologicon or the extremes of The Dangerous Book for Boys, this is the ideal read. From Flagpole Sitting to Hot Cockles, Edward Brooke-Hitching has researched through piles of dusty tomes to bring vividly back to life some of the most curious, dangerous and downright bizarre sports and pastimes ever devised, before we thought better of it and erased them from the memory. After all, who would ever want to bring back Fox Tossing, a popular sport for men and women in 17th-century Germany? The sport involved dozens of couples pairing up and standing 20-25 feet apart in an enclosed field, each holding one end of a net, and then they would pull hard at both ends as the fox ran past, sending it flying high into the air. There are many other sports revealed within these pages that are unlikely ever to make an appearance on our TV screens, such as Firework Boxing, which is just as dangerous as it sounds. Meanwhile, Ski Ballet may not have been so risky, but Suzy 'Chapstick' Chaffee's signature move - the Suzy Split (a complete forward split while balanced on the tips of her skis) - was probably not one to try at home. An intriguing, entertaining and occasionally shocking insight into the vivid imaginations of humanity across the years, Fox Tossing, Octopus Wrestling and Other Forgotten Sports is an unforgettable read and a perfect gift.




The Magical Octopus


Book Description




Boxing the Octopus


Book Description




Boxing the Octopus


Book Description

Fourth book in the Cape Weather Mystery Series! If you're gonna box an octopus, best bring some extra arms... At the height of tourist season, an armored car drives off a crowded pier and sinks to the bottom of San Francisco Bay. By the time divers find the wreck, the cash is gone and the driver has vanished. The police are convinced it's an inside job, but local merchant Vera Young, whose boyfriend drove the armored car, claims it was much more than a simple heist. Vera swears the missing driver is innocent and wants him found before the police can throw him in jail. San Francisco detective Cape Weathers reluctantly takes the case but warns Vera that her boyfriend is likely guilty--or dead. What starts as a manhunt uncovers a criminal conspiracy of money laundering, illegal drug testing, and a network of corporations willing to do anything to protect their stock price. It's a case that Cape, the witty PI, can't get his arms around. And while his relationship with Vera is getting complicated, the list of people who want him dead is getting longer. Boxing the Octopus is a runaway tour of San Francisco's underworld which reminds us that when things get out of hand, having eight arms is always better than two. These quick-paced, often humorous San Francisco mysteries are: Perfect for fans of Laura Lippman and Thomas Perry For readers who enjoy private detective and California based mysteries




The Boxing Film


Book Description

As one of popular culture's most popular arenas, sports are often the subject of cinematic storytelling. But boxing films are special. There are more movies about boxing, than any other sport, The Boxing Film explores why boxing has so consistently fascinated cinema, and popular media, by tracing how boxing films inform the sport's meanings and uses from the late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century.




Madame Bey’S: Home to Boxing Legends


Book Description

In 1881, a little girl was born in Turkey to an Armenian father and a French mother. Her lifes journey would eventually lead her to immigrate to America, marry, and run a training camp in Chatham Township, New Jersey, that would host twelve world heavyweight champions and no fewer than seventy-eight International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees. In a well-researched biography, boxing enthusiast Gene Pantalone shares the story of Madame Beya remarkable and fiery pioneer of women in businesswho stood tall in a sport of men. Pantalone details the history of boxing and the life of Bey as she demanded exemplary behavior from the toughest of men. He shines a light on her ability to connect with people without preconceived notions, her roots in government and opera, and her friendship with President William McKinley. Included are bios of the notable boxers during Madame Beys era. Madame Beys: Home to Boxing Legends shares the fascinating story of an aristocratic woman who managed a training camp for world champion boxers during the early twentieth century.




The Boxing Kings


Book Description

For much of the twentieth century, boxing was one of America’s most popular sports, and the heavyweight champions were figures known to all. Their exploits were reported regularly in the newspapers—often outside the sports pages—and their fame and wealth dwarfed those of other athletes. Long after their heyday, these icons continue to be synonymous with the “sweet science.” In The Boxing Kings: When American Heavyweights Ruled the Ring, Paul Beston profiles these larger-than-life men who held a central place in American culture. Among the figures covered are John L. Sullivan, who made the heavyweight championship a commercial property; Jack Johnson, who became the first black man to claim the title; Jack Dempsey, a sporting symbol of the Roaring Twenties; Joe Louis, whose contributions to racial tolerance and social progress transcended even his greatness in the ring; Rocky Marciano, who became an embodiment of the American Dream; Muhammad Ali, who took on the U.S. government and revolutionized professional sports with his showmanship; and Mike Tyson, a hard-punching dynamo who typified the modern celebrity. This gallery of flawed but sympathetic men also includes comics, dandies, bookworms, divas, ex-cons, workingmen, and even a tough-guy-turned-preacher. As the heavyweight title passed from one claimant to another, their stories opened a window into the larger history of the United States. Boxing fans, sports historians, and those interested in U.S. race relations as it intersects with sports will find this book a fascinating exploration into how engrained boxing once was in America’s social and cultural fabric.




Unbeaten


Book Description

From the bestselling author of The Prince of Providence, a revelatory biography of Rocky Marciano, the greatest heavyweight champion of all time. The son of poor Italian immigrants, with short arms and stubby legs, Rocky Marciano accomplished a feat that eluded legendary heavyweight champions like Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson: He never lost a professional fight. His record was a perfect 49-0. Unbeaten is the story of this remarkable champion who overcame injury, doubt, and the schemes of corrupt promoters to win the title in a bloody and epic battle with Jersey Joe Walcott in 1952. Rocky packed a devastating punch with an innocent nickname, “Suzie Q,” against which there was no defense. As the champ, he came to know presidents and movie stars – and the organized crime figures who dominated the sport, much to his growing disgust. He may have “stood out in boxing like a rose in a garbage dump,” as one sportswriter said, but he also fought his own private demons. In the hands of the award-winning journalist and biographer Mike Stanton, Unbeaten is more than just a boxing story. It’s a classic American tale of immigrant dreams, exceptional talent wedded to exceptional ambitions, compromises in the service of a greater good, astounding success, disillusionment, and a quest to discover what it all meant. Like Suzie Q, it will knock you off your feet.




Aethlon


Book Description

The journal of sport literature.