The Times Square Gym


Book Description




The Gloves


Book Description

Robert Anasi's The Gloves offers a gritty, spirited inside look at the world of amateur boxing today. The Golden Gloves tournament is center stage in amateur boxing-a single-elimination contest in which young hopefuls square off in steamy gyms with the boxing elite looking on. Anasi took up boxing in his twenties to keep in shape, attract women, and sharpen his knuckles for the odd bar fight. He thought of entering "the Gloves," but put it off. Finally, at age thirty-two-his last year of eligibility-he vowed to fight, although he was an old man in a sport of teenagers and a light man who had to be even lighter (125 pounds) to fight others his size. So begins Anasi's obsessive preparation for the Golden Gloves. He finds Milton, a wily and abusive trainer, and joins Milton's "Supreme Team": a black teenager who used to deal guns in Harlem, a bus driver with five kids, a hard-hitting woman champion who becomes his sparring partner. Meanwhile, he observes the changing world of amateur boxing, in which investment bankers spar with ex-convicts and everyone dreads a fatal blow to the head. With the Supreme Team, he goes to the tournament, whose outcome, it seems, is rigged, like so much in boxing life today. Robert Anasi tells his story not as a journalist on assignment but as a man in the midst of one of the great adventures of his life. The Gloves, his first book, has the feel of a contemporary classic.




The Times Square Hustler


Book Description

The author became interested in male prostitution while researching populations susceptible to AIDS. He found such a population in male prostitutes in Times Square which had developed a community to deal with common problems. Among these changing the community were AIDS, crack cocaine, and urban redevelopment. This work is directed to sociologists, social workers, and those interested in popular culture.




Come Out Swinging


Book Description

A nuanced insider's account of everyday life in the last remaining institution of New York's golden age of boxing Gleason's Gym is the last remaining institution of New York's Golden Age of boxing. Jake LaMotta, Muhammad Ali, Hector Camacho, Mike Tyson—the alumni of Gleason's are a roster of boxing greats. Founded in the Bronx in 1937, Gleason's moved in the mid-1980s to what has since become one of New York's wealthiest residential areas—Brooklyn's DUMBO. Gleason's has also transformed, opening its doors to new members, particularly women and white-collar men. Come Out Swinging is Lucia Trimbur's nuanced insider's account of a place that was once the domain of poor and working-class men of color but is now shared by rich and poor, male and female, black and white, and young and old. Come Out Swinging chronicles the everyday world of the gym. Its diverse members train, fight, talk, and socialize together. We meet amateurs for whom boxing is a full-time, unpaid job. We get to know the trainers who act as their father figures and mentors. We are introduced to women who empower themselves physically and mentally. And we encounter the male urban professionals who pay handsomely to learn to box, and to access a form of masculinity missing from their office-bound lives. Ultimately, Come Out Swinging reveals how Gleason's meets the needs of a variety of people who, despite their differences, are connected through discipline and sport.




Building a Business with a Beat: Leadership Lessons from Jazzercise—An Empire Built on Passion, Purpose, and Heart


Book Description

Transform your passion into a profitable business—with the help of the legendary entrepreneur who turned an innovative idea into a $100 million global powerhouse.Judi Sheppard Missett is a fitness icon who, at just three years old, discovered a passion for dance that would eventually fuel a global dance fitness empire. After an early life spent honing her dancing skills and a career as a professional jazz dancer, Judi had an epiphany: why not combine the art of jazz dancing with the science of exercise to help others achieve a healthier, happier self-image and life? The wildly enthusiastic response from her first 15 students inspired her to launch Jazzercise, Inc., the world’s leading dance fitness program with a cumulative $2 billion in global sales.In Building a Business with Beat, Judi reveals for the first time the secrets behind the company’s five decades of enormous success. In addition to helping millions of men and women improve their health and well-being through the fun and fitness of dance, Judi has inspired 8,500 franchisees to achieve their dream of owning and running their own business. Now, through powerful personal stories, practical proven-successful advice and insights, Judi shares how you, too, can transform your passion into a profitable business.This inspirational guide will teach you how to: • Create a successful business by discovering and defining your larger purpose• Use your unique perspectives and abilities to enhance the lives of others • Deftly handle everyday obstacles and unplanned events• Develop an open mindset and embrace innovation and new possibilities• Inspire your staff to connect to a purpose greater than day-to-day work, and moreFilled with helpful tips, smart strategies, and no-nonsense advice, this book is essential reading for anyone who has ever dreamed of creating a thriving, purpose-driven business. The author is living proof that when you’re doing what you love, it may not seem like work at all.




King of the World


Book Description

The bestselling biography of Muhammad Ali--with an Introduction by Salman Rushdie On the night in 1964 that Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) stepped into the ring with Sonny Liston, he was widely regarded as an irritating freak who danced and talked way too much. Six rounds later Ali was not only the new world heavyweight boxing champion: He was "a new kind of black man" who would shortly transform America's racial politics, its popular culture, and its notions of heroism. No one has captured Ali--and the era that he exhilarated and sometimes infuriated--with greater vibrancy, drama, and astuteness than David Remnick, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lenin's Tomb (and editor of The New Yorker). In charting Ali's rise from the gyms of Louisville, Kentucky, to his epochal fights against Liston and Floyd Patterson, Remnick creates a canvas of unparalleled richness. He gives us empathetic portraits of wisecracking sportswriters and bone-breaking mobsters; of the baleful Liston and the haunted Patterson; of an audacious Norman Mailer and an enigmatic Malcolm X. Most of all, King of the World does justice to the speed, grace, courage, humor, and ebullience of one of the greatest athletes and irresistibly dynamic personalities of our time.




Standing Tall in Times Square


Book Description

It all started on June 27, 1979, when approximately seven detectives banged on my door, guns drawn. When my common-law wife, Jackie, answered the door, they burst in, yelling, Where is Herbert Murray? When I came into the room, they grabbed me, threw me against the wall, put a gun to my head, and told me I was under arrest for murder. In the background, I could hear my thirteen-month-old daughter, Tane, crying like crazy. Those detectives didnt have any regard for our livesnot my daughters, Jackies, or mine. It was the scariest thing I have ever experienced in my life. When I asked them what they were talking about, they told me to Shut up. I was taken to the eighty-eighth precinct, located on DeKalb and Classon Avenues. They took me to the interrogation room, where they questioned me about a murder that took place two weeks before, on June 13, 1979. Can you imagine how confused I was? I was being charged for a murder I had no clue about. It seemed absolutely crazy. They were putting so much pressure on me that I couldnt even think. I had to think about two Wednesdays ago. When the detectives asked me where was I on June 13, I told them I was with a housing police officer and four others: Vincent Brown, Ronnie Cook, Junior Washington, and Andrew Lambus. When I told him I was with a police officer, the detective left the room and came back about ten minutes later. See the author in the video: The Innocent Prisoners Dilemma on NYTimes.com (2010).




November Project: The Book


Book Description

November Project: The Book is the story of how two irreverent, way-outside-the-box fitness fanatics are flipping the fitness industry on its head and literally making the world a better place, one city at a time. No facility. No machines. Just two dudes and a tribe of thousands. Welcome to November Project’s world takeover. What started 4 years ago as a simple monthlong workout pact between two former Northeastern University oarsmen in Boston has grown into an international fitness phenomenon. November Project espouses free, public, all-weather, outdoor group sweats that turn strangers into friends and connect everyone to the city in which they live. It’s been described as everything from flashmob fitness to “the fight club of running clubs” and a cult. But November Project prides itself on defying categories. In November Project: The Book, Brogan Graham (a.k.a. BG) and Bojan Mandaric, in their own spicy, big-hearted words, chronicle, along with tribe member and writer Caleb Daniloff, their fitness movement’s genesis, evolution, operations, membership, “secret sauce,” and future—and along the way, show you how you can get fit and societally engaged. The book also includes illustrated workouts; the keys to meaningful civic engagement; information on using your city as a gym; advice on starting an NP tribe; tips on growing, sustaining, and invigorating membership through social media; and thoughts on the collective power of community.




Murder in Times Square


Book Description

Many Words Press-and imprint of Able Muse Press-is proud to introduce Murder in Times Square, a Deirdre Mystery, initiating a new series by the author of the popular Jack Colt mystery series: When a young woman in a red designer dress falls twenty-five stories from the roof of Times Square One, the well-known New York fashion model known as Deirdre resolves to unravel the mystery. Capable and determined, Deirdre is relentless in her drive to unravel the mystery and find justice for the victim, while protecting those she loves from looming threats. Baer, who has worked in the New York City's fashion district, showcases not only his depth of knowledge of the fashion industry, but also of New York City and its landmarks and history. He weaves an intricate, fast-paced, and spellbinding narrative that takes us through New York City, Atlantic City, the Jersey Shore, and the Caribbean. In Murder in Times Square, Baer once again proves he is a master of suspense and intrigue. PRAISE FOR WILLIAM BAER'S JACK COLT MURDER MYSTERY SERIES: "William Baer brilliantly mixes all the human emotions. . . . The layers, the depth, the characters, the intrigue, and the references to local settings all captivate and draw the reader in. I love books like this! A rarity! Five stars!" - Robert Leon Davis, Reader Views (Five-star review) "A brilliant debut novel . . . precise prose, perfect pacing, stunning imagery, complex characterization, grand historical and cultural contexts, and a superb sense of place." - Hollis Seamon, author of Somebody Up There Hates You "Not since Donna Tartt's The Secret History have I read a novel as mesmerizing, engrossing, and delectable as William Baer's New Jersey Noir. In prose as fast-moving as a bullet, Baer compels the reader to keep flipping pages more and more rapidly. The writing is taut and gut-wrenching." - Terri Brown-Davidson, author of Marie, Marie, Hold On Tight "With a head for crime and his own set of scruples, Jack moves effortlessly through the seamy underbelly of the state he loves. . . . [T]his is a can't-put-it-down thrill ride." - Publishers Weekly (Starred review) Writing is crisp, sarcastic, and wryly funny. . . . Characters are authentic and realistic. Dialogue is brisk and to the point. - Robin Farrell Edmunds, Forward Reviews (Five-star review) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: William Baer worked briefly in New York City's fashion district after high school. He's now the award-winning author of twenty-five books, including the first three novels in the popular New Jersey Noir mystery series. He's a graduate of NYU, Rutgers, South Carolina, Johns Hopkins, and USC's School of Cinema, where he received the Jack Nicholson Screenwriting Award. He's also been the recipient of a Fulbright, a Guggenheim, and a Creative Writing Fellowship in fiction from the National Endowment for the Arts.




Sex and Isolation


Book Description

Winner of France’s 2004 Prix de Flore for his memoir The Romanian: Story of an Obsession, Bruce Benderson has gained international respect for his controversial opinions and original take on contemporary society. In this collection of essays, Benderson directs his exceptional powers of observation toward some of the most debated, as well as some of the most neglected, issues of our day. In Sex and Isolation, readers will encounter eccentric street people, Latin American literary geniuses, a French cabaret owner, a transvestite performer, and many other unusual characters; they’ll visit subcultures rarely described in writing and be treated to Benderson’s iconoclastic opinions about culture in former and contemporary urban society. Whether proposing new theories about the relationship between art, entertainment, and sex, analyzing the rise of the Internet and the disappearance of public space, or considering how religion and sexual identity interact, each essay demonstrates sharp wit, surprising insight and some startling intellectual positions. This is the first American volume of Benderson’s collected essays, featuring both new work and some of his best-known writings, including his famous essay “Toward the New Degeneracy.” Outstanding University Press Book selection, Foreword Magazine