A.J. Liebling's classic "New Yorker" pieces on the "sweet science of bruising" bring vividly to life the boxing world as it once was. It depicts the great events of boxing's American heyday: Sugar Ray Robinson's dramatic comeback, Rocky Marciano's rise to prominence, Joe Louis's unfortunate decline. Liebling never fails to find the human story behind the fight, and he evokes the atmosphere in the arena as distinctly as he does the goings-on in the ring--a combination that prompted "Sports Illustrated "to name "The Sweet Science" the best American sports book of all time.

A Neutral Corner collects fifteen previously unpublished boxing pieces written by legendary sportswriter A.J. Liebling between 1952 and 1963. Demonstrating A.J. Liebling's abiding passion for the "sweet science" of boxing, A Neutral Corner brings together previously unpublished material. Antic, clear-eyed, and wildly entertaining, these essays showcase a The New Yorker journalist at the top of his form. Here one relives the high drama of the classic Patterson-Johansson championship bout of 1959, and Liebling's early prescient portrayal of Cassius Clay's style as a boxer and a poet is not to be missed. Liebling always finds the human story that makes these essays appealing to aficionados of boxing and prose alike. Alive with a true fan's reverence for the sport, yet balanced by a true skeptic's disdain for sentiment, A Neutral Corner is an American treasure.