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Goodman, John (Photographer); Hamill, Pete (Contributor) & Oates, Joyce Carol (Reviewer) : The Times Square Gym

Evan Publishing/Distributed Art Publishers, New York City, NY, 1996

ISBN 1886212066

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in No Dust Jacket, As Issued. 80 pages. Collection of black-and-white photographs on subject. One of the most gripping sports photography books. The First Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a softcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. A brilliant production by John Goodman: Oversize-volume format. Photographs by John Goodman. Text by Pete Hamill, the great journalist and sportswriter. Advance Review Essay by Joyce Carol Oates, the great novelist and author of "On Boxing", printed on a separate sheet and laid into the book. Printed on pristine-white, thick uncoated stock paper in Hong Kong to the highest standards. Without DJ, as issued. Presents John Goodman's "The Times Square Gym". Dark and gritty photographs of boxers in action: His tender homage to the legendary gym (before it was demolished), and to boxing as an authentic sport. That is, before it became the world's most lucrative betting game and Pay-Per-View entertainment. "Captures the true essence of the boxing game, and its pain. Jimmy Glenn, former owner and trainer of the Times Square Gym, is one of the unsung heroes of boxing. He trained the best and saw the toughest boxers ever to set foot in the ring. A true homage to a hold-out establishment that finally succumbed to the wrecking ball in the wake of boxing's Disney-ization. The images in the book capture the look, feel, and even smell of what it was like to enter the rarely travelled circle of the serious boxer looking to make it to the big time" (Publishers Weekly). Goodman and Hamill are engaged in poetic elegy and lament for the lost art of boxing. Lost, that is, to the hi-tech, sleek, state-of-the-art contemporary gyms in which champions like Oscar de la Hoya and Evander Holyfield, among others, now train (as well as to doping scandals). The Times Square Gym was down and dirty, it was about boxing "getting in your blood" (John Goodman). "May well take its place as one of those works of memorialist beauty dedicated to boxing and the myriad ways it has gotten into our blood" (Joyce Carol Oates). John Goodman himself trained with the late Minor White, and says that he would never have become a photographer, much less a good one, were it not for the great photographer's tutelage and example. An absolute "must-have" title for John Goodman collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by John Goodman. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a sports photography classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws because it's a softcover and the spine is fragile. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce signed copy thus. 60 plates. One of the most brilliant American photographers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JOHN GOODMAN TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 1886212066.

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