About this Item
Stated First Printing, First Edition. Once listed, this will be the Only signed copy for sale anywhere on the Internet. It is signed and inscribed by the author, Phil Berger, on the first front end paper. The inscription is to a fellow journalist. It reads: ' To Allan Sonnenschein, a heavyweight in his own write, With regards, Phil Berger, April, 1993. ' 'Write' no doubt meant as a play off his colleague's profession. Allan Sonnenschein lived nearby to me. Curiously, sadly, he and Phil Berger both died within a week of one another, eight years after this book was published, one 58 and the other 59. 'Phil was a sportswriter, author and screenwriter. He was the boxing reporter for The New York Times from 1986 to 1992, and he wrote more than a dozen books. Most explored his twin passions-- basketball ("Knight Fall: The True Story Behind America's Most Controversial Coach,"; "Forever Showtime: The Checkered Life of Pistol Pete Maravich," 1999; "Miracle on 33rd Street: The New York Knickerbockers' Championship Season," and boxing ("Blood Season: Mike Tyson and the World of Boxing; "Punch Lines: Berger on Boxing," ). He wrote the screenplay for a feature film about boxing, "Price of Glory," which starred Jimmy Smits.' Novelist Robert Stone called Berger "the last boxing writer" -- a tribute to his unique position as a chronicler of the boxing scene. Allan Sonnenschein was a journalist and editor for Penthouse Magazine for twenty years, and the author of Down and Dirty: The Life and Crimes of Oklahoma Football. You can see the red covers in the photos. They have some darkening/toning/soiling (not sure which) off their top and bottom edges. The edges and corners are in very solid shape. The page edges are clean. The black lettering on the spine is very bright. There is the typical crinkling at the spine ends. The book is square and the spine is straight. The binding is very solid from cover to cover with nicely tight page throughout and nicely tight covers as well. The interior of the book looks terrific. The pages are exceptionally clean. I've scrolled through them a number of times without finding any instances of soiling. I'm not finding any creasing. There was a nick to the bottom edge which created a little nick at the bottom edge of a half-dozen or so pages, no tears, nothing of any significance. There are no markings in the book. No attachments of any kind. And the authors' signed inscription is the only writing to be found anywhere. You can see the dust jacket in the first few photos. It's in very nice condition. There's a little bit of toning at the margins. There are no tears. There's a little crinkling at the spine ends. There isn't any loss at the corners. The flaps are in very nice condition, very clean. The jacket is NOT price-clipped, not clipped at all. It will be fitted with a protective cover after the photos are scanned. From the dust jacket: 'A collection of essays by The New York Times' boxing correspondent for the last seven years, Punch Lines provides both insight into boxers' lives and examples of journalism at its finest. Phil Berger is a reporter who closes the distance between his audience and the subjects he profiles: to that end, he has done roadwork with Mike Tyson and Hector Camacho. In Punch Lines, he writes about would-be contenders who will never escape the prison of the slums where they grew up; of a fighter who, despite his relatively privileged background, is committed body and soul to the bloodiest of the blood sports; of former champions struggling to make a comeback and of kids determined to make a name. He profiles champions like Riddick Bowe, George Foreman, marvelous Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Mike Tyson, and movers and shakers like Angelo Dundee, Lou Duva and Don King.'.
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