Reviews for Bankruptcy (Law School Legends Series)

The average rating for Bankruptcy (Law School Legends Series) based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-09-06 00:00:00 Bill James 4 1/2 I'm not much of a boxing fan, but a friend raved about and loaned this book to me. It was a real page-turner - great book about Braddock and Baer, but also about Depression times, the New York/New Jersey locale, and the fight scene in the heyday of American boxing. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in any of those things. Since I no longer have the book, I'll lay some text in here from the Wiki piece on James J. Braddock (1905 - 1974). Braddock was born in Hell's Kitchen in New York City on West 48th Street. He was one of seven children being raised by both immigrant parents; Irish mother Elizabeth O'Tool and Anglo-Irish father Joseph Braddock. He stated his life's early ambition was to play football for Knute Rockne at the University of Notre Dame, but he had "more brawn than brains." ... In 1934 Braddock was given a fight with the highly touted John "Corn" Griffin. Although Braddock was intended simply as a stepping stone in Griffin's career, he knocked out the "Ozark Cyclone" in the third round. Braddock then fought John Henry Lewis, a future light heavyweight champion. He won in one of the most important fights of his career. After defeating another highly regarded heavyweight contender, Art Lasky, whose nose he broke during the bout on March 22, 1935, Braddock was given a title fight against the World Heavyweight Champion, Max Baer. Baer hardly trained for the bout. Braddock, on the other hand, was training hard. "I'm training for a fight. Not a boxing contest or a clownin' contest or a dance", he said. "Whether it goes 1 round or 3 rounds or 10 rounds, it will be a fight and a fight all the way... When you've been through what I've had to face in the last two years, a Max Baer or a Bengal tiger looks like a house pet. He might come at me with a cannon and a blackjack and he would still be a picnic compared to what I've had to face." Considered little more than a journeyman fighter, Braddock was hand-picked by Baer's handlers because he was seen as an easy payday for the champion, despite his recent impressive victories. Instead, on June 13, 1935, at Madison Square Garden Bowl, Braddock won the Heavyweight Championship of the World as the 10-to-1 underdog in what was called "the greatest fistic upset since the defeat of John L. Sullivan by Jim Corbett". [The reference for this quote is the book being reviewed here.] During the fight, a dogged Braddock took a few heavy hits from the powerful younger champion (30 years vs 26 years for Baer), but Braddock kept coming, wearing down Baer, who seemed perplexed by Braddock's ability to take a punch. In the end, the judges gave Braddock the title with a unanimous decision. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Previous review: Sword of Honour Trilogy Random review: A Season in Hell Rimbaud Next review: Half of a Yellow Sun Previous library review: The Match Next library review: 1000 Ways to Win Monopoly Games

Review # 2 was written on 2013-06-21 00:00:00 Earl Nordstrom Cinderella man is a book about an underdog in boxing as well as an underdog in life trying to make something of himself in the toughest economic times of the 20th Century. It centers itself around James J. Braddock. Braddock was a very nice man who wanted to take care of his family. One of the few industries of the 1930's where one could make money was boxing. Braddock was a good boxer who at times slacked. Part of his slacking was due to the fact that he suffered from fragile hands that rarely were healthy. He worked the New Jersey docks when he was not boxing but rarely made enough to support his family doing so. So he decided to take boxing seriously and rattled off a few impressive wins. They set him up with one of the top contenders, Corn Griffin. Braddock surprised the boxing world with an impressive knock out of this top contender. He then rattled off two more victories over opponents the experts thought he should not beat. These victories land him a shot at the heavyweight championship held by Max Baer. Although Braddock had some impressive wins he was still a huge underdog. The champion, Baer, joked around alot but had tremendous power in his punches. It seems as though he was carrying Braddock at first but once he noticed how serious Braddock was he fought it out with him. Baer relying on his tremendous power could not stop the iron-chinned Braddock and lost a unanimous decision and his heavyweight belt with it. At this time, Joe Louis was coming up and was viewed as the best heavyweight and next champion. Braddock, however, was the new champion and gained that championship in what was the greatest upset of a heavyweight champion since Boxing began in the 1880’s. That’s why Damon Runyon called Braddock “Cinderella Man.” As champion Braddock was set to fight Max Schmeling in his first defense. Schmeling earned the title by pulling off an upset himself, by knocking out Joe Louis. Braddock’s manager, who was a real good friend, pulled off a sensational deal setting up Braddock to fight Joe Louis instead of Max Schmeling. He made a sweet deal with the Louis camp. In exchange for Braddock giving Louis the chance Louis, if he wins, would agree to pay a certain percentage of Louis’s purse to Braddock for all of Louis’s title defenses. Louis beat Braddock and dominated boxing for a decade. Braddock went on to live a comfortable life.