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Cinderella Man: James J. Braddock, Max Baer, And The Greatest Upset In Boxing History
Offers a portrait of an American icon, boxer James J. Braddock, who staged a remarkable comeback during the Depression that captured the imagination of millions of working-class Americans.
324 pages, Hardcover
First published April 25, 2005
50 people are currently reading
819 people want to read
About the author
Jeremy Schaap
13Ìýbooks10ÌýfollowersFrom wikipedia article on author Jeremy Schaap (b. August 23, 1969, New York City) is an American sportswriter, television reporter, and author. Schaap is a six-time Emmy award winner for his work on ESPN's E:60, SportsCenter and Outside the Lines.
He is a regular contributor to Nightline and ABC World News Tonight and has been published in Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine, Time, Parade, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
A native and resident of New York City, Schaap is the author of Cinderella Man: James J. Braddock, Max Baer, and the Greatest Upset in Boxing History (Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 0-618-55117-4), a New York Times best-seller, and Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics.
Schaap is the son of the late journalist and broadcaster Dick Schaap. Like his father, Schaap is an alumnus of Cornell University and a former editor of The Cornell Daily Sun. Schaap was also a member of the Quill and Dagger society. He won the Dick Schaap Award for Outstanding Writing at the 2005 Emmys, an award named after his father, for an Outside the Lines feature entitled "Finding Bobby Fischer." Schaap and his wife have one child, a daughter.
He is a regular contributor to Nightline and ABC World News Tonight and has been published in Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine, Time, Parade, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
A native and resident of New York City, Schaap is the author of Cinderella Man: James J. Braddock, Max Baer, and the Greatest Upset in Boxing History (Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 0-618-55117-4), a New York Times best-seller, and Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics.
Schaap is the son of the late journalist and broadcaster Dick Schaap. Like his father, Schaap is an alumnus of Cornell University and a former editor of The Cornell Daily Sun. Schaap was also a member of the Quill and Dagger society. He won the Dick Schaap Award for Outstanding Writing at the 2005 Emmys, an award named after his father, for an Outside the Lines feature entitled "Finding Bobby Fischer." Schaap and his wife have one child, a daughter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
February 13, 2018
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
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Previous library review: The Match
Next library review: 1000 Ways to Win Monopoly Games
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
March 8, 2016
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.
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.
March 9, 2022
This is a simple story. One fighter beats another fighter that he isn't supposed to beat.
And then it becomes a more complex story. A fighter, a boxer that is washed up, done and broke to boot stumbles into the Great Depression. He works one handed on the docks of New York in a Sisyphean attempt to feed his family, his right hand broken from his previous life as a prize fighter. He goes on welfare.
And from here, it becomes THE American boxing story. Gameness and work ethic over talent and ego. Almost a fairytale. And a fairytale capably told by Schaap.
And then it becomes a more complex story. A fighter, a boxer that is washed up, done and broke to boot stumbles into the Great Depression. He works one handed on the docks of New York in a Sisyphean attempt to feed his family, his right hand broken from his previous life as a prize fighter. He goes on welfare.
And from here, it becomes THE American boxing story. Gameness and work ethic over talent and ego. Almost a fairytale. And a fairytale capably told by Schaap.
November 21, 2023
Great book. Anybody with interest in boxing or the depression era as a whole should check it out.
March 9, 2011
James Braddock was a Depression-era light heavyweight contender who after a series of losses and a broken right hand, looked all but washed up. Working sporadically as a day laborer on the New Jersey docks and having to go on county relief to get enough money to feed his family, through the loyalty of his manager Joe Gould, he managed to work his way back into the ring and eventually to a title shot against heavyweight champion Max Baer.
It's one of the better stories in sports history, yet author Jeremy Schaap renders it pretty lifelessly. I don't know what it is about his writing, but I get the sense that if it were read aloud, it would sound like a high school oral report. I was also distracted by how much he focused on which fighters were Jewish and which weren't. It's not that it was completely irrelevant, particularly in light of the possibility that were Max Schmeling to regain the title, the Nazi Party might then control who he fought and refuse to allow any black or Jewish challengers, but even so, when Schaap began cataloging who was 100% Jewish and who was only 25% Jewish, I began to feel like I was watching the "Jew/Not a Jew" skit from Saturday Night Live.
On the plus side, he portrays Max Baer in a much fuller light than was done in the movie based on this book. In the movie, Baer was portrayed as a blood-thirsty jackass who didn't care if his opponents actually died as a result of his punching them in the head; here, Schaap reports (albeit somewhat matter-of-factly) that Baer forever suffered over the incident early in his career when he killed Frankie Campbell and that it continued to impact to his detriment the way he fought even at the end of his career. Nonetheless I will always love the movie if only because someone once described it as being "just like Seabiscuit, but with Russell Crowe playing the part of the horse."
The book was just okay but probably of no interest if you're not a boxing fan.
It's one of the better stories in sports history, yet author Jeremy Schaap renders it pretty lifelessly. I don't know what it is about his writing, but I get the sense that if it were read aloud, it would sound like a high school oral report. I was also distracted by how much he focused on which fighters were Jewish and which weren't. It's not that it was completely irrelevant, particularly in light of the possibility that were Max Schmeling to regain the title, the Nazi Party might then control who he fought and refuse to allow any black or Jewish challengers, but even so, when Schaap began cataloging who was 100% Jewish and who was only 25% Jewish, I began to feel like I was watching the "Jew/Not a Jew" skit from Saturday Night Live.
On the plus side, he portrays Max Baer in a much fuller light than was done in the movie based on this book. In the movie, Baer was portrayed as a blood-thirsty jackass who didn't care if his opponents actually died as a result of his punching them in the head; here, Schaap reports (albeit somewhat matter-of-factly) that Baer forever suffered over the incident early in his career when he killed Frankie Campbell and that it continued to impact to his detriment the way he fought even at the end of his career. Nonetheless I will always love the movie if only because someone once described it as being "just like Seabiscuit, but with Russell Crowe playing the part of the horse."
The book was just okay but probably of no interest if you're not a boxing fan.
August 6, 2018
Very rarely do I find a work of non-fiction to be this much of a page-turner.
A great compliment to the movie which was equally as good.
A great compliment to the movie which was equally as good.
January 9, 2018
Interesting book. There is quite a bit here that was not in the movie. I enjoyed listening to it. Our culture has changed significantly since the 1930s.
November 24, 2017
This is an excellent book. Schaap does an excellent job weaving together the narratives of Braddock and Baer, coloring in the margins with contemporary reports. Hearing what the columnists of the time had to say - significant due to their influence (and verbosity!) - feeds into the social awareness that made it possible for a kind of ordinary boxer into "Cinderella Man."
January 2, 2015
Boxers fighting during the Depression. They either fought or they starved.Excellent true life biographies.
October 11, 2016
Classic. Just as good as the movie.
October 9, 2019
Cinderella Man by Jeremy Schaap in 2005, is a true story that took place in the 1930s, during the Great Depression. This story takes place in New York, during the depression, which was period of time where people didn't have the best income because of the descend in the US economy. James J. Braddock the main character of this story was a light heavy weight boxer that broke his right hand in a fight and was forced to retire from the boxing ring. Soon later he became a laborer at the docks in order to support his family, but despite his injury, boxing was always on the back of his head. One day, several years later, Braddock's old manager comes to him and asks him to fight in the ring once again, and according to his old manager, Joe Gould, if Braddock wins he gets payed. So obviously Braddock took the offer because he gets paid plus he gets another shot in the ring several years after being recovered from a broken right hand. Braddock wins that fight and has another one and wins that one too. Braddock wants to keep fighting and fighting because he wasn't scared to lose or compete. So Braddock kept climbing the world ranks and one day he had to fight the heavyweight champion Max Baer, who supposedly has killed two people in the ring before. And so the fight begins between May Baer and James Braddock. Read the book if you want to find out what happens next.
Cinderella Man was a New York Times Bestseller which was a "A punchy read with touches of humor, opinion, and attitude."-New York Times. The book itself was a true story and written in third person. When I read this book, I felt like their were no boring parts to the book which is a good thing because I really enjoyed reading this book. Personally, I love sports books, or books about athletes, but reading this and seeing how this boxer existed in real life and fought to survive inside the ring and out during the Great Depression was really inspirational. The book really emphasizes on how horrible the depression was to show the many hardships people had to go through, which was sad but inspiring. When I first started reading this book, I was confused on why the title was Cinderella Man and it means basically anyone who gets a second chance and succeeds with it. I really connected with this book on a personal level too, because I always go my hardest in sports but not outside because I didn't have to work hard to get things on the outside. But when everyday survival and the survival of your family is a battle, it's a really tough life to live. This book isn't too hard of a read, about 300 pages, but it feels a lot shorter because when I read through the book, I was so caught up in the story that I didn't even pay attention the page number I was on. Overall, I think this book is a really inspirational and fun read because of the history tied into it and it being true story.
Cinderella Man was a New York Times Bestseller which was a "A punchy read with touches of humor, opinion, and attitude."-New York Times. The book itself was a true story and written in third person. When I read this book, I felt like their were no boring parts to the book which is a good thing because I really enjoyed reading this book. Personally, I love sports books, or books about athletes, but reading this and seeing how this boxer existed in real life and fought to survive inside the ring and out during the Great Depression was really inspirational. The book really emphasizes on how horrible the depression was to show the many hardships people had to go through, which was sad but inspiring. When I first started reading this book, I was confused on why the title was Cinderella Man and it means basically anyone who gets a second chance and succeeds with it. I really connected with this book on a personal level too, because I always go my hardest in sports but not outside because I didn't have to work hard to get things on the outside. But when everyday survival and the survival of your family is a battle, it's a really tough life to live. This book isn't too hard of a read, about 300 pages, but it feels a lot shorter because when I read through the book, I was so caught up in the story that I didn't even pay attention the page number I was on. Overall, I think this book is a really inspirational and fun read because of the history tied into it and it being true story.
January 21, 2018
A very good book about the American boxing scene circa the late 1920s and early 30s, the Depression Era. This book focuses on the rise and fall and the subsequent and unexpected comeback of a NJ heavyweight boxer named Jim Braddock, the Cinderella Man. The book is much more about boxing than the movie based on the book and full of interesting boxing anecdotes. Back in those days boxing was big, right up there with baseball. Boxing was and is a very violent sport. A champion boxer needs to be ferocious, cold-blooded and a gamer. Despite Braddock's modesty (the anti-Ali), affability and character he possessed the "right stuff" to become the heavyweight champion in 1935. The book tells a very human story about the Irish-American Braddock (born in Hell's Kitchen) who teams up with the good and decent Jewish-American, Joe Gould. Gould was his manager and was a big part of Braddock's success. Braddock was a devoted married man with three young children trying his best to keep his family fed and sheltered during the early Depression. He sought work where he could find it (worked the docks) and kept up with his training. Braddock won three big fights immediately before getting a shot at the title in a championship bout vs Max Baer in NY. Baer was the opposite of Braddock in personality. Baer cared little for the fight game. It was just a way to make big money and Baer's right hand was his meal ticket. Baer was a playboy and a clown. He did not respect the sport like Braddock. Baer was an overwhelming favorite to destroy Braddock but as the fight progressed Braddock, Gould and the fans (most all of them pulling for Braddock) sensed an upset in the making. Bottom line, Jeremy Schaap wrote a very good book about a great American sports story. Well done.
September 18, 2021
Whether you are a fan of boxing or not, any tale following the proverbial underdog in their quest to success is worth a shot to read. With the Roaring Twenties and Great Depression hovering over the lives of all involved, the professional careers of James J. Braddock and Max Baer are elegantly narrated by sportswriter Jeremy Schaap in “Cinderella Man.� The reader will discover how impactful the sport of boxing was to American society in the first half of the twentieth century, as well as the story of the men who reigned as the most feared fighters of the heavyweight division. Schaap perhaps owes much of his biography’s success due to the in-depth coverage of the hero’s adversary, that being Baer. You truly learn to relate to both Braddock and Baer, maybe so much so with Max that you come to feel sorry for his situation. Though Americans love a story that revolves around winning, we should all read this book for the inspiring journey of those who just keep fighting until the bitter end.
January 16, 2025
This book caught my eye
I was at my school's library and there was a free books cart and free books, It is MY MIDDLE NAME so I went looking at the books and this one spoke to me. It wasn't just the cover but the story. The feeling I got was looking and reading the back cover alone, I knew I wanted to right away. I'm going through a tough time right, I love boxing and wished I got back into it, and this story had sparkles in my eyes. It turns out the main character is from NJ (My state) and grew up in NB (My old hometown).
He became a hero for everyone during the great depression this story inspired me and really made me sparkle
I see myself in the story and I LOVE BOOKS LIKE THAT
I love how in a different time in history I can see myself in them as well it's beautiful how books can take us back in time!
It was really a surprise my hometown is very unknown and small to see it in a book with a person who's my nationality with my interests It's super cool!!
I love this book so far and I can't wait to read more!!!
I was at my school's library and there was a free books cart and free books, It is MY MIDDLE NAME so I went looking at the books and this one spoke to me. It wasn't just the cover but the story. The feeling I got was looking and reading the back cover alone, I knew I wanted to right away. I'm going through a tough time right, I love boxing and wished I got back into it, and this story had sparkles in my eyes. It turns out the main character is from NJ (My state) and grew up in NB (My old hometown).
He became a hero for everyone during the great depression this story inspired me and really made me sparkle
I see myself in the story and I LOVE BOOKS LIKE THAT
I love how in a different time in history I can see myself in them as well it's beautiful how books can take us back in time!
It was really a surprise my hometown is very unknown and small to see it in a book with a person who's my nationality with my interests It's super cool!!
I love this book so far and I can't wait to read more!!!
December 7, 2022
I was interested in this book because I loved the movie and wanted to learn more about the real-life Jim Braddock. For the most part, this book was good but wasn't particularly amazing. There was definitely a lot of information on Braddock's early life, how he got into boxing, etc. There was also a lot of content about Max Baer and his climb to the top as the heavyweight boxing champion. I wished there were more details of his struggles during the depression to feed his family (although I understand there probably wasn't much available material on that for Schaap to research for this book).
On the whole, I appreciate the story as it is a true David v. Goliath moment in sports history. Braddock also was an admirable man, a devoted husband and father, and had a remarkable story from poverty to the top of the world of boxing. I think this book would be good for sports fans but it's probably not the best book for people interested in the personal and family life of Braddock.
On the whole, I appreciate the story as it is a true David v. Goliath moment in sports history. Braddock also was an admirable man, a devoted husband and father, and had a remarkable story from poverty to the top of the world of boxing. I think this book would be good for sports fans but it's probably not the best book for people interested in the personal and family life of Braddock.
August 10, 2021
Boxing was such a popular sport during the Great Depression. My grandparents� family listened to “the fights� on the radio. Dubbed “Cinderella Man� by writer Damon Runyon, James J. Braddock, with 24 losses, won one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight boxing championship history. He defeated Max Baer on June 13, 1935, in Long Island City, New York, for the world title in a unanimous decision after a grueling 15 rounds.
The next day, Leora wrote her two sons who’d joined the Navy during the Depression, “Expect you may have heard the Braddock and Baer fight. I’m glad Braddock won–he needs the money for his family.� Not only that, but Braddock had been “on the dole� at one point, an underdog in many ways. He was so embarrassed at needing help to feed his three children that he paid back the money he’d received from the government.
The next day, Leora wrote her two sons who’d joined the Navy during the Depression, “Expect you may have heard the Braddock and Baer fight. I’m glad Braddock won–he needs the money for his family.� Not only that, but Braddock had been “on the dole� at one point, an underdog in many ways. He was so embarrassed at needing help to feed his three children that he paid back the money he’d received from the government.
May 15, 2021
Pay attention to the sub-title: both Braddock's and Baer's names are listed. While the film prominently features Braddock, the book (despite the same title), is evenly split between the two pugilists' careers. Although I'm more bias towards the 2005 film, the book does expand on aspects of the story that a movie doesn't have the running time to expound on - however a lot of the content is there - which only makes me like the film even more. Braddock's story is one of the most purely American tales, and even one that modern inflammatory political opinions would find something to appreciate within. A tad wordy when it comes to the various boxers and competitions, yet the overall intricacies of the system in the late-1920 to mid-1930s are understandable.
December 2, 2024
I love the story of James J Braddock, a man who boxed during the Great Depression, and the film Cinderella Man has been my official Favorite Movie for years. I expected to love this book, but it wasn't quite what I was looking for.
It included the story of James J. and answered some of my questions, clarifying facts between the movie and the actual events. But I found the book focusing on a lot of details that were less important to me and skimming over some of the bits and pieces I would have found more interesting. It was a lot more a history of boxing than I expected and surprisingly lacking in the full examination of Braddock's life.
I am glad to have read it, but I won't again. 3 stars.
It included the story of James J. and answered some of my questions, clarifying facts between the movie and the actual events. But I found the book focusing on a lot of details that were less important to me and skimming over some of the bits and pieces I would have found more interesting. It was a lot more a history of boxing than I expected and surprisingly lacking in the full examination of Braddock's life.
I am glad to have read it, but I won't again. 3 stars.
January 7, 2024
I came to this book as a tremendous fan of books about the sport of boxing, but more so as a fan and admirer of the writing and the kind of a man that Jeremy Schaap's father, Dick Schaap, was. I can say unequivocally that Dick Schaap would have been proud of his son for writing such a rich and superb book. So many boxing biographies get caught up in matches, but Cinderella Man evokes an era with such detail and human poignancy that I found myself transported and on the edge of my seat, even as I knew the outcome of the fights. This book is an absolute gem.
August 19, 2017
If you watch the movie, this book is based on that screen play with some additional information from other sources. In one respect I was disappointed because I was hoping it was a true biography, and would have more about his childhood, And more about his life after he became heavyweight champion. Other than that it was really enjoyable read about a man who fought back from very difficult odds, and always put his family first.
January 17, 2019
I'll admit, I watched the movie first and thoroughly enjoyed it. Wanting to know more about the "Cinderella Man" I turned to this book. Schaap creates a page turner with a great cast of characters that all have a stake in the game. Braddock's stake is far higher and it's always great to see a man down on his luck rise to the occasion when he's constantly pushed back. Well worth a read.
February 14, 2024
This was aces! I’ve loved the movie for a long time so I was always interested. Turns out, for the most part, the movie is a pretty good adaptation. The only thing the movie got REALLY wrong is what Max was like. He was not some sinister super villain like the movie portrays and he was actually quite haunted by the fact he killed someone in the ring.
October 1, 2018
I think that the the author Jeremy Schaap ended the story wrong and I also think that there should be more added to the story, such as more and more fights, and then go on to his future to see what he looks like now.
March 6, 2019
Loved it
One of the best boxing biographies I’ve ever read, and I’ve read them all. This book does great justice to Braddock and Baer and smoothes over the misconceptions from the movie of the same title.
One of the best boxing biographies I’ve ever read, and I’ve read them all. This book does great justice to Braddock and Baer and smoothes over the misconceptions from the movie of the same title.
July 21, 2022
Uplifting
What a wonderful story about a guy who never gave up. It is no wonder that those who came through the Depression went on to lead America to greatness. A wonderful story, well written.
What a wonderful story about a guy who never gave up. It is no wonder that those who came through the Depression went on to lead America to greatness. A wonderful story, well written.
June 29, 2024
This book is the total package: the struggle of the everyman in the great depression, a short history of New York 1920-1937, an education in the Jewish boxing scene of the same era, a true fighting Irish tale, and a great sports biography
August 9, 2024
LOVED IT!! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!
If you love the movie Cinderella Man, you will love this!! I highly recommend it!! Very informative, great writing & of course a great story from history!!
If you love the movie Cinderella Man, you will love this!! I highly recommend it!! Very informative, great writing & of course a great story from history!!
April 16, 2025
I enjoyed learning about these characters. Who knew boxing was so incredibly huge back then. In general I don't care about sports, and boxing specifically I care about even less, but I was still entertained by this book. It's a fast read and well written and worth knowing something about.
April 18, 2018
If you have only seen the movie, you haven't heard the whole story! This is a must read for any boxing fan!
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