Rating: 
Summary: A Page Turner - More Like A Page Pounder
Review: A Page Turner - More Like A Page Pounder
Reading this book I felt like Sugar Ray Fighting La Motta - couldn't put it down -
OK - that's a stretch, but you get the idea. I could not put this book down. It reads like a bull charges. A little bit of wind up - I'd say the first 19 pages - then it's a charging bull.
Jake's story is much more than what the movie shows and is different.
As we all know and heard so many times - the book is always better than the movie and again it's very true here - the book is Jake's exact story not changed one hair for Hollywood. It's such an intense, real and gritty story.
It starts off in Jake's childhood as a tuff Bronx kid taking a beating from his father and the world - and as he got older the beatings continue and get worse - the biggest beatings coming from himself.
La Motta is brutally honest and doesn't try to hide anything or paint himself in a special light. It's a powerful and straightforward look at his life, his heart and a candid look at the sport of boxing back then.
It's a great book, you'll pound through the pages like a raging bull.
Rating:
Summary: honest brutality
Review: i would have given this 6 stars if i could have and I read this book all in one day. the candid writing is tough to digest but lamotta is not looking for any sympathy here. he's telling it like it is by a man who was on a quest and how everything else fell apart before he got there and after he got there. i can see why deniro decided to seek him out to do the film adaptation. great stuff here
Rating:
Summary: Raging Bull, an unblievably believable sad and joyous story
Review: Jake La Motta is a vicious monster. Both inside the ring and outside the ring. Growing up in the slums of the Bronx,
Jake was not loved or cared for by his father, who frequently beat him for no reason or explanation. His mother
was loving to Jake, but his father beat her too. Jake channeled all this abuse, both physical and neglect, and turned
into a thug as a teenager because what else could he do. He believed he was to have been a murderer, for bashing a bookie over the head with a pipe,and suffered for many years afterwards with self inflicting torment and abuse and anguish to all around him. While as a teen, Jake the thug turned into a life of petty crime and was sent to a reform school. While at reform school, the only thing Jake could find interesting was the gym, where he practiced and developed as a boxer. When Jake was released from reform school, he vowed to himself never to go back to jail and to try and change his way. Jake soon began to compete amateurishly with boxing, and then shortly
thereafter turned pro. While he was a freight train inside the ring, Jake was a train wreck in his personal life.
Jack's life consisted of no one he could trust. Not his best friend Pete, his wives, his brother, and especially the mob.
He battered his boxing opponent into oblivion, he battered his wives unconscious, and battered his friends if you would
even call them friends. Yes Jake was this violent. His second wife Vickie, is main wife in this book was a saint, during and after their marriage. Jake beat everyone in the ring he could. Sometimes he'd lose, not on purpose, but as a result to his mannerisms prior to a fight, which were mostly self inflicting. After 8 years of boxing pro, and going no where, Jake relented to turning to the mob for a shot at the middleweight
belt. In 1949, Jake was champ. They day after he was champ, he life went into the gutter. A good for nothing bum kid from
the Bronx, he was destined to never amount to not even spit on the sidewalk, was now the champion of the world! How was this. Well Jake's demons came forth the night he won the championship, and what he feared he'd done as a kid, was not true. Believed to be a murderer as a teen, Jake drove himself insane with pain, fear, guilt, and anger, and the only way he could channel all that negative energy was to box. Well, who he thought he killed long ago was actually alive and well and he couldn't believe it. From there on, Jake lost the spark and the fire to what drove him to be the champ, and a year and a half later after defending his title twice was belted by quite possibly
the bloodiest boxing match my eyes ever seen on February 14th 1951 to Sugar Ray. Jake got massacred by the 13th round. (if you ever get a chance to actually see that fight, seeing is believing!!!). Jake's trip into hell began in Oct 1949, after winning the belt, and he took his first steps descending into hell after he retired from boxing in 1953. His move to Miami added to the catastrophe, his wife divorced
him, he fooled around alot, he ballooned to well over 200 lbs, drank and dabbled with drugs, his business crumbled due to a prostitution charge of a minor, and once again Jake ended up in jail. Serving 6 months, Jake finally prayed to the man upstairs for forgiveness, and released from prison, Jake wanted to vindicate himself. Leaner, cleaner, and this time for certain destined to clean up his act. After prison, Jake was a whistle blower in boxing and spilled the beans about the fight set up he needed to do to become the champ. After that, Jake remarried, although it ended up unsuccessful, Jake tried, and it appears he was not abusive to his 3rd wife. After dabbling
in acting and plays, Jake found solace in performing again, but on stage instead of a ring. There were some set backs. But nothing as shocking and more disturbing as the first 22 chapters. And by 1970 Jake was acting in b-films.
In conclusion, Jake La Motto is a vicious monster. But who could blame him. I don't. Jake will blame himself, and yes, many of the horrific things he did in his youth were unacceptable and just downright unethical. But Jake never was given a chance at life. Not by his family anyways, he was raised by the mean streets of the Bronx, his family was the streets, and it was mean, and Jake was meaner. Jake was never loved as a child, and without that love, he never trusted
anyone, ever! Many success stories, or dreams come true stories are about love and trust. Jake has neither. This is a sad story, a truly sad story, of a man who struggled to make it on his own, and did make it on his own, and just threw it all away because he didn't any know better because no one showed him.
Personally, I believe Jake LaMotta to be the best middleweight boxer ever! I mean ever! For all his wrongs, he did something right, and box right he did. Jake gave boxing so many memorable upsets, so many memorable knockouts, and most importantly memorable comebacks, both inside the ring and outside the ring. Jake is a champ, and a monster, but I would never say that too his face unless I want to keep mine on my head.
Onto Raging Bull II, the continuing story...Highly Recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Raging Bull, an unblievably believable sad and joyous story
Review: Jake La Motta is a vicious monster. Both inside the ring and outside the ring. Growing up in the slums of the Bronx,
Jake was not loved or cared for by his father, who frequently beat him for no reason or explanation. His mother
was loving to Jake, but his father beat her too. Jake channeled all this abuse, both physical and neglect, and turned
into a thug as a teenager because what else could he do. He believed he was to have been a murderer, for bashing a bookie over the head with a pipe,and suffered for many years afterwards with self inflicting torment and abuse and anguish to all around him. While as a teen, Jake the thug turned into a life of petty crime and was sent to a reform school. While at reform school, the only thing Jake could find interesting was the gym, where he practiced and developed as a boxer. When Jake was released from reform school, he vowed to himself never to go back to jail and to try and change his way. Jake soon began to compete amateurishly with boxing, and then shortly
thereafter turned pro. While he was a freight train inside the ring, Jake was a train wreck in his personal life.
Jack's life consisted of no one he could trust. Not his best friend Pete, his wives, his brother, and especially the mob.
He battered his boxing opponent into oblivion, he battered his wives unconscious, and battered his friends if you would
even call them friends. Yes Jake was this violent. His second wife Vickie, is main wife in this book was a saint, during and after their marriage. Jake beat everyone in the ring he could. Sometimes he'd lose, not on purpose, but as a result to his mannerisms prior to a fight, which were mostly self inflicting. After 8 years of boxing pro, and going no where, Jake relented to turning to the mob for a shot at the middleweight
belt. In 1949, Jake was champ. They day after he was champ, he life went into the gutter. A good for nothing bum kid from
the Bronx, he was destined to never amount to not even spit on the sidewalk, was now the champion of the world! How was this. Well Jake's demons came forth the night he won the championship, and what he feared he'd done as a kid, was not true. Believed to be a murderer as a teen, Jake drove himself insane with pain, fear, guilt, and anger, and the only way he could channel all that negative energy was to box. Well, who he thought he killed long ago was actually alive and well and he couldn't believe it. From there on, Jake lost the spark and the fire to what drove him to be the champ, and a year and a half later after defending his title twice was belted by quite possibly
the bloodiest boxing match my eyes ever seen on February 14th 1951 to Sugar Ray. Jake got massacred by the 13th round. (if you ever get a chance to actually see that fight, seeing is believing!!!). Jake's trip into hell began in Oct 1949, after winning the belt, and he took his first steps descending into hell after he retired from boxing in 1953. His move to Miami added to the catastrophe, his wife divorced
him, he fooled around alot, he ballooned to well over 200 lbs, drank and dabbled with drugs, his business crumbled due to a prostitution charge of a minor, and once again Jake ended up in jail. Serving 6 months, Jake finally prayed to the man upstairs for forgiveness, and released from prison, Jake wanted to vindicate himself. Leaner, cleaner, and this time for certain destined to clean up his act. After prison, Jake was a whistle blower in boxing and spilled the beans about the fight set up he needed to do to become the champ. After that, Jake remarried, although it ended up unsuccessful, Jake tried, and it appears he was not abusive to his 3rd wife. After dabbling
in acting and plays, Jake found solace in performing again, but on stage instead of a ring. There were some set backs. But nothing as shocking and more disturbing as the first 22 chapters. And by 1970 Jake was acting in b-films.
In conclusion, Jake La Motto is a vicious monster. But who could blame him. I don't. Jake will blame himself, and yes, many of the horrific things he did in his youth were unacceptable and just downright unethical. But Jake never was given a chance at life. Not by his family anyways, he was raised by the mean streets of the Bronx, his family was the streets, and it was mean, and Jake was meaner. Jake was never loved as a child, and without that love, he never trusted
anyone, ever! Many success stories, or dreams come true stories are about love and trust. Jake has neither. This is a sad story, a truly sad story, of a man who struggled to make it on his own, and did make it on his own, and just threw it all away because he didn't any know better because no one showed him.
Personally, I believe Jake LaMotta to be the best middleweight boxer ever! I mean ever! For all his wrongs, he did something right, and box right he did. Jake gave boxing so many memorable upsets, so many memorable knockouts, and most importantly memorable comebacks, both inside the ring and outside the ring. Jake is a champ, and a monster, but I would never say that too his face unless I want to keep mine on my head.
Onto Raging Bull II, the continuing story...Highly Recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Packs the Same Wallop as La Motta's Ring Punch
Review: Jake La Motta made a good living punching people in the ring, rising in 1949 to the world middleweight championship. He packs the same wallop in his book "Raging Bull," the basis for the powerful 1980 film which was directed by Martin Scorsese and earned Robert De Niro an Oscar for Best Actor.La Motta paints a brutally vivid picture of a youngster and young man growing up in a brutal Bronx jungle. The fighter they called "The Bronx Bull" writes about seeing rats in the cellar of the tenament where he grew up that were the size of cats. The neighborhood in which he grew up was so tough that he had thousands of fights, explaining that by the time he laced on gloves and became a boxer such conflict had become totally routine. To La Motta a fight was as commonplace as anyone else brushing their teeth, a simple, elementary part of life. He writes about his early life of crime, including the beating of one man he thought he had killed. In perhaps the most dramatic sequence of the book he reveals how he had lived in morbid fear of being apprehended for murder and in guilt for the act itself, after which he was shocked when the man he was convinced he had killed surfaces. Unaware that La Motta was his attacker, the man surfaces in Detroit to wish the fighter luck as he prepares for his winning title bout against champion Marcel Cerdan of France. The man explains that he was hurt badly but finally recovered, and is in town to wish someone from his old neighborhood luck in his title pursuit. The raw power of the lightning narrative, along with its brutally realistic truth, makes "Raging Bull" one of the all- time great sports books, a true American classic.
Rating:
Summary: Packs the Same Wallop as La Motta's Ring Punch
Review: Jake La Motta made a good living punching people in the ring, rising in 1949 to the world middleweight championship. He packs the same wallop in his book "Raging Bull," the basis for the powerful 1980 film which was directed by Martin Scorsese and earned Robert De Niro an Oscar for Best Actor. La Motta paints a brutally vivid picture of a youngster and young man growing up in a brutal Bronx jungle. The fighter they called "The Bronx Bull" writes about seeing rats in the cellar of the tenament where he grew up that were the size of cats. The neighborhood in which he grew up was so tough that he had thousands of fights, explaining that by the time he laced on gloves and became a boxer such conflict had become totally routine. To La Motta a fight was as commonplace as anyone else brushing their teeth, a simple, elementary part of life. He writes about his early life of crime, including the beating of one man he thought he had killed. In perhaps the most dramatic sequence of the book he reveals how he had lived in morbid fear of being apprehended for murder and in guilt for the act itself, after which he was shocked when the man he was convinced he had killed surfaces. Unaware that La Motta was his attacker, the man surfaces in Detroit to wish the fighter luck as he prepares for his winning title bout against champion Marcel Cerdan of France. The man explains that he was hurt badly but finally recovered, and is in town to wish someone from his old neighborhood luck in his title pursuit. The raw power of the lightning narrative, along with its brutally realistic truth, makes "Raging Bull" one of the all- time great sports books, a true American classic.
Rating:
Summary: Packs the Same Wallop as La Motta's Ring Punch
Review: Jake La Motta made a good living punching people in the ring, rising in 1949 to the world middleweight championship. He packs the same wallop in his book "Raging Bull," the basis for the powerful 1980 film which was directed by Martin Scorsese and earned Robert De Niro an Oscar for Best Actor. La Motta paints a brutally vivid picture of a youngster and young man growing up in a brutal Bronx jungle. The fighter they called "The Bronx Bull" writes about seeing rats in the cellar of the tenament where he grew up that were the size of cats. The neighborhood in which he grew up was so tough that he had thousands of fights, explaining that by the time he laced on gloves and became a boxer such conflict had become totally routine. To La Motta a fight was as commonplace as anyone else brushing their teeth, a simple, elementary part of life. He writes about his early life of crime, including the beating of one man he thought he had killed. In perhaps the most dramatic sequence of the book he reveals how he had lived in morbid fear of being apprehended for murder and in guilt for the act itself, after which he was shocked when the man he was convinced he had killed surfaces. Unaware that La Motta was his attacker, the man surfaces in Detroit to wish the fighter luck as he prepares for his winning title bout against champion Marcel Cerdan of France. The man explains that he was hurt badly but finally recovered, and is in town to wish someone from his old neighborhood luck in his title pursuit. The raw power of the lightning narrative, along with its brutally realistic truth, makes "Raging Bull" one of the all- time great sports books, a true American classic.
Rating:
Summary: frightening rage
Review: jake lamotta might be the most eloquent, honest, and despicable man i have ever been exposed to. oddly enough, as much as i hated him throughout his story, i wanted him to win all his fights. it is the straight ahead grit he showed as a fighter and as a storyteller that kept audiences of these two mediums spellbound, amazed, and saddened.
Rating:
Summary: frightening rage
Review: jake lamotta might be the most eloquent, honest, and despicable man i have ever been exposed to. oddly enough, as much as i hated him throughout his story, i wanted him to win all his fights. it is the straight ahead grit he showed as a fighter and as a storyteller that kept audiences of these two mediums spellbound, amazed, and saddened.
Rating:
Summary: THE UPS AND DOWNS OF A BOXING LEGEND!!!!
Review: Jake LaMotta was a rough middleweight champion. He led a tough life inside and outside the ring. He bares his soul in this book unlike other athletes who have no accepted responsibility for their actions. The movie with Robert DeNiro was excellent but this novel was much much better. It is a terrific read. Boxing is brutal but so is real life and LaMotta led one heck of a life.
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