Rating: 
Summary: Tosches Down For The Count
Review: If you are interested in reading a book written in a sorry, fourth rate Norman Mailer style, this pathetic book may be for you. Filled with idle speculation and needless jive, the author repeatedly attempts to impress the reader as being "in the know" on the subject matter. Anyone familiar with Sonny Liston's career will realize that the book is merely a regurgitation of old magazine articles and tired old stories.The term "shadow boxing" applies to this book. The author dances around the understanding of Sonny Liston, never really connecting with one sold punch. Avoid this book at all costs.
Rating: 
Summary: boring
Review: How did he write such a boring book about such an interesting character. Very little about the fights or fighhters of the era.
Rating:
Summary: Where's the beef?
Review: Tosches is a writer of substantial talent, witness his Dean Martin and Jerry Lee Lewis bios. Unfortunately, his effort here misses the mark, and in a big way. This tome is filled with gristle and no beef. Short on details but long on speculation, Tosches takes the reader on an unfulfilling ride to nowhere. This is a book about a heavyweight fighter. Sad to say, it carries the punch of a featherweight.
Rating: 
Summary: DISAPPOINTING
Review: I saw the cover, I saw the title, and I thought to myself--I have to get this book. Finally, a detailed account of Liston's life! I was expecting a lot from this book--maybe too much. After reading it, my expectations were not met. A much better account of Liston can be found in William Nack's brilliant 1991 article "O Unlucky Man," in Sports Illustrated (perhaps the best sports piece ever written); so is David Remnick's "King of The World." Those two books, though smaller works than Tosches' Liston book, have more detail and probe into further depths of Liston's psyche. Tosches obviously knows about and likes to write about the underworld and Liston's connection with them--unfortunately, that wasn't all Liston was about--Tosches misses on Sonny's human side, seeing him as just a piece of meat passed around from mob boss to mob boss. Tosches virtually ignores the two fights with Ali--speculating on a fix but offering no hard evidence--and barely touching on his title winning effort and rematch with Floyd Patterson, the stuff of high drama, given the time these fights took place in. He also uses the annoying postmodern glitch of interrupting the flow of the book at times to put his own cute comments in the book (hint to Mr. Tosches--just because you're writing about boxing doesn't mean you have to say the f-word every time you interject the story). I appreciate the detail Tosches went to in writing the book--he obviously did his homework with interviews and documents---if he had just focused more on Sonny the person instead of Sonny the piece of meat, he would have captured Liston's essence much better.
Rating: 
Summary: The Devil by the Tail
Review: As boxer Chuck Wepner said, "Nick Tosches writes like Sonny Liston hit." This book is a visit to the depths and mysteries of a hell most of us hope never to see. Forget any notion you might have of a sports biography. Tosches throws the genre right out the window with this killer story of a man who remained a mystery to his last breath. You can watch a hundred boxing matches with a hundred commentators, and you'll never see the world of boxing as Tosches presents it. This book was so good, I had insomnia: I couldn't sleep until I finished it. And when I finished it, I went back to the beginning a day later and read it again. The Devil and Sonny Liston is cunning and daring, a blazing performance.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating look at the boxing world
Review: The story of heavyweight champion Sonny Liston andthe boxing world of the 1950's and 60's is an entralling story. The author, Nick Tosches, hasa style that brings the reader as close to the prize ring as one would want to get. This is highlyrecommended!
Rating:
Summary: I Love Boxing and I HATED this Book !
Review: Sonny Liston was without a doubt, one of the most interesting stories in boxing history. He was mean, tough and just a genuine badass. Moreover, he had mob connections and a truly strange past. However, reading this book you would not get such a fascinating portrait of him. Instead, you will get fifty pages of his family tree and other unnecessary and un-entertaining info. I cannot describe in words how much I hated this book. This guy took an enigmatic icon and buried him under page and page of trivial nonsense, which did nothing more than demonstrate the tedious writing style of a pompous twit. Sonny, you deserved better.
Rating:
Summary: Not what I hoped for
Review: I was very displeased with this book. It was very disjointed. I didnt learn much more about Liston than i already knew. There was very little detail about his fights. The author gives slanted details as to why he thinks the first Liston-Clay fight was fixed. He ignors the fact that Sonny was beat up durring that fight and that Sonny's corner used a substance to blind Clay during the fight. That part of the book reminded me of some of the rediculous conspiracy theory books out there. I think everyone would agree the second fight was fixed, but not the first.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Story Of Sonny Liston!
Review: This is an excellent story of Sonny Liston.Liston had scored
two stunning first round knockouts of Floyd Patterson. He had
developed the aura of being indestructible.His destruction of
Cassius Clay was a foregone conclusion.After his first loss to
Clay,liston later admitted that the fight was fixed.Liston was supposedly controlled by Organized crime.His second fight with
Clay was an even bigger farce.The force of Clay's punch that
knocked out Liston will forever be argued.
The author gives an very good background on Sonny Liston.He was
born in Arkansas and later moved to St. Louis.In St. Louis he
robbed grocery stores and filling stations.He was eventually
caught and sent to prison.In prison he became a feared boxer on
the prison boxing team.After returning to society he went into
professional boxing and quickly climbed to the top.This author
tells the entire story.Liston died a sad death from a heroin
overdose.He was still one of my favorite sports figures.This is
an excellent book that you will find very informative.
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