The Big Smoke

The Penguin Poets

by Adrian Matejka

Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Award and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and the National Book Award in Poetry—a collection that examines the myth and history of the prizefighter Jack Johnson

The legendary Jack Johnson (1878-1946) was a true American creation. The child of emancipated slaves, he overcame the violent segregationism of Jim Crow, challenging white boxers—and white America—to become the first African-American heavyweight world champion. The Big Smoke, Adrian Matejka's third work of poetry, follows the fighter's journey from poverty to the most coveted title in sports through the multi-layered voices of Johnson and the white women he brazenly loved. Matejka's book is part historic reclamation and part interrogation of Johnson's complicated legacy, one that often misremembers the magnetic man behind the myth.

*Listening Length: 57 minutes

Genres: Poetry, History, Biography, Sports, African American, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir

1 pages, Audible Audio

First published May 28, 2013

About the author

Adrian Matejka was born in Nuremberg, Germany but grew up in California and Indiana. He is a graduate of Indiana University and the MFA program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. His first collection of poems, The Devils Garden, won the 2002 Kinereth Gensler Award from Alice James Books. His second collection, Mixology, was a winner of the 2008 National Poetry Series and was published by Penguin Books in 2009. Mixology was subsequently nominated for an NAACP Image Award. He is a Cave Canem fellow and is the recipient of two Illinois Arts Council Literary Awards. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in American Poetry Review, The Best American Poetry 2010, Crab Orchard Review, Gulf Coast, Pleiades, and Prairie Schooner among other journals and anthologies. He teaches at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville where he serves as Poetry Editor for Souwester."

Reviews

[Kristy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t know much about Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight champ, and I thought this books of poems about him would be a good introduction. While it was informative I found it didn’t hold my attention.

[D.A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's something sublime about this collection of poems concerning Jack Johnson, the heavy-weight boxer who became a world champion and became a beacon for young people seeking racial equality and the chance to rise to their own achievements, whether in sports, the arts or the arena of American politics. Johnson is a complex man, and these poems do not shy from the deeply revealing moments of triumph and regret that fill his story. Adrian Matejka's lines pack punch, and the message of the book is hope. Recommended for young readers as well as older--there's something in this book for everybody. Matejka has broken open the conventions of dramatic monologue into an energetic, real-time sequence inside the boxing ring. Johnson becomes a witness to history and racism in the US. "I was there, so I know what's true," he says, echoing Whitman. An inspiring book in every sense.

[Michael Nye · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Big Smoke is the third poetry collection by Matejka. Longlisted for the 2013 National Book Award, this collection is about Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight champion of the world. Told through a range of narrators - Jack, the women in his life (Belle, Hattie,and Etta), and even his own shadow - each poem deepens the reader's understanding of Jack Johnson.

The beauty of this collection is that it is a true collection: the individual poems are sensational, but unlike many poetry collections, there is also a compelling narrative that makes it a book. You read the collection like a novel, but get the impact of precise strong poetry. Each women has her own voice; each fight is brutal, jarring, and unique; the style shifts from poem to poem as the language requires.

This is a breathtaking, sharp collection from one of the best young poets in America.

[Jiho Burrows · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminds me of Ondaatje’s the collected works of billy the kid. While I’m not to familiar with the personal life of jack johnson (the boxer) I injoyed much of the poetic work. I especially like matejka’s usage of enjambment.

[Tom LA · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of poems about Jack Johnson, the first black Heavy Weight Champion. I was attracted by the idea. I didn't know anything about Johnson before buying the book, so I went to Youtube where I found a couple of great black-and-white videos of his fights and a documentary on his life. I would recommend those videos, they are such incredible historic documents.

The book is beautiful in its original concept. It follows the boxer's life somewhat chronologically, from his early life to his old age, and in many poems the author uses the first person to get inside Jack's head.

I found the concept of the book to be its strongest feature, because the poems did not give me much except for some information about the life of Jack Johnson. I never felt like I could see the world through Jack Johnson's eyes, or I could really understand his feelings. This was my personal experience of course, but I have to say I couldn't detect much depth, nor was I really touched by the poems.

Then again, does poetry have to be touching? I don't know much about poetry, especially in the English language, but I have to say the free verses in "The big smoke" very often seem just like regular prose. While I have nothing against that, I'm kind of wondering what is truly "poetic" about this collection.

Like another reviewer said:

"If you just take
a prose and break
it up into pieces I
don't think that you
can really call that poetry".

I'm afraid that once you start to wonder what contemporary poetry exactly is, you get lost in the labyrinth of literature analysis and criticism, and you starve to death before you can find your way out.

So, let's just leave that one there, and enjoy this admirable work of creativity, words and punches.

[Joey Gamble · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection whose brilliance sneaks up on you like a great left-hook.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the first to the last, the appeal and acclaim of this book is obvious.

This is a must for any fan of boxing, and a great poetry collection for just about anyone else.

Matejka’s ability to marry voice and verse is mesmerizing. You “hear” the characters as clear as day. If great writing makes you forget the writer is there, this far outstrips that bar.

I enjoy how the struggles of fame and race, echoed later by Joe Lewis, Ali/Frazier/Foreman, Jim Brown, OJ, Magic, Reggie, Ricky Henderson, MJ, and Allen Iverson to name only a few, played out. In many ways, Johnson is the archetypal black sports celebrity, and to hear echoes of his private thoughts through sports history is haunting not on those men but on us, as it is a comment on how still racist we really feel.

Really enjoyed reading this, consumed it quickly but it left bruises.

[Jerad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetry read in audiobook by the poet. This was a great way to learn about a life I hadn't previously known. Engaging from beginning to end and somewhat reminiscent in its long form of Joseph Moncure March's "Wild Party," this was a quick and rewarding read that will have me looking for more by this author as well as other long form poetic narratives.

[Mitzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book excited me more than any other to teach high school English. Just imagine the different ways you could go with an accessible book of poetry about the first black heavy weight champion who went from rags to riches, has gold teeth, reads Shakespeare and goes to the opera, likes fast cars, and has a turbulent relationship with his wife, who is white. Matejka does an excellent job of capturing the voices of all the different players. By the time I was through with this book, I had a deep sense of who Jack Johnson was, not just what he did. A little more research on the Internet helped me to appreciate the poetry even more. I especially liked "Cannabilism" about Galveston after the Great Storm, "Equality"...a car race that paralleled his fight with Ketchel in the ring "Out of the Bath"...which is an intimate picture of his relationship with Etta; and of course "Fight of the Century"...a round for round description of his fight against the "Great White Hope", Jim Jeffries, and echoes the rhythm of the fight.

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

another reviewer called this a "verse novelization" and that's actually spot-on. these are not showy lyrical compositions, just matter of fact, unencumbered lines telling the story of jack johnson (impossibly rich as history, a vein of inspiration that matejka works with restraint and a great eye). at first i couldn't see past the humility and plainness of the poetry here but once i slowed done and got into the book on its terms, i started to really dig it. this is sports history, quietly impressive story-telling, a touch of intersectionalism re johnson's lovers -- who have as much of a voice as johnson here -- and the frankness of the racism that johnson faced. people should write more dope historical-narrative-novelistic poetry about undersung american heroes. also there is a leadbelly song about jack johnson being refused passage on the titanic, i learned from this book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe5tc...

[Michael Brockley · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE BIG SMOKE is Adrian Matejka's masterpiece. And only his third book. Using a series of poems told from the perspective of Jack Johnson's wife and lovers and, more pointedly from the first black Heavyweight Champion's view, THE BIG SMOKE presents a sharp pocket biography/myth of this legendary and controversial sports hero. Johnson was Muhammad Ali before the turbulent Sixties. A black athlete who dated, bedded, beat and married white women at a time when such behavior could have been dangerous for a man who's grandparents were slaves. These poems exude machismo and a virile confidence. And the book ends far too soon. Matejka's has set a colossal bar for himself.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I picked this up because it was longlisted for the National Book Award in Poetry in September 2013.

Honestly, to really get into this you would first need to care about Jack Johnson. I think if you had that baseline, reading a book of poems about his life and background might be an interesting way to go. Poetry is so subjective and this just isn't for me.

[Clifford · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful collection of poetry about a surprising subject--Jack Johnson, the first African American Heavyweight Champion of the World.

See my full review at Review of The Big Smoke

[Ryan Louis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe I'm so trained to think of writing as linked--narrative arcs, sustained arguments, developed characters--that I find most non-linear or truncated forms of reading to be difficult. And perhaps this is what keeps others from reading poetry (or short stories), too? I'm trying to decide whether I loved this collection so much because it does [sort of] conform to a chronological narrative in order to make its larger arguments about race, sport and American history...or...because it is just. So. Good.

Matejka's collection, a finalist for the Pulitzer in 2014, covers a lot of ground in a mere 100 pages. It contains two concepts extremely relevant to contemporary tastes: an ambivalent treatment of the antihero (Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight champion) and an open conversation about racial [dis]parity. It is also, obviously, a poetic history (the "notes" and "acknowledgement" sections at the end show a breadth of research, thinking and consulted media).

The poems are jarring at times (juxtaposed domestic and sport violence) while sweet and beautiful at others. The climax of the "narrative" comes in a series of thirteen poems, each about one round in the world championship match between Johnson and Jim Jeffries. But instead of being an intense rise to climax, I read each slow--as if a once furious song is ebbing toward ritardando.

Though I find it difficult to watch an actual boxing match, I am enamored by them. I find the sport/spectacle/ballet to be fascinating. If digging into its philosophical implications sounds like a good time (which, of course, I do), consider reading Joyce Carol Oates's masterful series of essays, "On Boxing."

Wince, look away; then realize boxing is probably the closest thing we have to a metaphor for the "modern" era.

[Zay Pinto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, The Big Smoke is amazing. It was hard to put the book down after the first chapter. However, I controlled myself and read a chapter each day to savor the collection. This is the most impressive Historical Poetry series I’ve read, it didn’t feel like a history lesson, it felt authentic, it felt cinematic. The sequencing was phenomenally done, it kept the reading interesting by leading you on to the next discovery.

Furthermore, the rate of revelation was immaculate. The alternative perspectives, numerous personas, and introspective thinking kept the collection full of innovation. This is a genuinely entertaining piece, I had little knowledge of Jack Johnson because he’s been hidden behind great boxers who came after him, and I was pleased to learn about him.

Lastly, the emotional components were well captured. This whole collection showed you how to think and how to feel, rather than telling you. Therefore, the collection has value to even non sports people. The narrative is driven by a blend of childhood trauma, nuanced wealth, abundant fame, hideous racism, obvious arrogance, and shameless sin. Well done, Adrian Matejka, I’ll be reading more soon.

[Justin Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This poem-profile of Jack Johnson aims to correct the record and portray Jackson as both a man abused by a racist system and the willing beneficiary, enabler, and predator of a misogynist one. To do this, it makes some comparisons that are poignant - the freedom he has beating a white man in the final several page round by round tour de force - and other comparisons that just reduce and stink; there's a horrendous poem in here about cooking for your woman while you beat her, and it wants the reader's shock and nothing else. Letters from his various white mistresses attempt to de-mythologize his heroism and do, slightly, but he is still the relatively uncomplicated, shock-provoking center of gravity around which their poetic voices supposedly have to spin. It's quite a deliberate effort and it's most of the way there, but it wears thin after a while.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took this out of someone's hands after they were finished with it.

It's got a really compelling narrative. There is not too much lyricism to it, but it paints an interesting and blunt picture of Jack Johnson's life. Thematically it gets to the heart of ambition and the brutality of seeking success for someone whose life and place in the world was built on how much pain he could take, how much he could distribute to others.

It would be impossible to read any of the poems out of context and really appreciate it, but my favorite poem was Rememory.

IMO, the author is insanely gifted.

[Jack Heller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boxing and Italian opera are not my things, but poetry brings me to the unfamiliar. I don't know a lot about Jack Johnson, and this poetry is not biography, but I know more now than I used to, and this is a good collection for the introduction. People throw around the phrase "larger than life." Johnson was until he was brought down, by his society and by his own careless living. An interesting collection, focused on the one subject.

[Rich Farrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an accessible, action-packed collection of poems on the life of Jack Johnson. While the boxing poems were energetic, I found those poems about the women in Johnson's life to be most interesting. There is a strong feminist perspective in these poems that I didn't expect but that I was pleasantly surprised to discover. This is a collection I'd think about using in my high school English classes to talk about poetic elements in a non-pretentious way.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the flow was great - the poems were easy to read. The only reason I didn't rate the book higher is that the content wasn't my cup of tea. Basically it's about an abusive boxer, who while a heroed heavyweight champion, never did anything good for the people around him or gave back to society. The poetry took some of the sting out of the violence of the subject matter so that was good.

[Melissa Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm especially interested in the ways Adrian Matejka gives the women in Jack Johnson's life their voices--Etta Duryea gets poems with her name as an epigraph (always 13 lines--three quatrains and one final line), Hattie McClay gets letters she writes to Belle Schreiber, and Belle Schreiber gets interview excerpts.

[Emma Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for a creative writing class at University.

Everything was well written and thought provoking the book has prompted many questions for further research. The use of line breaks and caesura's throughout the poems were great emphasis markers.
Overall a very gripping poetry collection.The narratives throughout the text are very gritty. I could honestly see it being adapted for film.

[Joe Paris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw him read at Kent State University and loved the unique rhythm (almost like hip hop) to some of his poems. For this particular book, I also really enjoyed how he told the story of Joe Frazier. The poems are exciting, action-packed, raw, visceral, edgy, and informative.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Matejka, Indiana's current poet laureate, shares the story of Jack Johnson, the first African American heavyweight champion. The violence and discrimination within the story come forth through exquisite word/phrase choices.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am very interested in poetry to tell a life story. This collection is a great example of that. The language didn't grab me the way it did in Mixology. Still a powerful collection and record of a time and life.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of poetry follows the happenings of Jack in a really interesting way. He transcends racism in his overall dislike of everyone. It’s a great read and a great insight into the start of celebrity athleticism.

[Carter Cavanaugh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think Adrian Matejka is clever in how he presents the history of Jack Johnson to the reader, but I simply am someone who struggles with loving poetry. His language is superb, and I appreciate the research put in to give us this piece, but I think I would’ve preferred if it was more novelistic.

[Andres Varela · Rating 4 out of 5]

La vida de Jack Johnson fue muy singular y grandiosa, el primer campeón de peso pesado negro de la historia que luchó contra todo, con el mundo, con el racismo desbordado y con sus propios demonios.
Muy buena historia muy bien ilustrada por Youssef Daoudi.

[Wyatt strawbridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could be four stars, I might have given four stars if a few more poems were a bit harder. The poetic bio book is a cool genre, and especially for figured that were fantastic in nature and less officially recorded. White bird and bear themes were especially strong for me.

[César (pronounced with a Polish accent) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of poems breathes life into the shaky black and white film reels of the day. Poetry has brought him back. Poetry has made him fight again.