The Killings of Stanley Ketchel

by James Carlos Blake

Hailed as "one of the greatest chroniclers of the mythical American outlaw life" (Entertainment Weekly), James Carlos Blake turns to the blazing story of Stanley Ketchel, the legendary ragtime-era middleweight boxing champion and daring rakehell, whose brief and meteoric life burned with violence and tragedy in and out of the ring. The Killings of Stanley Ketchel is a sweeping and powerful literary adventure by one of our most daring novelists.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Sports

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

James Carlos Blake was an American writer of novels, novellas, short stories, and essays. His work has received extensive critical favor and several notable awards. He has been called “one of the greatest chroniclers of the mythical American outlaw life” as well as “one of the most original writers in America today and … certainly one of the bravest.” He was a recipient of the University of South Florida's Distinguished Humanities Alumnus Award and a member of the Texas Institute of Letters.

Reviews

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first glance The Killings of Stanley Ketchel seems an unattractive subject, an early twentieth century American boxer. No matter what you do with them, these type stories cannot help but follow a cliched pattern. And Blake goes along with it, here: the sordid story of a man whose appetites leave little time for reflection, other than the one woman of his dreams that he saw on a trolly one day but never discovered who she was. Otherwise, Ketchel inhabits the world of whorehouses (one of Blake's standard set pieces in his novels), works as a bouncer, eats prodigiously, consumes women, beats men in the boxing rings, kills them on the streets, and lives on the edge early on as a hobo. That he rises to the top of his profession is due to this single minded desire to prove himself and indulge in experiences. It is also the same factor that leads to his own murder, physical brutality and strength being laid low by arrogance and dismissiveness to the threats around him. A true sort of tragedy.

Blake is at his best in this sort of work. The atmosphere is authentic and the taste of the era comes creeping through on just about every page. He accomplishes this, frankly, through a lot of name dropping of significant early twentieth century American political figures and celebrities. But it all works, because Blake manages to encapsulate the essential truths of each of the characters that swarm around Ketchel, in particular Jack Johnson.

[Ben Fowlkes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't really a novel so much as a biography with the holes filled in by made up stuff. Carlos can't dramatize events worth a damn, but Ketchel's life was interesting enough that he doesn't have to very often. It also sheds new light on the Hemingway story where two whores argue over which of them has slept with Ketchel. Basically, it's either a biography that takes many liberties with the facts, or a poor work of historical fiction, as most historical fiction is. If you think of it as the former, you'll enjoy it a lot more.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Carlos Blake is an amazing story teller (gritty, violent). I love his writing & always look forward to future books.

[Dan Downing · Rating 5 out of 5]

A true biography of Stanly Ketchel might prove to be an impossible task, as so much of his life took place in non-recordable circumstances. Sporting houses, fight rings, railroad cars, third-rate bars and back alleys. But in the hands of a researcher and imaginer such as James Carlos Blake, Ketchel comes to full-blown life. And since boxing was once the great sporting attraction of the United States, several of his fights have been preserved on film. We can dial up 'You Tube' see him fight, although the film technology of the era hardly gives us the up close and gory spectacle of "Rocky" or " Raging Bull".

Blake blends in the headlines of the times as Ketchel roves the country. Altogether a rousing tale if one is willing to forego Puritanical judgment on everyone involved. Ketchel is an easy swashbuckler to believe in and like.
Recommended.

[Kit Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harkens back to an era when the prerequisites for becoming a champion athlete didn't include attending college on scholarship, competing in the Olympics, and then turning pro; instead it involved: being raised by a sadistic drunk, spending years as a train-hoping, street-brawling hobo, working as a bouncer in a dirty and violent mining town, and then somehow being given a pair of boxing gloves and told to pound the ever loving tar out of anyone foolish enough to step into the ring. Speeding along with rapid-rife quickness and a strong scummy aesthetic, I really tore through this one but quick.

[Bill Kaplan · Rating 5 out of 5]

More, please. Blake is the best!

I am a true fan. Unfortunately, I discovered this excellent telling of Ketchel's life and the tragedy of his death, at a time when this was Blake's last book on my list of must-read stories.

[Adam Brunke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall it was an OK read. James Blake's writing style kinda threw me off a little bit as sometimes I felt like things were just jumping around with limited detail and other times it was greatly wirrten with nice flow. A bit too many slow moments that just killed the pace of the book for me. It's not what I would call a page turned, it has it's moments that get you going, but then slows you down quickly. For a boxing fan if you are looking for a straight boxing book this is not likely the best choice some of the fight details can leave a lot to be desired. However overall I'll say the book does a great job telling the story of a really interesting character.

[Judas Machina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love boxing.
I was bored by this book, I didn't care about the characters, I didn't care about the scams run, I didn't care about virtually every aspect of this novel.
And I think that's because it's told in a style that borders on what I call "Steinbeck Snobbery", where very simple* people and simple situations are over intellectualized but still told using small words to give the feel of an organic documentary. Falsely unpretentious.

But maybe that's just me. If you like the novel Independence Day by Richard Ford, then you would probably like this novel.
But don't read it for the boxing.

*simple in this instance means "uncomplicated", and not stupid, as many people interpret.

[Dominic Antonucci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes you just read a book at exactly the right time. I tore through this book in a couple of days and loved every page.
It may not be a literary classic but I enjoyed the hell out of it.

[Liam · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Jonathan Ammon]

This is the second James Carlos Blake novel I've read and my experience was similar to reading the first. In the first half I enjoyed the book immensely and perhaps a bit salaciously. By the end I was exhausted by, and a bit fed up with, the hyper-violent and oversexed characters. Nearly everyone is hyper-violent or oversexed or both, and nearly all of the action of the novel revolves around these traits. Well-crafted, written, researched, and conceived piece of pulp elevated by its execution and literary aspirations. I don't know how to rate this. An editor could trim this into a four-star novel for me, but I can't go all 45 rounds.

[Evan Kostelka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll be honest, when I first started reading I did not know this was based on a real person. The author did such a good job constructing his narrative that it reads just like any other fictional novel.

I really enjoyed learning about this remarkable person and all of the hijinks as part of his life. It was fun to step into that time machine when boxing was one of the largest sporting events in the country.

[Mar W P · Rating 4 out of 5]

"He took a fighting stance in front of it and began throwing punches, his fists moving in a blur and his head bobbing as he tried to hit himself and evade his own attack. He kept at it for several minutes before finally dropping his hands, his chest heaving. Then snaked one more punch at the fellow in the mirror who struck back in the same instant and neither of them flinched and both grinned bigger. "Call it a draw?" They traded winks."

[Freddie the Know-it-all · Rating 5 out of 5]

Round 2

I liked it even more the second time through. A lot more.

The Unboxing of Stanley Ketchel

I liked it a lot, but it's more sentimental than his other books I've read and I wasn't prepared for that.

I never took any interest in boxing before, but now that I know how crooked it is, I love it.

[danirob · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Interesting Story

The main problem with this book is it contains a lot of actual events, like the actual opponents Ketchel faced, but the line between fact and fiction is unclear.

[Jonathan Gruber · Rating 2 out of 5]

solid historical fiction and grabbed me at a few times, but overall it was pretty repetitive and somewhat foregettable

[Sam A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent book by James Carlos Blake, one of my favorite authors.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cracking fiction based on the real life boxer Stanley Ketchel. Boxing seems exciting again! As do boxers!

[John Herrity · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[WILLIAM]

A man is conceived and born unto violence, thrives in brutality, and dies by the gun.

This is my first by Blake and likely won't be the last.

[A D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some facts, some fiction and all of it told in a mediocre way.

[Arminius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stanley Ketchell was one of the all time great Middle Weight champions. The story goes that Stanley's mother had an affair with a boy her age and was seen by an older man, named Thomas Kiecal. Kiecal vowed not to tell Stanley's parents if she married him. Her parents likes Kiecal because they saw him always working around his house. However, Thomas beat Stanley as a child. Stanley, as a teenager leaves his house and begins fighting. He had tremendous punching power so he won most bouts purely on that power. However he was found by a great Boxing trainer named Maurice Thompson. He had Stanly chase a chicken around in a pen. He also convinced Stanly to learn the skills of a boxer but Boxing him in matches and beating him. After those losses he reals off a string of wins. He finally gets to box for the middleweight championship facing champions Joe Thomas. He beats him in a 20 round bout. Then he runs a great championship run. After having mostly easy victories he slacks on training and is upset by Billy Papke. But in the rematch he knocked out Papke and won the Middleweight title again.

He won all his matches except when he fought for the Heavyweight Champion Jack Johnson and a decision to Sam Langford. The author points out that Langford had won the early rounds but Ketchell won the late rounds.

Then his real father sees his name in the newspaper and invited Stanley to join him at his house in Conway, Missouri. Walter Dipley and Goldie Smith tried to shake Stanley for money and it back fired and Dipley shot and killed Stanley at the age of 24.

Ketchell is regarded as a top 5 Middleweight champion of all time . He is enshrined in the Boxing Hall of Fame. Its a shame that he was just 24 when killed.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great. James Carlos Blake is one of the best writers of the biographical accounts of the American outlaw. If your a fan of boxing history or just a fan of biographies written in a novel form this is a must read.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that I might be bored by a boxing story, but this book caught my attention and held on to it.

[David Kirkwood]

Good entertaining read, if you're interested in Mr. Ketchel.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great novel about the life and times of one the great boxers in history.

[James Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blake writes in an easy conversational style. So far I have enjoyed all of his books.