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Customer Reviews of The Professional

Boxing's SUN ALSO RISES
If you're going to read THE PROFESSIONAL written by the great sports writer W.C. Heinz (who also wrote MASH), skip the foreward by Elmore Leonard until you've read the book. The ditz gives away the ending.
Other than that, the book is pretty much what one might expect after reading the blurb by Hemingway: "THE PROFESSIONAL is the only good novel about a fighter I've read and an excellent novel in its own right." It reminded me a whole lot of THE SUN ALSO RISES. Rather than the minutia of fishing and bullfighting we get boxing: how to wrap a fighter's hands, how the fighter eats during training (Lots of tea and boiled eggs), how to fake a missed right hand, followed by a left hook. All of this is narrated by a somewhat cynical sports writer named Frank Hughes, who follows middle weight fighter Eddie Brown around as he prepares for a championship bout. Eddie is the professional in the title. He's fought ninety times, losing only three, one of which his manager, Doc Carroll, set him up to lose because he was becoming too cocky. W.C. Heinz has a pretty good reason for entitling the book, THE PROFESSIONAL. Carroll resents the champion because he's pretty much all glitz and show. At one point Heinz has his narrator say, "The amateurs have always crowded the highways to everywhere, so it's never been easy for the pros to get through."
I've never been a big Hemingway fan, but this book is chock full of interesting minor characters. There's Eddie's "cold fish" of a wife. There's Johnny Jay, the trainer, a non-stop talker who never makes a whole lot of sense, but is tolerated because he was Doc Carroll's first fighter. There's Al Penna, who steals a ring off a dead man's finger. But my favorite is Jean Girot the recovering alcoholic who owns the hotel at the training camp. He's sad because he misses his favorite drink, the dry martini, which he took nips from out of a milk bottle.
If you're looking for an action packed novel, this one's not for you. There's really only one fight scene and that's at the end when Eddie fights for the title; but if you're tired of the "same old same old" THE PROFESSIONAL fits the bill.

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Doc Carroll - Unique Character
The manager Doc Carroll is a fictonalized version of Heinz's hero Jack Hurley, about whom he wrote a memorable essay. Doc and his fighter Eddie Brown are consummate professionals. They are endearing characters, although the writing is without sentimentality. They are honest and straightforward and give their best, as a matter of course. I intend to re-read this book.

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The book is worth reading for its writing alone.
The prose is so clean and clear, you wonder if it is possible to write any better. The dialogue is perfect: each character has a personal voice that identifies him or her and makes that person real. Then there is the compelling story, dry wit, and the education on life and boxing.

There are a lot of reasons to read this book, including the fact that almost all sports writers (and a lot of others besides) consider W.C. Heinz to be one of the best ever, but mainly it should be read because it is great writing.