“
“‘Oh, my God,’ Sammy said in an undertone. ‘Joe, I think that man is Max Schmeling.’
There were other people waiting for the train, and they had taken an interest. They started to argue about whether the man whose shoe Joe had spat on was or was not Max Schmeling, the Black Bull of the Uhlan, former heavyweight champion of the world.
With pugilistic quickness, he crowded Joe against an iron pillar, crooked an arm around Joe’s neck, and gave him a swift punch in the stomach. Joe’s breath deserted his body in a single hard gust and he pitched forward, striking his chin on the concrete platform. His eyeballs seemed to clang in their sockets. He felt as if someone had opened an umbrella inside his rib cage.
Joe never did encounter Max Schmeling, or his doppelganger, again. In any case, there is good resaon to believe that Schmeling was not in New York at all but in Poland, having been drafted into the Wehrmacht and sent to the front as punishment for his defeat by Joe Louis in 1938.”
Part 3 - Chapter 3, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.
Old school boxing references make my heart go pitter-pat, Mr. Chabon. Not that I needed anything else to like about this great book. I get the feeling that I will be pining for this one long after I have finished it.
2 years ago
