A finalist for the 2013 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 Matejkas third work of poetry, follows the fighters journey from poverty to the most coveted title in sports through the multi-layered voices of Johnson and the white women he brazenly loved. Matejkas book is part historic reclamation and part interrogation of Johnsons complicated legacy, one that often misremembers the magnetic man behind the myth.
