The Moby Dick of Cocks

Call me Foghorn. These Flying Feathers of Fury will give you something to crow about. They'll have you clucking your tongue and pecking at pebbles before the first sun-up.

One Flu Over the Bird's Nest.

I wish I could write like this. Wild story. Unique characters. Strong sense of place and time. Plus some disturbing content. This unflinching look at the southern cockfighting culture is intense. I ended up liking and hating several of the main characters throughout the book. (Mostly disgusted).
Florida man has a home in this book. Rough. Racist. Narcissistic. But so well written.

Probably more like 3 1/2 stars. The equivalent of a pretty good mid-70s, low-budget, existential character study about a guy who is subsumed in the rather seedy (and at times, dangerous) illegal world of cockfighting. He is obsessed, and the book is, too. I found the incredible detail about the training and the sport to be fascinating, albeit sometimes nauseating (for those who have a hard time dealing with animal cruelty, I don't recommend you read this one). If you're really into it, the movie based on this book (with a script by the author, who also appears in the film) is showing (at least for now) on Shout Factory TV (thankfully the movie skips the worst scene, but what's left is still pretty bad - there's no "no animals were hurt" during its production notice at the end). If you read the book first, you'll have a better understanding of what is going on during the fights. I enjoyed them both, but I'd be very careful about who I would recommend them to.

I don’t care a thing about the world of cockfighting— in fact, I find it repulsive— but I do like books about process, and was weirdly compelled by the depth of detail and research here. The actual plot starts strong, takes weird detours, and mostly fizzles out. Not my favorite Willeford, but an easy read and an original story.

If you're ready for raw, this book has it. Raw feelings, raw action and raw description. In one sense it is a story of a sexist dude with issues. Unexpectedly it is also a history and training manual: a guide to cockfighting. Obviously the author loves the sport, he leaves his heart on the page.

Cockfighting is the only sport that can’t be fixed, perhaps the only fair contest left in America. A cock wouldn’t throw a fight and couldn’t if he knew how.

Who knew that George Washington was into cockfighting? There are lots of these little curveballs. The last thing I expected to see in this book was a quote from an Indian poet from 320 BC. This quirkiness gives the thing its flavor. That and paradox:

A gamecock is the most stupid creature on earth and, paradoxically, the most intelligent fighter.

If you can handle gore and casual sexism, I recommend this book. I see why Elmore Leonard rates Willeford as a writer, it reads like a dream.

I'm surprised at some of the reviews that refer to Frank Mansfield, our protagonist, as a "bad guy" or a "villain." I found him to be an interesting character, with an intense drive to accomplish his goal of "cockfighter of the year" and he was not going to let any obstacles get in his way. And, to some degree, what do you expect out of the main character in a Willeford novel?

While not as good as his Hoke Moseley novels, this was a very good novel by Willeford. The attention to detail made it seem like I was at the cockfights -very vivid with some unexpected moments of humor amongst the brutality.

WORLD'S WORST SPORTS NOVEL!

It's about a guy who wants something badly and can only imagine getting it if he does things his own way, all the way. What he does is give up speaking until he wins the Colonel Sanders chicken boxing award. Given that premise, it should have been a better read.

The specific facts of cockfighting are spread thin.

The female characters are either housebound or attached to a man at the hip

The sentence structure is annoyingly basic.

I liked this author's Hoke novels, but I'd skip this one.

Meet Frank Mansfield selectively mute war veteran and a Cockfighter. Reason of his muteness is the vow that he made with himself to stay mute until he would win the prize of "Best Cockfighter of Year".
I came across this novel when I was searching for a specific documentary about cockfighting in Asian countries. I found it compellingly readable and it reminded into my to-read list for more than a year.

I think this novel would be more enjoyable if reader has a slight knowledge about cockfighting bloodsport. I enjoyed a brief time of cockfighting but the professionalism I found in this book beyond expectation.
Frank Mansfield represents the theme of obsession and emotional intensity towards cockfighting a person can have. Evidently it's more than sports for some people. Willford had been appointed in Philippine and I can think that the inspiration for this novel could have been from keen observation of the game.

the protagonist has taken a self imposed vow of silence until he proves himself worthy of winning the cockfighter of the year award. so he gets a bunch of roosters and does cockfighting to try to the win the award. he also has this weird one-night stand as a guitar virtuoso. contains a lot of information about how to prepare a rooster to kill other roosters. your basic charles willeford book

He's a cockfighter. Sometimes he plays the guitar.

A+ Cock Talk ™️

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"The dedicated obsession of a fanatical sport.
As in the bullring—to the death.
Legal in Florida—illegal in the forty-nine other states.
The iron will of a man, whose entire life was channeled into one supreme ambition!"