Kasia Boddy (born 1966) is a British academic of American literary and cultural history. She is Professor of American Literature at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of Fitzwilliam College.
Boddy was born in Aberdeen in 1966 and grew up in Glasgow, where she attended Hyndland Secondary School. She did an MA in English and Philosophy at Edinburgh and a PhD on American short fiction at Cambridge. She has also taught at the universities of York, Dundee, and University College London.
''Boxing: A Cultural History'' (2008) examines the social, literary and visual history of boxing from antiquity to the modern era, exploring how the sport has been used to symbolize broader struggles relating to race, class, nationalism and masculinity. The book discusses representations of boxing across literature, painting, cinema, photography and popular culture, including works associated with writers such as Ernest Hemingway and Norman Mailer and artists including Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Books Boddy is the author of: Blooming Flowers: A Seasonal History of Plants and People, Yale University Press, 2020Reviews of Blooming Flowers: Richard Eyre, The Times, ; Peter Parker, The Spectator, ; Publishers Weekly, Geranium. Reaktion Books, 2012.Reviews of Geranium: Maggie Brady, Australian Garden History, ; Helen Brown, The Telegraph, ; Jan Gardner, The Boston Globe, ; William Hageman, Chicago Tribune, ; Publishers Weekly, The American Short Story Since 1950, Edinburgh University Press, 2010Reviews of The American Short Story since 1950: Jean-Yves Pellegrin, Journal of the Short Story in English, ; Chris Witter, Journal of American Studies, Boxing: A Cultural History, Reaktion Books, 2008.Reviews of Boxing: John Dugdale, The Guardian, ; Michael Ezra, American Studies, ; Jonathan Rendall, New Statesman, ; Reg Gadney, Literary Review, ; Christopher Hirst, The Independent, ; Jeffrey Sammons, Cultural Sociology, ; Matthew Taylor, The International Journal of the History of Sport, ; Peter Temple, Sydney Morning Herald,
Her edited volumes include: The New Penguin Book of American Short Stories, from Washington Irving to Lydia Davis, Penguin, 2011 Let's Call the Whole Thing Off: Love Quarrels from Anton Chekhov to ZZ Packer, with Ali Smith and Sarah Wood, Penguin, 2009Review of Let's Call the Whole Thing Off: Hephzibah Anderson, The Observer, Brilliant Careers: The Virago Book of Twentieth-century Fiction, with Ali Smith and Sarah Wood, Virago Press, 2000Review of Brilliant Careers: Brenda Maddox, The Guardian
References