Knockout! The Sexy, Violent and Extraordinary Life of Vikki LaMotta

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The story of Vikki LaMotta's life reads like a highlight reel from a television mini-series. Born into poverty. Raped at age fourteen. Pregnant and married at sixteen. Subjected to brutal beatings by her husband world middleweight champion Jake LaMotta. Vikki left Jake, worked as a chorus girl to support three young children, was pursued by Frank Sinatra and became romantically involved with mob boss Sam Giancana.

At one on time or another, she crossed paths with the likes of Babe Ruth, Jimmy Durante, Johnny Carson, and Robert DeNiro. At age 51, she posed nude for Playboy. The issue sold more copies to women than any issue of Playboy ever. Vikki's own story is now told and written with acclaimed author Thomas Hauser, and reveals much new information about her amazing life.

Knockout! is a straight-from-the-heart account of a life filled with sex and violence that ultimately became a survivor's journey to redemption long before the #MeToo Movement. "Not an edited life but honest facts and events." Vikki wrote to Hauser on completion of the manuscript. "After a final reading, a deep sigh with an amazing amount of relief and exhilaration. Not relief of a project completed but relief of a past saved, not lived in vain."

"Vikki LaMotta was a good person." writes Hauser. "That's as simply and honestly as I can put it. She battled her demons and won. This is her story."

This newly reissued edition includes an afterword by Hauser and coincides with the 40th anniversary of the award-winning movie Raging Bull, directed by Martin Scorsese. Robert DeNiro won his first Oscar as Best Actor for his role of Jake LaMotta, and Cathy Moriarty, then only 18 years old, was nominated for Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Vikki LaMotta.

Author Information

Vikki LaMotta was born in the Bronx on January 23, 1930 and was married to the middle weight champion Jake LaMotta for eleven years. Jake and Vikki had a daughter Christi and two sons - Jake Jr. and Joe - both of whom died in 1998. Jake Jr. died of liver cancer and Joe in an airplane crash. In 1962, she married Tony Foster; they had a son, Harrison, and later divorced.

Vikki was a chorus girl, model and promoted the Vikki LaMotta Cosmetics line. She wrote this autobiography in the 1990s but did not want it released until after her death due to the information revealed in the book.

Vikki lived a full life and died in 2005 in Boca Raton, Florida, two days after her 75th birthday.

Thomas Hauser is an attorney and well-known author based in New York city with over 50 published fiction and nonfiction books. His ability to explain and bring to life events of complexity and importance has secured his reputation as a responsible and reliable social critic. His first published book, The Execution of Charles Horman: An American Sacrifice, was adapted as Costa-Gavras's highly regarded film Missing, starring Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek. Most recently, he and author Dr. Robert Peter Gale re-released a bestselling classic book Chernobyl: The Final Warning. For many years he has written extensively about boxing - he was recently selected for boxing's highest honor, induction into the International Boxing Hall Fame.