Peach Parchment #30
March 31st: The Big Blow
Let's discuss one of my favorite short stories of all time— which has one of the best writing flourishes I've encountered in a piece of fiction—
THE BIG BLOW by Joe R. Lansdale
Lansdale, born in 1951 in Gladewater, Texas, is best known for his work in the horror, western, and crime genres. To say he is prolific might be an understatement, as Lansdale has published over 50 novels and 30 short story collections since the 1980s.
His work has been adapted to film and television— most notably Bubba Ho-Tep (2002), Incident On & Off a Mountain Road (2005), and Hap & Leonard (Series: 2016-2018).
The Big Blow was published in 1997 and expanded into a novella in 2000.
Set in 1900, we follow "Lil" Arthur John Johnson, a black boxer living in Galveston, Texas. Lil Arthur has defeated the reigning white boxing champion, Forrest Thomas. This defeat has made Lil Arthur an immediate enemy of the Galveston sporting club and its financial backer, Ronald Beams.
Beams searches for the sporting club's 'great white hope', whom he hopes will not only snatch the championship title back from Lil Arthur, returning it to the all-white sporting club, but he also needs a fighter who will also have no claims against killing Lil Arthur in the ring. Beams finds this in Jim McBride.
McBride is one the most vile, despicable characters in all of fiction. He is violent, hateful, and racist. The passages where McBride lets his racist beliefs out are some of the most difficult sections to read. If you have an idea of how racist he might be— believe me, it's worse. Much, much worse. I wouldn't blame you if you decided to skip this story entirely based solely on that. But if you stuck with it, it'd pay off, trust me.
Now, Lil Arthur understands Beams' hiring of Jim McBride will not result in a fair fight. But Lil Arthur agrees to the match to send a message to the broader Galveston population—he's defending not only his fairly won championship title but also standing against racial prejudice and hatred— and win or lose, this match will be a symbolic gesture showing a man who, despite all odds, is not backing down in fear.
As the town gets ready for the fight, reports of an impending hurricane become more frequent. People speculate whether the fight can occur since an evacuation will occur if the hurricane starts to approach Galveston.
The story's title, The Big Blow, is a double allusion to the boxing aspect of the story and this Galveston hurricane, which was a real event.
The Galveston hurricane of 1900 is still the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history, even 125 years later. It resulted in 6-times as many deaths as during Hurricane Katrina.
The inclusion of the hurricane is a great detail and ramps up the tension. As the odds become increasingly stacked against Lil Arthur, the weather around him becomes worse, growing increasingly oppressive to everyone in town.
Alright, so I opened this write-up by saying that this story includes one of my favorite writing flourishes. Yet, to discuss it, I will have to spoil the entire story, thus spoiling its impact on you.
If you don't mind hearing a spoiler, keep reading.
But if you want to preserve the impact of this moment, stop reading right now.
Go read The Big Blow.
& See you next week.
SPOILERS
(GOING FORWARD):
Lil Arthur learns that the sporting club has put a bounty on his head. So, despite the outcome of the boxing match, Lil Arthur understands he will likely not survive.
The match will come with some prize money, and Lil Arthur imagines what he would do if he somehow escaped Galveston with his life and the money. He decides he will continue boxing but would need to become his own man and cast off the things holding him back…
One of those things is his name. He realizes he can no longer pass through the world, as a grown man known as… Lil Arthur. The junior to his father, Arthur Johnson.
Lil Arthur decides to start utilizing his own first name, John, but taking on Jack as a nickname. Thus Lil Arthur will now be known as—
Jack Johnson.
JACK JOHNSON? JACK JOHNSON!?
This isn't some boxer from 1900 Galveston, Texas.
This is the Galveston Giant. This is the eventual Heavyweight Champion of the World. This is the winner of 1910's "Fight of the Century." But all of that will come later.
This is Jack Johnson. Yesterday he was Lil Arthur, today he is Jack Johnson.
…and this is my favorite writing flourish.
Lansdale hides this reveal so well that you almost feel silly you didn't put the pieces together because it's so obvious when viewing the story in retrospect.
In fact, once you know this, you realize The Big Blow is almost a full retelling of The Great White Hope (which I referenced earlier and is, of course, also about Jack Johnson).
And to me, the story wouldn't work as well if we knew Lil Arthur was Jack Johnson from the beginning. There'd be no tension because ALL of the cards are stacked against Lil Arthur going into the fight against McBride; and to suddenly learn your protagonist is someone else entirely changes everything.
This is like reading a story, where in the last act, your protagonist reveals themselves to be "Clark Kent"; and you, the reader, go—
"Wait a minute, he's Clark Kent? He's Superman!?"
Yes. Lil Arthur is not only Superman; he's been him the whole time.
The reveal of who Lil Arthur is, was, and will be, not only tells you Johnson will win the boxing match against Jim McBride… he will survive.
What a thrill to take into the final pages of the story.
So there you have it— Thanks for reading if you've stuck around and could bear the spoilers.
Now go read The Big Blow. Go read Joe R. Lansdale.
Also, if you’re unfamiliar with Jack Johnson’s true life story, make sure to look into his legacy—it’s more thrilling than any fiction could ever capture.
March 2025.