Cockfighter was published by Newsstand Library as a paperback original in 1962 (under the title Cockfighter Journal; later editions restored Willeford’s preferred title). Frank Mansfield is a professional cockfighter — a man who breeds, trains, and fights gamecocks in the illegal matches that were (and in some places still are) a fixture of rural Southern life. Frank has taken a vow of silence: he will not speak until he wins the Cockfighter of the Year medal from the Southern Conference. The vow has cost him his girlfriend, his friends, and any semblance of normal human connection, but Frank’s obsession is absolute.
Willeford writes about cockfighting with the same technical precision he brings to all his subjects. The breeding of gamecocks, the conditioning regimen, the tactics of the pit, the betting, the culture of the cockfighting circuit — all are rendered with an authority that comes from research and, by some accounts, personal experience. The novel does not moralize about the cruelty of the sport; it simply describes it, and the reader must make their own judgment.
Frank’s silence makes him an unusual protagonist — his thoughts are conveyed through first-person narration, but his interactions with the world are limited to gesture, written notes, and the eloquence of his birds’ performances. The effect is to isolate him further, turning his obsession into a kind of monasticism — a total dedication to a single purpose that is simultaneously admirable and insane.
Monte Hellman directed a film adaptation in 1974, starring Warren Oates.
Collecting Cockfighter
First edition (Newsstand Library, 1962, as Cockfighter Journal): Paperback original.
Market values:
- First edition paperback, fine: $200–$500
- Later hardcover editions: $40–$100