Last Serious Thing: A Season at the Bullfights

Freelance sportswriter Schoenfeld claims that bullfighting is an art that makes viewers keenly aware of their own mortality. ``It's serious stuff,'' he muses. Based on a recent stay in Seville and a sidetrip to Madrid, this smoothly written travelogue profiles famous matadors, alive and dead, including the American John Fulton. Schoenfeld probes the psychology of the crowd and conveys details about the history of the so-called sport, bull breeding, fighting techniques, Hemingway lore and Spaniards' vicious prejudice against Gypsies (many matadors have Gypsy blood). Those who believe that bullfighting is a sadistic spectacle will find this book repellent, notwithstanding Schoenfeld's impassioned defense of bullfighting, an argument with more holes than a sieve. His descriptions of ``brave'' matadors' maneuvers, their ``artistry'' and ``graceful'' kills make one root for the bull. (Mar.)