The Muhammad Ali Reader

Fantastic - Truly the BEST book on Muhammad Ali out there - and I've read lots!On a scale of 1 to 5 I give this a 16 - it's THE Best out there!The book is divided by decades - and you're given insights and perspectives of Muhammad Ali from some pretty impressive folks.You travel through time and space with each page, with each chapter - you go through the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's with the Champ - it's incredible - I'm at a loss for words to describe what it's like to spend time here - you get this opportunity to travel 30 years with Muhammad Ali - to get different insights and looks at Muhammad Ali - you get to enjoy his youthful energy and watch him dance and you get to sit next to him and count the grays in his hair and watch his hands shake - and just when you even think of feeling sorry for him he levitates off the ground - or makes a hanky disappear - Yes - a must have for any Ali fan - I have LONG been a fan and this book has been like several books combined and has given me a full experience - like nothing else out there - a truly full and satifying Muhammad Ali experience

"Maybe if there were a few cheers from the other side of the fence, and a little more tolerance, too, people would realize Cassius Clay is not as bad as he seems, and maybe then he would also return the favor once in a while and keep his mouth shut."--Floyd Patterson (with Gay Talese), "In Defense of Cassius Clay," August 1966"Boxing is a dialogue between bodies. Ignorant men, usually black, and usually next to illiterate, address one another in a set of "conversational" exchanges... It is just that they converse with their physiques." -Norman Mailer, "Ego," March 1971This is an excellent book, not only for those interested in perhaps the greatest boxer of all time, but for people interested in the separate and combined effects of race, the 1960's, and the subjectivity of writing. For example, it appears that Patterson and Mailer held contradicting opinions about Ali's talking, and, much this book's fun is how Ali served as a projective test for the attitudes and values of others--Mailer in particular is a hoot.Ali's larger-than-life persona draws such literary heavyweights as Amiri Baraka, the humorist and essayist A.J. Liebling, Mailer, Joyce Carol Oates, George Plimpton, Irwin Shaw, Gay Telese, Garry Wills, and Tom Wolfe. Ali is a symbol, yes, but an individual too, and the better essays show him as a multifaceted, intelligent, and controversial person. Three interviews ("Black Scholar," uncredited, June, 1970; "Playboy," uncredited, November 1975; "Sport," Joe Torres, December 1981) let the champ speak for himself.The book is full of great writing (except for Hunter S. Thompson's annoying self-aggrandizing piece and Wills' non-illuminating intellectualism), and offer snapshots of Ali from 1962 through his post-Atlanta Olympics acclaim in the late 1990's. A blend of facts and iconography, the book is a fascinating look at Ali both inside and outside the ring. (Some pieces were edited for this book, but there is a bibliography on source material. With 16 pages of photos, no index, and an introductory essay by the editor.) Very highly recommended!

If you want to begin to try and really understand what Ali is all about, if you want to feel that you have met him and talked with him, this book is for you! It is a great read, and the many writers who contribute each have their own take on this most complex of all heavyweight champs. I loved this book from the first page to the last. You cannot find a better way to get to know Ali. I have read other books about him, and this one stands in a class by itself.

This is a really nice chronicle of Muhammed Ali's life and times. The writing here is just as inspired as the subject, so even non-boxing fans can appreciate it. Don't be put off by Early's poor introductory essay -- get the the meat of the book and you won't be disapointed. I'm glad I read this book.

This book is a treasure trove of expressed love for the English language as well as a treasure trove of "in the moment" perceptions about the champion of champions. Not to equate Ali with the "King of Kings" but the style of the book is reminiscent of the brilliance of Kahlil Gibran's "Jesus, the Son of Man". Part of the brilliance of the book is that its articles, interviews and essays actually manage to shed new light on the stories every Ali fan (like me) already knows. The book's brilliance is also reflected in it's cover design. Just a perfect picture of Ali. Enough said.