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Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 796.83092 EAN: 9780375702297 Edition: 1st Vintage Books Ed ISBN: 0375702296 Label: Vintage Manufacturer: Vintage Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 352 Publication Date: October 05, 1999 Publisher: Vintage Release Date: October 05, 1999 Studio: Vintage Editorial Review: Amazon.com Review: You'd think there wouldn't be much left to say about a living icon like Muhammad Ali, yet David Remnick imbues King of the World with all the freshness and vitality this legendary fighter displayed in his prime. Beginning with the pre-Ali days of boxing and its two archetypes, Floyd Patterson (the good black heavyweight) and Sonny Liston (the bad black heavyweight), Remnick deftly sets the stage for the emergence of a heavyweight champion the likes of which the world had never seen: a three-dimensional, Technicolor showman, fighter and minister of Islam, a man who talked almost as well as he fought. But mostly Remnick's portrait is of a man who could not be confined to any existing stereotypes, inside the ring or out. In extraordinary detail, Remnick depicts Ali as a creation of his own imagination as we follow the willful and mercurial young Cassius Clay from his boyhood and watch him hone and shape himself to a figure who would eventually command center stage in one of the most volatile decades in our history. To Remnick it seems clear that Ali's greatest accomplishment is to prove beyond a doubt that not only is it possible to challenge the implacable forces of the establishment (the noir-ish, gangster-ridden fight game and the ethos of a whole country) but, with the right combination of conviction and talent, to triumph over these forces. --Fred Haefele Product Description: "Succeeds more than any previous book in bringing Ali into focus . . . as a starburst of energy, ego and ability whose like will never be seen again."--The Wall Street Journal "Best Nonfiction Book of the Year"--Time "Penetrating . . . reveal[s] details that even close followers of [Ali] might not have known. . . . An amazing story." --The New York Times On the night in 1964 that Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) stepped into the ring with Sonny Liston, he was widely regarded as an irritating freak who danced and talked way too much. Six rounds later Ali was not only the new world heavyweight boxing champion: He was "a new kind of black man" who would shortly transform America's racial politics, its popular culture, and its notions of heroism. No one has captured Ali--and the era that he exhilarated and sometimes infuriated--with greater vibrancy, drama, and astuteness than David Remnick, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lenin's Tomb (and editor of The New Yorker). In charting Ali's rise from the gyms of Louisville, Kentucky, to his epochal fights against Liston and Floyd Patterson, Remnick creates a canvas of unparalleled richness. He gives us empathetic portraits of wisecracking sportswriters and bone-breaking mobsters; of the baleful Liston and the haunted Patterson; of an audacious Norman Mailer and an enigmatic Malcolm X. Most of all, King of the World does justice to the speed, grace, courage, humor, and ebullience of one of the greatest athletes and irresistibly dynamic personalities of our time. "Nearly pulse-pounding narrative power . . . an important account of a period in American social history." --Chicago Tribune "A pleasure . . . haunting . . . so vivid that one can imagine Ali saying, 'How'd you get inside my head, boy?'" --Wilfrid Sheed, Time Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Muhammed the SymbolWhen boxing mattered, boxers were more than pugilists trying to break each other's wills; they were symbols that attracted the attention and aspirations of the masses. Like gladiators in Rome, these courageous men allow us to project our hopes, fears, and insecurities. David Remnick tells the story of Cassius Clay's growth from a skinny, mercurial, but morally upright boy, to a hero and symbol of resistance and hope for millions of anti-establishment figures. Ali captivated the hearts ... Read More Rating:  - WowIt is, as many have said, one of the great sports biographies of all time -- but it's also one of the great history narratives of all time. It's not just Muhammmad Ali profiled here, but the trio of heavyweights who dominated headlines in the early 1960s: also Floyd Patterson and Sonny Liston. And in many ways, those two are more fascinating because, before I read "King of the World," they weren't accompanied by the same pre-fight hype. Here's Liston, a dangerous and sullen felon who's achingly lonely; ... Read More Rating: - The KingBertz / Randall "Almighty god was with me! I want everybody to bear witness! I am the greatest! I shook up the world! I am the greatest thing that ever lived! I don't have a mark on my face, and I just upset Sonny Liston, and I just turned twenty-two years old. I must be the greatest! I showed the world! I talk to god every day! I am the king of the world!" shouts Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) to the sporting press, after defeating Sonny Liston in 1964. This statement ... Read More Rating: - Ali is crazy goodKing of the World by David Remnick was one of the best books I've ever read. It is the true story of a champion and how he got there. I recommend anyone who likes stories about winning and glory, to read this book. If you also like reading about dudes getting smoked by a champ. Read this book. Rating: - Death of One of My Heroes...For me, this book should have been titled "Death of One of My Heroes," which should become self-evident if you read this entire review. I believe the book is mostly accurate, and it is a well-written book. Remnick (the author), in my opinion, devotes too much time to Floyd Patterson and Sonny Liston. I also wish he had given more details about Ali as Ali got older and continued to box. Without question, Muhammad Ali, in his prime, was the greatest heavyweight fighter that has ... Read More |
