There is no mistaking the marvels of the Ali Reader. It begins with the cover, which leaves you wordless--literally; there is nothing on it except the face of The Greatest linking you in his gaze, toying with your curiosity, and inviting you to step inside.

And what's inside is a knockout collection of 30 essays (and a poem from Nobelist Wole Soyinka) on the most remarkable sportsman of the 20th century, written by a stable of some of the most powerful contemporary literary heavyweights ever assembled in one ring: A.J. Liebling, Tom Wolfe, George Plimpton, LeRoi Jones, Murray Kempton, and Irwin Shaw spar with the Ali of the '60s and his metamorphosis from Cassius Clay; Norman Mailer, Pete Hamill, Gary Wills, Hunter Thompson, and Ishmael Reed pick up the saga in the '70s; and Jose Torres, Joyce Carol Oates, and Gay Talese bring the myth into the present.

From his entrance onto the world stage in 1960, Ali exuded a fascinating mixture of personality and skill, which he combined with an ability to mesmerize, charm, infuriate, and cajole. He has always been a writer's dream subject. His inherent poetry seemed to demand nothing less than worthy efforts from the legion of scribes who tried to corner him in prose; Ali possessed the goods that bring writers up to his level.

There are several surprises here, particularly in the early rounds, in which both former heavyweight champion Floyd Paterson (humiliatingly taunted by Ali in and out of the ring) and Jackie Robinson defend his embrace of the Black Muslims. Hamill writes poignantly about what Ali's individualism and his principles cost him in the eyes of the white public: "He had, quite simply, broken too many rules on the way to becoming a man." Thompson provides a dizzying chronicle of "the brown Jay Gatsby." Mailer writes searingly on ego and the body. And Oates, one of the most insightful of all observers of the Sweet Science, sums up his "Parkinsonian" present of muscular shakes and slurred speech with a single, thrilling line: "Who is to presume to feel sorry for one who will not feel sorry for himself?" Ali's own marvelous voice rings clear in a long Playboy interview as well as a shorter, but no less substantial, Q&A for Sport magazine conducted by former light heavyweight titlist Torres.

Though Ali is always on center stage, you don't need to like boxing--or even The Greatest--to be held in the spell of the Reader's literary wallop. The power of its pens should rivet your interest the way Ali himself used to hold ringsiders spellbound. --Jeff Silverman

From Publishers Weekly
One of the most admired and best-known boxers of the 20th century, Ali is the subject of some 30 essays and a poem by an all-star cast of prominent contemporaries, including Tom Wolfe, George Plimpton, Jackie Robinson, Leroi Jones, Irwin Shaw, Norman Mailer, Roger Kahn, Garry Wills, Bert Giamatti, Hunter Thompson, Joyce Carol Oates and Gay Talese. One surprise is that Floyd Paterson, humiliated by Ali in the 1960s and who later called him a coward, staunchly defends Ali's fight decisions, in a piece here written by Paterson and Talese. Mailer offers a turgid essay on the language of the body. Oates, who recalls the pugilist's early fights when he said he "floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee," muses on the "genius" of Ali's boxing in view of his graduating 376th out of 391 in his high school class. Other pieces tackle the subject of Ali's Muslim religion, portraying an idealistic, devout, warm, generous and admirable human being determined to help blacks fight what he describes as the "awful odds" against them. Early (Tuxedo Junction) has assembled a splendid collection. Photos. (June) FYI: Knopf has recently published the translation of a German biography of Ali: More Than a Champion, by Jan Philipp Reemtsma, trans. by John E. Woods (172p $21 ISBN 0-375-40030-3)Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Washington Post
"A multifaceted portrait of the man known to all as "The Greatest."

From Kirkus Reviews
Early (who also edited the recent Body Language: Writers on Sport, p. 168, etc.) compiles a formidable team of contributors to render honor to a man bigger than boxing, bigger than sports. Can you imagine Ecco Press, with its hard-won literary reputation, publishing a book on any other sports figure of our time than Muhammad Ali? No one but Ali has inspired such a rich tapestry of writing from names as significant as Norman Mailer, Gay Talese, Ishmael Reed, Tom Wolfe, Murray Kempton, Garry Wills, Wole Soyinka, and Hunter S. Thompson, all of whom are represented in this volume. The collection is organized chronologically, beginning with perhaps the best boxing writer of them all, A.J. Liebling, who covered Ali's first pro fight in New York, against the all-but-forgotten Sonny Banks. From there, the collection traces Ali's singular career, from his two defeats of Sonny Liston through his affiliation with the Nation of Islam, his refusal to be drafted for combat in Vietnam and the subsequent stripping of his title, the epic battles with Joe Frazier and George Foreman, the slow winding down and his return to the spotlight at the '96 Olympics. On the whole, the writers are so mesmerized by the sociopolitical implications of Ali that they sometimes forget to mention his fighting. Yet that seems appropriate, because Ali truly transcended sport, and much of the fascination of the book resides in watching the champ's image evolve from poetry-spouting wiseguy to faltering elder statesman. In his brief essay, Wills observes dryly, ``Modern Pindars sing the weirdest songs about Ali. They cluster around him trying to probe non-existent mysteries.'' While that might be truthfully said about some of the contributions to this anthology (A. Bartlett Giamatti and Mailer offer particularly abstruse and bizarre thoughts), for the most part, this is a pleasure to read and a deserved and elegant salute to The Greatest. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Chicago Tribune
"Poignant... dead on... some of the best writings on Ali."

Playboy
"Four decades of the best-known writings on Ali... These pieces poignantly and poetically capture the exquisite essence of the Greatest."

American Bookseller
"The Muhammad Ali Reader presents a compendium of the finest writing and shows how epic events and an epic subject can prompt epic writing."

Booklist
"Impressive...a great book because of its protagonist and the writers who tackle the complex subject involved. [It] belongs in everyone's library."

Salon Magazine
"The best book ever about Ali."

Book Description
Muhammad Ali is The Greatest. From Heavyweight Champion of the World to his ongoing battle with Parkinson's disease, Ali has captured the imagination of our finest writers and won admiration and scrutiny the world over. With sixteen pages of classic photographs, this collection brings together thirty-two essays, interviews, and articles by the best contemporary sportswriters and literary journalists. Spanning four decades, these pieces chronicle the highs and lows of Ali's career -- his first pro fight in New York; his affiliation with the Nation of Islam, his epic battles with Joe Frazier and George Forman; his Vietnam draft refusal, and the subsequent stripping of his title; and his ultimate return to the spotlight at the 1996 Olympics -- memorable milestones in a truly extraordinary life. Awe-inspiring, controversial, and beloved, Muhammad Ali, the man and the legend, comes out swinging in a collective portrait that is as illuminating as it is celebratory.

About the Author
Gerald Early is the author of The Culture of Bruising: Essays on Prizefighting, Literature, and Modern American Culture, winner of the 1994 National Book Critics Circle Award, and Tuxedo Junction: Essays on American Culture, both published by Ecco. A recipient of the Whiting Writer's Prize and the General Electric -- CCLM Foundation Award, Early is Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters at Washington University in St. Louis, where he also heads African and Afro-American Studies Program.

Excerpted from The Muhammad Ali Reader by Gerald Early. Copyright © 1999. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
Muhammad Ali -- or Cassius Clay -- just might be one of the greatest heavyweight champions this country has ever produced.One thing is certain. He is the most hated.He is hated because he is a Muslim.He is also hated because he speaks his mind.Some members of the sports press don't like either one of these things.But what they seem to dislike most is that Clay is a Black Muslim and an outspoken black man.While, in my opinion, some of the things that Clay says and does rate criticism, I do not feel that he deserves much of the bad press which he gets. I know what he is going through. For, during my own career in sports, I came to learn that there are many writers who like tame Negroes who "stay in their place." Of course, by backing up his words with deeds, Clay or Ali has clearly demonstrated where his "place" is -- right up there at the top.I think it is most significant that some of the writers, even the so-called liberals, do not want to grant this young champion his dues. One of the sports' writing fraternity whom I have considered a liberal for a long time is Howard Cosell. And Cosell has appeared to be in Clay's corner for several years. Yet, in a recent Wide World of Sports television interview with Clay, it struck me that Howard was being quite vicious in the way he tried to sway public opinion to his anti-Clay way of thinking.Of course there are some liberals who always like to bow to the stands and earn the roar of the approval of the masses. If this is the way Cosell is going, I hate to see it. Clay, however, seems capable of taking care of himself in the exchange of words as well as that of blows

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Muhammad Ali is The Greatest. From Heavyweight Champion of the World to his ongoing battle with Parkinson's disease, Ali has captured the imagination of our finest writers and won admiration and scrutiny the world over.

With sixteen pages of classic photographs, this collection brings together thirty-two essays, interviews, and articles by the best contemporary sportswriters and literary journalists. Spanning four decades, these pieces chronicle the highs and lows of Ali's career — his first pro fight in New York; his affiliation with the Nation of Islam, his epic battles with Joe Frazier and George Forman; his Vietnam draft refusal, and the subsequent stripping of his title; and his ultimate return to the spotlight at the 1996 Olympics — memorable milestones in a truly extraordinary life.

Awe-inspiring, controversial, and beloved, Muhammad Ali, the man and the legend, comes out swinging in a collective portrait that is as illuminating as it is celebratory.Muhammad Ali is The Greatest. From Heavyweight Champion of the World to his ongoing battle with Parkinson's disease, Ali has captured the imagination of our finest writers and won admiration and scrutiny the world over.

With sixteen pages of classic photographs, this collection brings together thirty-two essays, interviews, and articles by the best contemporary sportswriters and literary journalists. Spanning four decades, these pieces chronicle the highs and lows of Ali's career — his first pro fight in New York; his affiliation with the Nation of Islam, his epic battles with Joe Frazier and George Forman; his Vietnam draft refusal, and the subsequent stripping of his title; and his ultimate returnto the spotlight at the 1996 Olympics — memorable milestones in a truly extraordinary life.

Awe-inspiring, controversial, and beloved, Muhammad Ali, the man and the legend, comes out swinging in a collective portrait that is as illuminating as it is celebratory.

Author Biography: Gerald Early is the author of The Culture of Bruising: Essays on Prizefighting, Literature, and Modern American Culture, winner of the 1994 National Book Critics Circle Award, and Tuxedo Junction: Essays on American Culture, both published by Ecco. A recipient of the Whiting Writer's Prize and the General Electric — CCLM Foundation Award, Early is Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters at Washington University in St. Louis, where he also heads African and Afro-American Studies Program.

FROM THE CRITICS

Allen Barra

The Guinness Book of World Records has called Muhammad Ali "The Most Written About Human Being Who Ever Lived," having surpassed, in order, Lincoln, Christ and Napoleon. (This was before People and Entertainment Weekly discovered Leonardo DiCaprio.) For all those oceans of ink, though, it's remarkable how little of genuine and lasting interest on Ali has been preserved between covers.

Muhammad Ali is simply too big a subject for a single writer -- or to put it another way, he has meant too many things to too many people for one writer to reflect them all. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that now, as Ali settles into an early Parkinson's disease-induced old age, we have the best book ever about him, The Muhammad Ali Reader. The writers here include A.J. Liebling, Tom Wolfe, George Plimpton, Jackie Robinson, Murray Kempton, Norman Mailer, Garry Wills, Hunter S. Thompson, Ishmael Reed and Nigerian poet Wole Soyinka, to name just a few. Journalist and cultural critic Gerald Early pulled these pieces together, and he seems to have missed almost nothing about Ali that is of interest and even a few things that aren't. Even the bad stuff here is interesting, if only to illustrate the range of responses Ali generated.

The first major magazine piece on Cassius Marcellus Clay was written by the greatest of all boxing writers, A.J. Liebling, in a 1962 issue of the New Yorker. Liebling had the spectacular good fortune to see the young boxer-poet get dumped on his seat by a tough journeyman named Sonny Banks. Clay was raw and unorthodox, but as Liebling wrote, "Honest effort and sterling character backed by solid instruction will carry a man a good way, but unearned natural ability has a lot to be said for it." In the end, Liebling estimates, Clay "was the kind of Hero likely to be around for a long while." P>Two years after getting up to beat Banks, Clay won the heavyweight title by dominating the terrifying Sonny Liston so easily that writers like Nick Tosches are still conjuring up conspiracy theories about it. Overnight he became Muhammad Ali, Black Muslim and anti-war activist. Ali not only inspired great writing, he inspired great overwriting -- the best, of course, coming from Norman Mailer. "He is fascinating," wrote Mailer in King of the Hill, his great essay on the first Ali-Joe Frazier fight, in 1971. "The more we don't want to think about him, the more we are obliged to ... He is America's Greatest Ego ... He is the very spirit of the twentieth century."

The downside is that Ali also inspired a tremendous amount of bad writing, and Early seems to be obliged to include some of it, such as this by Joyce Carol Oates: "When in feckless youth Ali was a dazzling figure combining, say, the brashness of Hotspur and the insouciance of Lear's Fool ..." Garry Wills, summing up the literary world's fixation on Ali, notes that "For some reason, people don't want fighters just to be fighters."