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Rating: 
Summary: One of my favorite books
Review: A wonderful collection of Davis Miller's essays and memoirs, some of which bacame the basis of his books "The Tao of Muhammad Ali" and "The Tao of Bruce Lee". The contents of this book are very well organized and are poignant, funny and provocative (especially the chapters titled "The Yin and Yang of Ali" and "Bruce Lee, American") in parts. Overall a very well written book by Davis Miller and I am eagerly awaiting the publication of his latest book "The last days of Bruce Lee".
Rating:
Summary: Simply mind blowing
Review: Buy Zen of Muhammed Ali, and all of Davis Miller's other books! They are amongst the most important pieces of literature to have been published in the last 100 years! Simply mind blowing. And incredibly fun.
Rating:
Summary: Review - The Zen of Muhammad Ali
Review: Keen to find out a little about boxing, I bought 'The Zen of Muhammad Ali' by Davis Miller on a whim and was pleasantly surprised on a number of levels.Davis Miller's enthusiasm for his subject is contagious - He's followed/studied Muhammad Ali with an adoring, but objective eye since 11 years of age. Also (and this can sometimes be rare in this genre) Davis Miller can really write! It's truly wonderful, even as a part-time, half-arsed martial artist, to come cross an author who can write in a beautiful, concise and honest way about this stuff we spend so much of our time (and money) doing. Using Sugar Ray Leonard as an example, the chapter 'Rapture' adroitly plumbs the depths of what motivates people to study boxing (and other martial arts). The book is subtitled 'and other obsessions' - These obsessions include an informative chapter on Bruce Lee, a short story entitled 'American Video', and a beautiful chapter called 'Ellen's, December 1971'. Read it and weep. This is well crafted, sensitive writing with a distinctly American flavour - Good Americana of the Jack Kerouac/Norman Mailer/Steely Dan variety as opposed to the other rubbish that is trotted out daily to us in 'The Rest of The Free World'. Worth a read.
Rating:
Summary: Review - The Zen of Muhammad Ali
Review: Keen to find out a little about boxing, I bought `The Zen of Muhammad Ali' by Davis Miller on a whim and was pleasantly surprised on a number of levels. Davis Miller's enthusiasm for his subject is contagious - He's followed/studied Muhammad Ali with an adoring, but objective eye since 11 years of age. Also (and this can sometimes be rare in this genre) Davis Miller can really write! It's truly wonderful, even as a part-time, half-arsed martial artist, to come cross an author who can write in a beautiful, concise and honest way about this stuff we spend so much of our time (and money) doing. Using Sugar Ray Leonard as an example, the chapter `Rapture' adroitly plumbs the depths of what motivates people to study boxing (and other martial arts). The book is subtitled `and other obsessions' - These obsessions include an informative chapter on Bruce Lee, a short story entitled `American Video', and a beautiful chapter called `Ellen's, December 1971'. Read it and weep. This is well crafted, sensitive writing with a distinctly American flavour - Good Americana of the Jack Kerouac/Norman Mailer/Steely Dan variety as opposed to the other rubbish that is trotted out daily to us in `The Rest of The Free World'. Worth a read.
Rating:
Summary: more than Ali, the American experience
Review: Oxfordshire, England
Through a brilliant collection of essays, Miller grounds American culture's ambitions and dreams, uncovering the frailties and failings of those who have become the gods of his generation along the way. The result is not a depressingly harsh reality check, but a poignant personal view of the American Dream that seems to make the philosophy feel that much more accessible. This was my first David Miller book. I have always been interested in modern iconography and like the majority of the western world am fascinated by Muhammad Ali and Bruce Lee. I bought "The Zen of Muhammad Ali" purely on face value. It was short and had an interesting title, which, in my mind, made it stand out amongst the rest of the heavily illustrated Ali merchandise currently being sold off the back of the Columbia Pictures/Michael Mann "Ali" film. What I discovered was a deep, addictive read that I could relate to. Like me, Miller had ambitions on being a successful martial artist and author, but was prepared to learn from the lessons life taught him. He has his heroes and was fortunate enough to get to know two of them, Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard. Upon discovering their human sides and Bruce Lee's too, he does not then fall into the common media trap of ruthlessly dissecting them, but instead holds a mirror up to himself and those who decide to propagate the mythology of these figures. He makes a sound argument that through pushing these figures as modern-day gods and adding falsities to their lives devalues them as human beings. This is examined in full in his Bruce Lee essay in the book, "Bruce Lee, American." After reading his four essays on his time with Ali, two on Sugar Ray Leonard and his one on Bruce Lee, I felt a better understanding and level of respect for these celebrities. I came from a showbusiness background myself and have seen first hand how harsh and seemingly unfair the media can be in their attempts to tell the "truth". Therefore, it was refreshing to see that Miller's frankness lacks the usual arrogant and condescending attitude too often seen in tabloids and unauthorised biographies. Instead he writes always with a close examination of his own mortality and often, by use of self-comparison, further shows why these great men truly are "great." This is never more evident than in his article "Wanting to Whup Sugar Ray." The third part of the book, entitled "Personal Struggles", appeared, at my first glance at the contents page, to be a disappointing anti-climax. This could not be further from the truth and is in fact my personal favourite. The section starts with an inspired fictional short story and then follows on with real-life accounts of his life, which really touch upon the American Dream philosophy I spoke about earlier. These essays are sometimes sad, sometimes optimistic and always very human. Not being American, I found Davis Miller's work to be a warm and humble introduction to the culture he grew up in. Many can learn from his honest and gentle approach to the human spirit and the life it helps create.
Rating: 
Summary: Not What I Signed On For, But Enjoyed 2/3
Review: Read about two thirds of this book - 114 out of 166 pages. I don't recommend this for the Ali fan looking for the Zen of Muhammad Ali The book is divided into 3 sections. Part One - Ali
Part Two - Zen Fisticuffs
Part Three - Personal Battles In part one - a story titled My Dinner With Ali - is one of the greatest Ali stories I've ever read - this story is also in The Muhammad Ali Reader (by the way - THE BEST book about Muhammad Ali - if you're an Ali fan and don't have it - GET IT) - anyway - this story is such a great and heart warming story about the Champ - you feel like you're right there with them. It's truly inspired writing and a must read for any Ali fan and for anyone who has an idol or hero from any walk of life...it's just fantastic. Part One is about Ali. Part Two is about Sugar Ray Leonard ( 2 articles) and Bruce Lee (1 article)- the Sugar Ray stories are good and the Lee story is interesting and sobering. I didn't read Part Three as they are fictional stories. My intent on getting this book was to read about Muhammad Ali - get more of Miller's perspective - as I've read a story of his before and wanted more of that. The title and cover are a bit misleading in that it doesn't represent the whole book. I really enjoyed the first 2 sections, but again - this wasn't what I was looking.
Rating:
Summary: beautiful
Review: The four Ali stories are the most intimate I've read about any celebrity. They possess a seemingly timeless beauty. The ones about Davis Miller's own life are sad and lovely and we feel ourselves inside his life. A wonderful, highly recommended read.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!!!!!
Review: This book is a collection of Davis Miller's best essays ranging from boxing legends Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, martial arts king Bruce Lee right through to his own moving stories, some fiction and some more personal experiences of his life. An example is Ellen, which is a very moving story and is written with so much emotion. The Ali articles are my faves - they are all excellent pieces of work. The 'Zen' word is a most appropriate title for this book as a lot is written about legendary boxers and why they do what they do and why many carry on for far too long - they live for that moment to moment excitement which they cannot seem to find no where else. To them, it's like they're living in a different space of time, a different world when they are in that ring. Zen has no real truth, it is just living moment to moment, being natural which is something which cannot be put down. This has to be experienced and Miller expresses these experiences with very well thought out words and fascinating insight. What i like most about this book is the articles on Muhammad Ali (4) and the one on Bruce Lee. It seems that Muhammad Ali's people are doing exactly the same as what happens to other many great world idols, they are bullying and exploiting the fans for their own greed and saint like image agendas. Miller writes wonderfully about all of this in his new essay on Ali, 'The Ying & Yang of Ali'. He also writes about my first boxing idol when i was very young, Sugar Ray Leonard which for me is very interesting and enjoyeable to read. Ray was influened a lot by Bruce Lee which is revealed in Miller's excellent book. I give this book top marks. I hope it reaches a much larger audience as it certainly deserves to be.
Rating:
Summary: 'guy's book' that's perfect for women
Review: Wonderful story. Tells of how Mr. Ali affected an 'underdogs' life & gave him strength to become a writer- even though he (the author) failed english as a subject in high school. This book is not just for sport/boxing lovers. My bookclub (all women) loved it.
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