Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight

Rating:
Summary: A knockout of a book
Review: By far the most interesting book about Ali to date. Remnick's bio was better at capturing Ali's early personality but this has incredible stuff about the non-boxing Ali, the Ali who put everything on the line for what he believed in and risked going to jail rather than go to war for an immoral cause. The section on Ali's relationship with Malcolm X is worth the price of the book in itself. I never knew that stuff. The writing is superb and its dramatic flair grabs your attention throughout.

Rating:
Summary: Packs a punch
Review: Great book. I recommend it pretty highly. I really admire Ali now.

Rating:
Summary: Changed my mind
Review: I have to confess that at the time Ali took his stand against the Vietnam War, I didn't agree with him. I even thought he was being disloyal to his country.

But time proved that he was right and I was misguided and I have to give him credit for being a prophet. In hindsight, he was unbelievably brave to risk it all for his principles.

This book really captures that era, the turmoil and the conflicting emotions of a generation over the war. It also presents a whole new, incredibly interesting side to Muhammad Ali. He was so much more than a boxer. He was a rebel, a visionary and a man of passion.

There's so much in this book that I did not know. Ali not only had to fight the white establishment when he opposed the war but he also angered the black establishment, most of whom supported the war even though poor blacks were being killed in much higher numbers than whites. Even Martin Luther King wouldn't come out against the war until after Ali shamed him into it. Very interesting book.

Rating:
Summary: Best Ali book
Review: I ordered this book after Rich Hoffman of the Philadelphia Daily News called it one of the two best books ever written about Muhammad Ali (along with the Tomas Hauser oral history published ten years ago).

He was right. This is the best book I've ever written about The Greatest. It has all kinds of inside information and stuff about the political Ali. Really makes you appreciate what he did for his country by speaking out and almost going to jail.

Rating:
Summary: Not Worth The Money
Review: I thought this book would be interesting but, really, was just utter disappointing. There were several factual errors, especially the one about the Ali-Liston bout. Also, many statements were made with little justification, quoting third hand sources, people who had little connection to Ali. I wish that the authors would have concentrated more on how Ali himself felt, what was going on in his mind at the most crucial time in his life. Finally, this book was dull, poorly written and very scattered.

Rating:
Summary: Very interesting
Review: Just finished this book and I learned a whole lot I didn't know about Ali. I just saw a documentary on PBS that covered some of this territory but the book is chock filled with interesting anecdotes and inside accounts that really show Ali in a different light than the way he's usually portrayed. The book compares Ali and his social conscience to Michael Jordan and his greed. But i would have liked to have heard what Ali himself thinks of this comparison.

Rating:
Summary: Book better than film
Review: Just saw the Will Smith movie Ali. Save your seven bucks and read this book. It's much more interesting and doesn't bore you with Ali's private life. What's more, it covers almost exactly the same ground as the movie, stopping at the Foreman fight and concentrating on Ali's stand against the war.

Will Smith just can't compare to the real thing and the real Ali definitely comes through in this book which I read last year.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: Lots I didn't know about Ali and I thought I knew just about all that's out there.

Fascinating description of a time and a personality that most of us have forgotten about or nobody knew.

Rating:
Summary: Best Ali book
Review: Other than a couple of minor factual errors (Sonny Liston bowed out of their second fight in the 7th round, not the 8th), this is a great book, filled with the best information and inside accounts I've ever seen about Ali and I've read just about all of them.

It even blows away a few myths that I've always believed because they are repated by one writer after another.

Rating:
Summary: Finally, a true portrait
Review: Wow, finally a book that gives more than the usual boxing cliches about Ali. This book tells about the other side of Ali, the crusader for justice who took an incredibly courageous stand against the Vietnam War and risked going to prison for his beliefs.

The average boxing fan probably won't like it because it doesn't talk much about Ali as a boxer but rather gives us some political insights that most boxing fans are probably too conservative or apolitical to appreciate.

It's a truly fascinating book, very well written and it explodes a lot of the myths about Ali because it is co-wriiten by Ali's best friend Howard Bingham, one of the only people who knows what really happened. Read this book!