My rating:
add to my books
Loading...
King of the World: Muhammed Ali and the Rise of an American Hero
"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 Yo...more
"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 Yo...more
Paperback, 310 pages
Published
October 5th 1999
by Vintage
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
836)
majority of this book deals with the timeframe between Cassuis Clay's first heavyweight title fight against Sonny Liston, and the rematch between Liston and (now) Muhammad Ali. an instructive window into a time before Ali was an internationally-known sports icon, and before his refusal to be inducted into the US Army.
well-written, and an interesting window into a time BEFORE Ali was the most polarizing figure in sports. the evolution from being just a talented black boxer to racial...more
well-written, and an interesting window into a time BEFORE Ali was the most polarizing figure in sports. the evolution from being just a talented black boxer to racial...more
heidipj
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone
Shelves:
autobiographybiography
I'm not a fan of boxing. But I guess I got sick of being in the pub and listening to men go on and on about about Muhammad Bloody Ali for hours. I mean all he did was biff people right?
Err no. I was probably lucky in picking up this book. There are probably a dozen biographies about Ali but this one is fabulous, I could hardly put it down. Did I mention that I wasn't a fan of boxing. I'm still not. But I'm now definitely a fan of Muhammad Ali. He is beautiful, he is a legend and he...more
Err no. I was probably lucky in picking up this book. There are probably a dozen biographies about Ali but this one is fabulous, I could hardly put it down. Did I mention that I wasn't a fan of boxing. I'm still not. But I'm now definitely a fan of Muhammad Ali. He is beautiful, he is a legend and he...more
Oh man did I love this book!
This book is the story of the rivalry between Ali and Sonny Liston. Yeah, yeah, everyone says it is about Ali because everyone idolizes Ali; but Liston gets equal treatment here.
So here's the deal. Today everyone talks as if they have always loved Ali, but back in the sixties, his Muslim beliefs scared people and his outspoken ways led many to hate him.
Then there was Sonny Liston, cold, menacing, the man with the largest hands of ...more
This book is the story of the rivalry between Ali and Sonny Liston. Yeah, yeah, everyone says it is about Ali because everyone idolizes Ali; but Liston gets equal treatment here.
So here's the deal. Today everyone talks as if they have always loved Ali, but back in the sixties, his Muslim beliefs scared people and his outspoken ways led many to hate him.
Then there was Sonny Liston, cold, menacing, the man with the largest hands of ...more
One of the best books I've read on boxing and on one of my personal heroes, Muhammad Ali. Oddly, although written rather recently, the book covers a very short time frame in Ali's career - namely the time between his winning the gold medal at the Olympics and his being stripped of the heavyweight title for refusing to serve in the Army. If you don't know the story of Cassius Clay and his rise to fame as the black Muslim Muhammad Ali (and too many people don't), then this book is an awesome pla...more
My S.F. Chronicle review from 1998:
David Remnick deserves a nod of thanks for, among other things, helping us associate the words ``King of the World'' with something other than a pop movie director so awash in Oscar-night self-congratulation that he seemed intent on drawing sniper fire.
Remnick, who is editor of the New Yorker, is a writer to watch, and he and the greatest sports figure of the century are an excellent match. Some will complain that this compact study of Cassiu...more
David Remnick deserves a nod of thanks for, among other things, helping us associate the words ``King of the World'' with something other than a pop movie director so awash in Oscar-night self-congratulation that he seemed intent on drawing sniper fire.
Remnick, who is editor of the New Yorker, is a writer to watch, and he and the greatest sports figure of the century are an excellent match. Some will complain that this compact study of Cassiu...more
Unfortunately, there isn't very much information here that you haven't already read in Thomas Hauser's Ali biography or (even better) Nick Tosches' The Devil and Sonny Liston. Remnick's mastery of post-journalese narrative does make the book a decent, quick read. But I grimaced every time Remnick deliberately tried to take Ali down a peg or two (ha ha ha Cassius Clay buying a parachute on the plane trip to Rome; for shame, Ali was a total womanizer). Not that I think Ali is beyond criticism: it'...more
a good, quick read. remnick's writing style has changed since he wrote this in '98 -- it feels like a more novelistic at parts than the stuff in the bridge and his more recent stuff in the new yorker, but that worked just for fine me.
one point of interest for others who have read the book: remnick insists that ali wrote much of his trademark doggerel by himself, including a 32-liner called "song of myself". this seemed unlikely to me (the whitman reference was a pretty good t...more
one point of interest for others who have read the book: remnick insists that ali wrote much of his trademark doggerel by himself, including a 32-liner called "song of myself". this seemed unlikely to me (the whitman reference was a pretty good t...more
[Random notes:]
Cassius Clay (19th-century abolitionist): "For those who respect the laws of God, I have this argument. [Bible:] For those who believe in the laws of man, I have this argument. [State Constitution:] And for those who believe neither in the laws of God nor man, I have this argument. [two pistols and a Bowie knife:]" (83)
"[Archie:] Moore's talk resembled Liebling's prose, and one could not help but wonder if, consciously or not, they had formed...more
Cassius Clay (19th-century abolitionist): "For those who respect the laws of God, I have this argument. [Bible:] For those who believe in the laws of man, I have this argument. [State Constitution:] And for those who believe neither in the laws of God nor man, I have this argument. [two pistols and a Bowie knife:]" (83)
"[Archie:] Moore's talk resembled Liebling's prose, and one could not help but wonder if, consciously or not, they had formed...more
Ira
added it
"Clay's only obstacle as an Olympian was his fear of airplanes. He had made his way through the amateur ranks on trains and in the Martin's station wagon. Why couldn't he do the same on his trip to the heavyweight championship of the world? It took Joe Martin four hours of sitting and talking with Clay in Central Park in Louisville to convince him that he could not take a train to Rome. He could grip the armrests, he could take a pill, he could rant and rave, but he had to fly. "He fin...more
A New Yorker magazine-style sports biography, with many side-trips into the history of boxing, other fighters, the civil rights movement, and others. I felt like I learned a lot about this era of boxing (1950s through the Ali-Patterson fight in the mid-60s). Ali was a break from the old in a number of ways, and Remnick shows this well, via Ali's fighting style, his religion, his talking, and his management. I was surprised how much he talks about Sonny Liston, too, but I see why he did it: to sh...more
its not what you did its the way you did it. like the way he writes, intwinned with my way of thinking. whatever that says.
David Remnick is perhaps best known for his award-winning work on Russia since the collapse of Communism (Lenin's Tomb and Resurrection: The Struggle for a New Russia). His most recent book deals with Cassius Clay and his transformation into Mohammed Ali. "Boxing in America was born of slavery." Southern plantation owners would often pit their strongest slaves against each other, sometimes to near death. Frederick Douglass objected to the sport because he believed it "muffled th...more
A superb biography and history by a masterful writer. This book has been described as a biography of Muhammad Ali, but it's really much more than that.
Actually, it's a story about how three men (Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, and Cassius Clay who renamed himself Muhammad Ali) all responded in different ways to the identity choices African Americans faced as a result of the simultaneous civil rights and the black nationalist movements in the early 1960's. At times this book reads ...more
Actually, it's a story about how three men (Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, and Cassius Clay who renamed himself Muhammad Ali) all responded in different ways to the identity choices African Americans faced as a result of the simultaneous civil rights and the black nationalist movements in the early 1960's. At times this book reads ...more
I thought of rating this as less than brilliant because of the abrupt ending (post-Vietnam Ali wrapped up in 10-page epilogue!) but to hell with it. What a great look at Ali as part of a twentieth-century chronology of race in American history, and boxing history. And exceptional dissections of sportswriting and what it means to create - or resist - popular idols. Far more honest than a psychological study, which at the time Remnick was writing would have been tenuous even were Ali in full healt...more
This is a compelling, lucidly written memoir of Muhammad Ali's rise to become the heavyweight champion of the world, during that decade of decades, the Sixties. It gives a good account of the then-Mafia-run boxing world, and the writers and journalists who followed it. Remnick is also good on the other heavyweights of the time, especially Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson; as well as Muhammad Ali's involvement with the Nation of Islam and the indelible influence of Elijah Muhammad and, of course,...more
Entertaining, engrossing and refreshingly grounded in the humanity of not just Ali, but also Floyd Patterson and Sonny Liston. So much has been written about Ali, there's a lot of ground that simply does not need to be covered again. By focusing his book on a specific moment in a blossoming myth, Remnick, with simple, elegant prose, paints a picture of a time and a hero and makes it clear that both would be very different without the other.
view all 3 comments
I've never been a fan of boxing, but I've been a fan of Muhammad Ali for a very long time. Love him or hate him, he's a unique soul who has touched the lives of millions of people the world over. Maybe even billions. I had a hard time putting down this excellent book and I highly recommend it whether you like boxing or not. Ali was/is a fascinating person and this book is well-written, thoroughly researched and most insightful.
I recently read Ali one of the best boxers that ever lived. This book was a really good book because it talks about Ali’s whole life, how he started fighting and how he goes through hard times.
Ali was one of the best boxers that ever lived that’s one of the reasons why I life this book. Its hard to believe that he won all those fights in his whole career he only lost 3 fights out of like fifty or more fight and most of them were all ko’s. It incredible how much money he won over his it ti...more
Ali was one of the best boxers that ever lived that’s one of the reasons why I life this book. Its hard to believe that he won all those fights in his whole career he only lost 3 fights out of like fifty or more fight and most of them were all ko’s. It incredible how much money he won over his it ti...more
One of my three idols as a youth.... including Salvador Dali and Frank Zappa. Loved the book, just like the man. A couple friends and I ran into him on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood going into Lucy's El Adobe and we shadow boxed on the sidewalk, took pictures with him, he was very obliging and friendly. Simply, "The Greatest"
A good read, but not really any more about Ali than it is about Sonny Liston or Floyd Patterson. I wish that some of the time spent devoted to Liston, Patterson, and the writers of the day had been spent discussing Ali's career post-Liston.
Overall, though, a good introduction to the world Ali lived in.
Overall, though, a good introduction to the world Ali lived in.
Focusses around the two fights Ali fought against Sonny Liston but the scope of this book is wide enough that all the other issues of the time are tackled too. Remnick does a good job of placing the reader in the time and place when boxing and historic events intertwined and the resulting narrative is informative, intelligent and entertaining.
(Blah, blah that sounds too serious.) If you know nothing about boxing or Ali this is a probably a good place to start as it exposes the racism...more
(Blah, blah that sounds too serious.) If you know nothing about boxing or Ali this is a probably a good place to start as it exposes the racism...more
king of the ring is one of the best books Ive ever read about muhammad ali so far. they taught me more than i alrweady knew but i like the way the begging start off. it wasnt about him it was about who inspired him. sonny liston. i thought that was a gooid way to start off a book.
The powerful story of Muhammad Ali and his game-changing role in the civil rights movement, and the evolving imagery of black men in America. Author David Remnick contrasts the three major heavyweight champions of the 1960s (Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, and Ali) as competing models of black identity: the "Bad Negro", (Liston) the "Good Negro", (Patterson) and Ali, who refused to follow either prescribed role.
I've never watched a boxing match but as a child I knew who Muhammad Ali was. Having read The Autobiography of Malcolm X last year King of the World by David Remnick seemed like a logical follow-up.
King of the World chronicles the first few years of Cassius Clay's boxing career, his conversion to Islam, his rocky marriage (and divorce) to Sonji Roi. Remnick divides his time among describing the boxing matches, Clay's personal life, the political atmosphere and his friendship with Mal...more
King of the World chronicles the first few years of Cassius Clay's boxing career, his conversion to Islam, his rocky marriage (and divorce) to Sonji Roi. Remnick divides his time among describing the boxing matches, Clay's personal life, the political atmosphere and his friendship with Mal...more
Not as good as I expected with all the talk that it's much better than a boring documentary, but it still was interesting and informative on Muhammad Ali, the greatest boxer who ever lived. I wish it was more straight-foreward and to the point though.
I liked this more for the picture it paints of the boxing world and african american history than out of any admiration for muhammad ali.
Remnick starts by telling the stories of Floyd Patterson and Sonny Liston, and how the press depicted them as good negro/bad negro..setting the scene for the explosive appearance of Ali. The discussion of civil rights, african american history, the role of the sports press and Ali's embrace of the Muslim Brotherhood are all fascinating. Oh, and the mob'...more
Remnick starts by telling the stories of Floyd Patterson and Sonny Liston, and how the press depicted them as good negro/bad negro..setting the scene for the explosive appearance of Ali. The discussion of civil rights, african american history, the role of the sports press and Ali's embrace of the Muslim Brotherhood are all fascinating. Oh, and the mob'...more
A great account of Muhammad Ali's influence on the American mind, focusing on his years up to his refusal to serve in the Vietnam War. This book was a good counterpoint to the critical "Ghosts of Manila" by Mark Kram, which I also enjoyed.
This book is all about boxing. One of the guys patterson is the chapion in boxing. He is surposed to fight someone named clay Liston. Liston ends up loosing the match at one of the main avents. That match was for the chapion chip.
One of the best sports books I have ever read. David Remnick does a fantastic job making us understand why Ali is such an important athlete, and adds in the context of the social upheaval going on in the sixties
Jessica
rated it
A great book and easy read! The author did a great job at explaining things in detail. I was never very interested in Ali, but this book was hard to put down. It would be great to use for 4th grade and up.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
