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Sting Like a Bee: Muhammad Ali vs. the United States of America, 1966-1971
An insightful portrait of Muhammed Ali from the New York Times bestselling author of At the Altar of Speed and The Big Bam. It centers on the cultural and political implications of Ali's refusal of service in the military—and the key moments in a life that was as high profile and transformative as any in the twentieth century.
With the death of Muhammad Ali in June, 2016, the media and America in general have remembered a hero, a heavyweight champion, an Olympic gold medalist, an icon, and a man who represents the sheer greatness of America. New York Times bestselling author Leigh Montville goes deeper, with a fascinating chronicle of a story that has been largely untold. Muhammad Ali, in the late 1960s, was young, successful, brash, and hugely admired—but with some reservations. He was bombastic and cocky in a way that captured the imagination of America, but also drew its detractors. He was a bold young African American in an era when few people were as outspoken. He renounced his name—Cassius Clay—as being his 'slave name,' and joined the Nation of Islam, renaming himself Muhammad Ali. And finally in 1966, after being drafted, he refused to join the military for religious and conscientious reasons, triggering a fight that was larger than any of his bouts in the ring. What followed was a period of legal battles, of cultural obsession, and in some ways of being the very embodiment of the civil rights movement located in the heart of one man. Muhammad Ali was the tip of the arrow, and Leigh Montville brilliantly assembles all the boxing, the charisma, the cultural and political shifting tides, and ultimately the enormous waft of entertainment that always surrounded Ali. Muhammed Ali vs. the United States of America is an important and incredibly engaging book.
From the Hardcover edition.
With the death of Muhammad Ali in June, 2016, the media and America in general have remembered a hero, a heavyweight champion, an Olympic gold medalist, an icon, and a man who represents the sheer greatness of America. New York Times bestselling author Leigh Montville goes deeper, with a fascinating chronicle of a story that has been largely untold. Muhammad Ali, in the late 1960s, was young, successful, brash, and hugely admired—but with some reservations. He was bombastic and cocky in a way that captured the imagination of America, but also drew its detractors. He was a bold young African American in an era when few people were as outspoken. He renounced his name—Cassius Clay—as being his 'slave name,' and joined the Nation of Islam, renaming himself Muhammad Ali. And finally in 1966, after being drafted, he refused to join the military for religious and conscientious reasons, triggering a fight that was larger than any of his bouts in the ring. What followed was a period of legal battles, of cultural obsession, and in some ways of being the very embodiment of the civil rights movement located in the heart of one man. Muhammad Ali was the tip of the arrow, and Leigh Montville brilliantly assembles all the boxing, the charisma, the cultural and political shifting tides, and ultimately the enormous waft of entertainment that always surrounded Ali. Muhammed Ali vs. the United States of America is an important and incredibly engaging book.
From the Hardcover edition.
342 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 16, 2017
33 people are currently reading
378 people want to read
About the author
Leigh Montville
20 books27 followersLeigh Montville is a highly respected sportswriter, columnist and author. He is a graduate of the University of Connecticut.Montville is married to Diane Foster and has two children. He lives in Massachusetts and is an ardent supporter of the Boston Red Sox.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
January 18, 2018
A decent look at Ali's life during this turbulent time period and the surrounding events. There were definitely a lot of things I hadn't known and twice as many I had forgotten about. The cross referencing to works such as The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court which was a great book brought back other memories of that time period much of which I was very young for.
May 1, 2021
This is a breezy, insightful account of Muhammad Ali's troubles with the draft board. I learned a lot about what happened and why it did. I was young when it happened and didn't follow it that much.
May 19, 2017
“’It takes a lot of nerve for somebody, mainly a white, to ask me do I hate. I haven’t lynched nobody and hid in the bushes.’”
I received an advance copy free from Net Galley and Doubleday in exchange for this honest review. The book is now available for purchase.
Muhammad Ali died of Parkinson’s disease one year ago. By the time of his passing, he had earned the respect and recognition he craved. In this popular biography, Montville gives an overview of his rise to fame, but focuses primarily on Ali’s legal challenge to the US government, which strove to draft him to fight in Vietnam despite his professed status as a conscientious objector.
During the 1960s and 1970s, almost all of Caucasian America and a goodly number of African-Americans regarded Ali’s public statements either with derision or fear. Born Cassius Clay, he joined the Nation of Islam as a young adult and changed his name in the same way Malcolm X had before him. He did it in order to shuck the slave name given him at birth and adopt a new religion that taught him that Black men were not only equal to white folks, but better. Malcolm X had advocated Black pride and scared a lot of people, but he had done it from the point of view of a political activist. Ali was the first Black athlete to stand up tall and tell all of America that he was the greatest. The descendants of slave owners that willingly or not bore the guilt of the oppressors were absolutely terrified. This was the fear they seldom made themselves face, the notion that the descendants of those so grievously wronged might rise up belatedly and give back some of what their ancestors had been dealt. I was there; I remember.
Ali personified the white man’s fear of the jungle. Dude, here he comes; he’s strong, he’s angry, and he’s free!
Montville recognizes up front that when Ali died, he was an icon, both as an athlete and as a civil rights advocate. But the tone of his prose shifts from a more or less neutral journalistic tone, to a wry one—because Ali did say some outrageous things by anyone’s standard—and then, again and again, to a derisive one. The first time I saw it, I told myself I was tired and grumpy, and that I was probably being overly sensitive. My own family is racially mixed; I have raised a Black son. Sometimes I get touchy when I read things written by white authors about Black people. I should put the book down and examine it tomorrow with fresh eyes.
When I picked it up the next time I was immediately taken with the writer’s skill. His pacing is impeccable. Some of the quotes he chose are really delicious ones, although with Ali, it’s also kind of hard to go wrong. And at this point I considered that since we were on a roll, I should take the next step and examine the end notes and documentation.
Huh. Apart from a list of sources, most of which are biographies written by other people, there’s nothing. There are the in-text references a popular biographer uses, telling us, for example, that a direct quote comes from the magazine Sports Illustrated, without telling us what issue or who wrote it. And to be fair, that’s how a popular biography is written. It’s there for the masses that love boxing and aren’t going to check your footnotes. Everything within my academic heart recoils at this kind of biography, but it sells. I may not like it much, but people will buy it and they’ll read it.
But to write about a legal challenge of this magnitude and not provide specific documentation?
I could mention this within a review—as I have—and say that given this particular caveat, the biography is a four star read, and I thought that I might do that. But when I continued reading, there it was again. The author makes fun of the guy. And so just before the halfway mark, I started making careful notes of my own, because I wanted to see for myself how it is possible for a writer to appear to be neutral much of the time and yet also mock his subject. What I came away with is that the more straight-forward, respectful material is buried in the middle of each section, but the briefer sneering, snide material is usually right at the end of the section in one sentence, set apart from everything that came before it.
Writers do this for emphasis.
Fans of Ali will have to swallow hard to make it through this biography. Fans of boxing will find that it’s mostly about the legal challenge, and although Ali’s boxing matches are included, you’ll find a lot more about those in any one of the numerous other Ali biographies published earlier. And those interested in his legal fight may want to hold out for a more scholarly treatment.
When all is said and done, Ali was the greatest, but this biography is not.
I received an advance copy free from Net Galley and Doubleday in exchange for this honest review. The book is now available for purchase.
Muhammad Ali died of Parkinson’s disease one year ago. By the time of his passing, he had earned the respect and recognition he craved. In this popular biography, Montville gives an overview of his rise to fame, but focuses primarily on Ali’s legal challenge to the US government, which strove to draft him to fight in Vietnam despite his professed status as a conscientious objector.
During the 1960s and 1970s, almost all of Caucasian America and a goodly number of African-Americans regarded Ali’s public statements either with derision or fear. Born Cassius Clay, he joined the Nation of Islam as a young adult and changed his name in the same way Malcolm X had before him. He did it in order to shuck the slave name given him at birth and adopt a new religion that taught him that Black men were not only equal to white folks, but better. Malcolm X had advocated Black pride and scared a lot of people, but he had done it from the point of view of a political activist. Ali was the first Black athlete to stand up tall and tell all of America that he was the greatest. The descendants of slave owners that willingly or not bore the guilt of the oppressors were absolutely terrified. This was the fear they seldom made themselves face, the notion that the descendants of those so grievously wronged might rise up belatedly and give back some of what their ancestors had been dealt. I was there; I remember.
Ali personified the white man’s fear of the jungle. Dude, here he comes; he’s strong, he’s angry, and he’s free!
Montville recognizes up front that when Ali died, he was an icon, both as an athlete and as a civil rights advocate. But the tone of his prose shifts from a more or less neutral journalistic tone, to a wry one—because Ali did say some outrageous things by anyone’s standard—and then, again and again, to a derisive one. The first time I saw it, I told myself I was tired and grumpy, and that I was probably being overly sensitive. My own family is racially mixed; I have raised a Black son. Sometimes I get touchy when I read things written by white authors about Black people. I should put the book down and examine it tomorrow with fresh eyes.
When I picked it up the next time I was immediately taken with the writer’s skill. His pacing is impeccable. Some of the quotes he chose are really delicious ones, although with Ali, it’s also kind of hard to go wrong. And at this point I considered that since we were on a roll, I should take the next step and examine the end notes and documentation.
Huh. Apart from a list of sources, most of which are biographies written by other people, there’s nothing. There are the in-text references a popular biographer uses, telling us, for example, that a direct quote comes from the magazine Sports Illustrated, without telling us what issue or who wrote it. And to be fair, that’s how a popular biography is written. It’s there for the masses that love boxing and aren’t going to check your footnotes. Everything within my academic heart recoils at this kind of biography, but it sells. I may not like it much, but people will buy it and they’ll read it.
But to write about a legal challenge of this magnitude and not provide specific documentation?
I could mention this within a review—as I have—and say that given this particular caveat, the biography is a four star read, and I thought that I might do that. But when I continued reading, there it was again. The author makes fun of the guy. And so just before the halfway mark, I started making careful notes of my own, because I wanted to see for myself how it is possible for a writer to appear to be neutral much of the time and yet also mock his subject. What I came away with is that the more straight-forward, respectful material is buried in the middle of each section, but the briefer sneering, snide material is usually right at the end of the section in one sentence, set apart from everything that came before it.
Writers do this for emphasis.
Fans of Ali will have to swallow hard to make it through this biography. Fans of boxing will find that it’s mostly about the legal challenge, and although Ali’s boxing matches are included, you’ll find a lot more about those in any one of the numerous other Ali biographies published earlier. And those interested in his legal fight may want to hold out for a more scholarly treatment.
When all is said and done, Ali was the greatest, but this biography is not.
July 26, 2018
Shocking, revealing, and a long walk down a short road. There are many knowns and unknowns in "Sting Like a Bee, " and I often found myself Googling for verification. The author took a unique and sometimes 'avoidance' stance regarding the tall tale of Muhammad Ali, saying after each questionable point was written, "maybe it happened, maybe it didn't." This is sung throughout the book, but anyone who knows about the life of Muhammad Ali (I can't imagine who wouldn't) knows that he lived in the throes of conflict, elation, emancipation, tribulation, love, and loss. They would know that Ali's gifts were far greater than his ability to box in the ring, but his ability to look at society from a technical perspective, make a decision and hope his words were not completely misconstrued (even as he said whatever he pleased).
Although the books adequately covered the long 'trial' of Ali due to his refusal to fight in the Vietnam War because of his religious beliefs, it did reveal that he was conflicted at times about being an American fighting against a 'created' enemy and getting nothing from it. Leigh Montville does well with making it clear that the book was written from the expansive research of previously released documentation, videos, and interviews over the last several decades. There are moments when a twisted lip of disbelief arises, but covering nearly sixty years in a few hundred pages is an arduous and monumental task. Still, Montville does a good job, I think, with humanizing Ali, letting readers know he was just a man, sometimes more than I felt necessary. The emphasis on Ali's commitment to not drinking, smoking, or womanizing was a lead-in to the story, hinting, then fully exposing, that he engaged in them all (perhaps more innuendo than written text). This lead-in reminded me immediately of Manning Marable's revelations about Malcolm X. The difference was that Montville was less dramatic in his descriptions as if preserving the beloved image of Ali than Marable was of Malcolm X.
Sting Like a Bee has earned its kudos for the extended use of the voice of Ali. His 'talks,' speeches, and general comments were priceless and certainly makes the book a lot more personal and believable. For this reason, it is recommended that you reread Sting Like a Bee, this time armed with a bright yellow highlighter. Like Ali, there is much left to be said about Sting Like a Bee, but reading the book will fill in the blanks and the voids we often find when it comes to the mystical magnificence of an Ali sized icon. Read the book. You decide.
Maybe it will...maybe it won't.
Although the books adequately covered the long 'trial' of Ali due to his refusal to fight in the Vietnam War because of his religious beliefs, it did reveal that he was conflicted at times about being an American fighting against a 'created' enemy and getting nothing from it. Leigh Montville does well with making it clear that the book was written from the expansive research of previously released documentation, videos, and interviews over the last several decades. There are moments when a twisted lip of disbelief arises, but covering nearly sixty years in a few hundred pages is an arduous and monumental task. Still, Montville does a good job, I think, with humanizing Ali, letting readers know he was just a man, sometimes more than I felt necessary. The emphasis on Ali's commitment to not drinking, smoking, or womanizing was a lead-in to the story, hinting, then fully exposing, that he engaged in them all (perhaps more innuendo than written text). This lead-in reminded me immediately of Manning Marable's revelations about Malcolm X. The difference was that Montville was less dramatic in his descriptions as if preserving the beloved image of Ali than Marable was of Malcolm X.
Sting Like a Bee has earned its kudos for the extended use of the voice of Ali. His 'talks,' speeches, and general comments were priceless and certainly makes the book a lot more personal and believable. For this reason, it is recommended that you reread Sting Like a Bee, this time armed with a bright yellow highlighter. Like Ali, there is much left to be said about Sting Like a Bee, but reading the book will fill in the blanks and the voids we often find when it comes to the mystical magnificence of an Ali sized icon. Read the book. You decide.
Maybe it will...maybe it won't.
March 26, 2017
Not only a biography of Ali but a study of a turbulent time in America. Concentrating on his legal battle because of religion and conscientious objector this book gives insight into the man people either loved or hated.
May 24, 2017
http://www.themaineedge.com/sports/mu...
When Muhammad Ali passed away last June, he was celebrated in a manner that few people – and even fewer athletes – have ever received. He was hailed as an icon and a hero, one of the most globally beloved figures of his generation.
Amidst all that adulation, it’s easy to forget that there was a time in this country that Ali was reviled, hated for many of the same reasons for which we loved him.
Author Leigh Montville has written a chronicle of that tumultuous time. “Sting Like a Bee: Muhammad Ali vs. the United States of America, 1966-71” tells the story of young Ali as he confronted the realities of Vietnam, challenging his draft eligibility and denouncing the war, potentially sacrificing his career along the way.
In the late 1960s, Muhammad Ali was a brash and brilliant boxer, the heavyweight champion of the world. He was quick in the ring and quick with a quip, but there was plenty amidst the pugilistic excellence and the verbal braggadocio that many found troubling. Ali’s relationship to the extremist Nation of Islam sect – led by Elijah Muhammad – was one of the biggest; he even changed his name from Cassius Clay in order to better connect with the NOI.
But his relationship with his country truly soured in 1966, when he refused to join the military after being drafted. From that act of defiance spun numerous consequences. Ali was soon entrenched in a protracted legal fight, one in which he argued that his religion forbade his participation in a war. Those legal battles led the country’s numerous boxing commissions to withdraw his licenses, remove his titles and effectively ban him from the sport. Both sides saw civil rights ramifications as well.
Through it all, Ali acted as the flawed human he was rather than the flawless idea we remember him to be. He struggled with his faith, striving to find purpose without the sport that had been his life since childhood. He struggled financially and emotionally, professionally and personally – all while never knowing if the next court case would result in Ali getting his life back or losing a chunk of it to the penal system.
It’s remarkable to think that someone who has been written about as extensively as Muhammad Ali might have an underexplored aspect to their history, and yet here we are. This period – the dark time when the shadow of Vietnam loomed over everything Ali said or did – is one that hasn’t generated the same degree of coverage. Hindsight has significantly shifted the public’s perspectives on Ali’s actions – and not in a way that is particularly flattering to said public – so it’s no surprise that it doesn’t get as much attention.
In “Sting Like a Bee,” Montville has put together an exhaustively researched and deftly written account of that stretch. The portrait of Ali is rendered with rich, meticulous detail; it’s as thorough a portrait of the man he was in those years as you could ever hope to experience.
There were some dark moments for Ali during this time. Montville is unflinching in his recounting, but he is also unjudging; this is neither a puff piece nor a hit piece. Far from hagiography, it is simply a warts-and-all look.
There’s no doubt that Ali was a fascinating character; much of what made him fascinating – his athletic skill, his infectious energy, his wit and his faith – is brought into sharp focus by this book. It’s a bit cliché to say that you learn more about someone’s character when they’re being tested, but there’s no denying that “Sting Like a Bee” will give the reader a new appreciation for the difficulties of Ali’s journey.
“Sting Like a Bee” offers a long look at a trying time in the life of a nigh-mythic figure. Thanks to Montville, we can experience these years alongside Ali. And a moment is captured, a unique time in American history filtered through the prism of one man. The Greatest.
When Muhammad Ali passed away last June, he was celebrated in a manner that few people – and even fewer athletes – have ever received. He was hailed as an icon and a hero, one of the most globally beloved figures of his generation.
Amidst all that adulation, it’s easy to forget that there was a time in this country that Ali was reviled, hated for many of the same reasons for which we loved him.
Author Leigh Montville has written a chronicle of that tumultuous time. “Sting Like a Bee: Muhammad Ali vs. the United States of America, 1966-71” tells the story of young Ali as he confronted the realities of Vietnam, challenging his draft eligibility and denouncing the war, potentially sacrificing his career along the way.
In the late 1960s, Muhammad Ali was a brash and brilliant boxer, the heavyweight champion of the world. He was quick in the ring and quick with a quip, but there was plenty amidst the pugilistic excellence and the verbal braggadocio that many found troubling. Ali’s relationship to the extremist Nation of Islam sect – led by Elijah Muhammad – was one of the biggest; he even changed his name from Cassius Clay in order to better connect with the NOI.
But his relationship with his country truly soured in 1966, when he refused to join the military after being drafted. From that act of defiance spun numerous consequences. Ali was soon entrenched in a protracted legal fight, one in which he argued that his religion forbade his participation in a war. Those legal battles led the country’s numerous boxing commissions to withdraw his licenses, remove his titles and effectively ban him from the sport. Both sides saw civil rights ramifications as well.
Through it all, Ali acted as the flawed human he was rather than the flawless idea we remember him to be. He struggled with his faith, striving to find purpose without the sport that had been his life since childhood. He struggled financially and emotionally, professionally and personally – all while never knowing if the next court case would result in Ali getting his life back or losing a chunk of it to the penal system.
It’s remarkable to think that someone who has been written about as extensively as Muhammad Ali might have an underexplored aspect to their history, and yet here we are. This period – the dark time when the shadow of Vietnam loomed over everything Ali said or did – is one that hasn’t generated the same degree of coverage. Hindsight has significantly shifted the public’s perspectives on Ali’s actions – and not in a way that is particularly flattering to said public – so it’s no surprise that it doesn’t get as much attention.
In “Sting Like a Bee,” Montville has put together an exhaustively researched and deftly written account of that stretch. The portrait of Ali is rendered with rich, meticulous detail; it’s as thorough a portrait of the man he was in those years as you could ever hope to experience.
There were some dark moments for Ali during this time. Montville is unflinching in his recounting, but he is also unjudging; this is neither a puff piece nor a hit piece. Far from hagiography, it is simply a warts-and-all look.
There’s no doubt that Ali was a fascinating character; much of what made him fascinating – his athletic skill, his infectious energy, his wit and his faith – is brought into sharp focus by this book. It’s a bit cliché to say that you learn more about someone’s character when they’re being tested, but there’s no denying that “Sting Like a Bee” will give the reader a new appreciation for the difficulties of Ali’s journey.
“Sting Like a Bee” offers a long look at a trying time in the life of a nigh-mythic figure. Thanks to Montville, we can experience these years alongside Ali. And a moment is captured, a unique time in American history filtered through the prism of one man. The Greatest.
April 13, 2019
Non-fiction sports-based tomes are not usually something I reach for, but I really wanted to understand the specifics of this time in Ali's life, and so here I found myself. This was a very well-written and in-depth exploration of a tumultuous time. I was surprised how much I enjoyed reading it; especially enjoyed learning about the personalities of all the people involved, especially Belinda (3rd wife). Lady had some class and sass!
March 27, 2025
I really didn’t know anything about Muhammad Ali, so this book was fascinating. Parts of it were a little slow as it is really a minute by minute play of those years in his life, but the legal side was incredibly interesting. Seeing how so many issues could all be found in conscientious objector status was incredibly interested and I would recommend the read.
July 13, 2024
Maybe 3.5. A zestily told, sometimes minute-by-minute, trip through Ali's time out of the ring, with special focus on his battle to gain conscientious-objector/ministerial exemption from the draft. Montville talked to Ali's second wife, the lawyer who got his license returned (story I did not know: NY had licensed more than 240 felons to appear in the ring but made an exception, with no due process, for Ali, the process of discovering this being described entertainingly), and several other side figures, though not the champ himself. The picture is often revelatory in details: it's quite unclear how consistently Ali pursued, or committed to, the notion of himself as a NOI minister. He seems to have done quite a lot of recruiting in his enthusiastic first years, and then once his focus shifted to getting back in the ring, he devoted so much more time and effort to that pursuit that Elijah Muhammad excommunicated him for a year, meaning that, ironically, non-Muslims were finally mostly calling him "Ali," while Muslims were told to call him "Clay." Montville suggests that Ali's commitment was sincere, even if he had not initially registered as an objector, much less a minister, and the day-by-day focus emphasizes both how compellingly he could argue and how much time he put in (out of a combination of belief and financial need) traveling the country and arguing with college students near and far.
But it's also clear that Ali was, let's say, mercurial--in his affections (his wife makes it clear that his professions of chastity and faith were very much a one-way street), in his relations to others (though he seems to have been plagued by slightly fewer of the usual clouds of hangers-on who generally flock to people in these positions), and in his larger sense of any life purpose aside from boxing. Still, Montville does rescue Ali from the gauzy hagiography that enveloped him at his death in 2016. This captures how radical a figure he was, at least for a short time (maybe 1964-68?), in his criticism of American racism and foreign policy.
As a historian, though, I wanted more judgment and perspective; this is so committed to the day-by-day reconstruction that it does not usefully step back and locate him in broader context. There are the usual mentions that college campuses were erupting, that there were internal CRM debates over tactics, and so on, but not enough of a broader sense of what this information tells us about Ali as a larger figure. The day-to-day machinations of politicking, lawyering, and fight-making are frequently engaging--I have a soft spot for all those antique fight-game maneuvers, I suppose going back to all the Liebling I've read. I just wanted something a little bigger.
But it's also clear that Ali was, let's say, mercurial--in his affections (his wife makes it clear that his professions of chastity and faith were very much a one-way street), in his relations to others (though he seems to have been plagued by slightly fewer of the usual clouds of hangers-on who generally flock to people in these positions), and in his larger sense of any life purpose aside from boxing. Still, Montville does rescue Ali from the gauzy hagiography that enveloped him at his death in 2016. This captures how radical a figure he was, at least for a short time (maybe 1964-68?), in his criticism of American racism and foreign policy.
As a historian, though, I wanted more judgment and perspective; this is so committed to the day-by-day reconstruction that it does not usefully step back and locate him in broader context. There are the usual mentions that college campuses were erupting, that there were internal CRM debates over tactics, and so on, but not enough of a broader sense of what this information tells us about Ali as a larger figure. The day-to-day machinations of politicking, lawyering, and fight-making are frequently engaging--I have a soft spot for all those antique fight-game maneuvers, I suppose going back to all the Liebling I've read. I just wanted something a little bigger.
April 9, 2020
Andrew Metivier
March Independent Reading
Plot Summary:
The book “Sting Like a Bee,” by Leigh Montville has a lot of plot twists due to the very up and down life of Muhammad Ali. The book starts of by detailing the life of Muhammad Ali before the fame and before boxing was even in his life. The plot of the book starts off very slow with a lot of exposition. The rising action begins during high school when Muhammad Ali was first introduced to boxing. The rest of the rising action consists of the rise of Muhammad Ali. His first fight ever was against Zbigniew Pietrzykowski and was talked about a lot throughout the book. From humble beginnings to the pro boxing big stage, Muhammad Alis’ rise was just beginning. (Spoiler: He won the first fight of his career against Zbigniew Pietrzykowski) Towards the end of the rising action is just deatiling of the rest of Muhammad Ali’s fights until his biggest fight. Known as the Rumble in the Jungle, Muhammad Ali was set to fight Joe Frazier in a title match. The climax was the lead up to the fight. Muhammad Ali was critizcized and talked upon by Frazier, yet did not respond with any hate. The official climax was the fight in itself. (Spoiler: Muhammad Ali lost for just the second time in his career) While you would think thats the end of the book, the message of the story truly comes in the falling action. The falling action tells of Muhammad Alis life after boxing even though he fought many more fights after the Frazier fight. Throughout the falling action the book stresses Muhammad Alis’ six core values. His core values were confidence, conviction, dedication, respect, giving and spirituality. The resolution describes how Ali’s actions and values affected the world outside of boxing. While short, the descriptions of how he affected the world was very interesting.
Personal Review:
Overall I thought that this was a great book. I personally never really new why Muhammad Ali was so great, because I just thought of him as another boxer. I thought it was very interesting to learn how a boy with humble beginnings became one of the greatest boxers all time. Although that wasn’t the reason I truly loved this book. The real reason was in the falling action when it described his life after boxing. The effect he made on the world through his many core values was very inspirational. Overall I thought it was a very goodread and I really recommend reading it.
March Independent Reading
Plot Summary:
The book “Sting Like a Bee,” by Leigh Montville has a lot of plot twists due to the very up and down life of Muhammad Ali. The book starts of by detailing the life of Muhammad Ali before the fame and before boxing was even in his life. The plot of the book starts off very slow with a lot of exposition. The rising action begins during high school when Muhammad Ali was first introduced to boxing. The rest of the rising action consists of the rise of Muhammad Ali. His first fight ever was against Zbigniew Pietrzykowski and was talked about a lot throughout the book. From humble beginnings to the pro boxing big stage, Muhammad Alis’ rise was just beginning. (Spoiler: He won the first fight of his career against Zbigniew Pietrzykowski) Towards the end of the rising action is just deatiling of the rest of Muhammad Ali’s fights until his biggest fight. Known as the Rumble in the Jungle, Muhammad Ali was set to fight Joe Frazier in a title match. The climax was the lead up to the fight. Muhammad Ali was critizcized and talked upon by Frazier, yet did not respond with any hate. The official climax was the fight in itself. (Spoiler: Muhammad Ali lost for just the second time in his career) While you would think thats the end of the book, the message of the story truly comes in the falling action. The falling action tells of Muhammad Alis life after boxing even though he fought many more fights after the Frazier fight. Throughout the falling action the book stresses Muhammad Alis’ six core values. His core values were confidence, conviction, dedication, respect, giving and spirituality. The resolution describes how Ali’s actions and values affected the world outside of boxing. While short, the descriptions of how he affected the world was very interesting.
Personal Review:
Overall I thought that this was a great book. I personally never really new why Muhammad Ali was so great, because I just thought of him as another boxer. I thought it was very interesting to learn how a boy with humble beginnings became one of the greatest boxers all time. Although that wasn’t the reason I truly loved this book. The real reason was in the falling action when it described his life after boxing. The effect he made on the world through his many core values was very inspirational. Overall I thought it was a very goodread and I really recommend reading it.
November 29, 2025
Muhammed Ali'nin Vietnam'a gitmeme konusunda gösterdiği aktivistliği ve onun Nation of İslam grubu içinde ABD'ye karşı verdiği mücadeleye dair bir "hikaye" okumak isteyenler keyif alabilir. Okurken heyecanlandığımı, sürükleyici olduğunu söyleyebilirim. Genel okuyucu için güzel bir kitap.
Tüm bunların dışında sorun şu ki kitap birçok noktada fazla nesnel görüşler icerebiliyor. Sanki Muhammed Ali'nin kararlarını ve yaptıklarını küçümsenmeyen bazı kısımlar var gibi. Kötü olan bunun kitabın üslubu içinde çok iyi yedirilmis olması ki dikkatli okuyucuyu bile etkin altına alabiliyor bu sebeple. Bana göre -ki bu kitaba kötü not vermemin sebebi bu- kitabın en büyük eksisi herhangi bir kaynakça içermemesi. Kitabın sonunda kaynakça olduğu iddaa edilen bir kısım var ama akademik olmayan bir kitap için bile komik denilebilecek bir formatta yazılmış bir kısım burası. Birçok noktada yazarın referans verdiği kişiliklere dair arama yaptığımda herhangi bir sonuç bile bulamadığım oldu. Bu da kitabın güvenilirliliğini azaltıyor.
Muhammed Ali gibi spor tarihinin en tanınır figürlerinden biri hakkında dilimize çevrilmiş birçok eser var. Onun aktivist yönünü öğrenmek isteyenler bu kitabı tercih edebilir ama üslup yönünden kesinlikle çok iyi ancak kaynak yönünden yetersiz bir eser olduğunu aklınızdan çıkarmayın.
Tüm bunların dışında sorun şu ki kitap birçok noktada fazla nesnel görüşler icerebiliyor. Sanki Muhammed Ali'nin kararlarını ve yaptıklarını küçümsenmeyen bazı kısımlar var gibi. Kötü olan bunun kitabın üslubu içinde çok iyi yedirilmis olması ki dikkatli okuyucuyu bile etkin altına alabiliyor bu sebeple. Bana göre -ki bu kitaba kötü not vermemin sebebi bu- kitabın en büyük eksisi herhangi bir kaynakça içermemesi. Kitabın sonunda kaynakça olduğu iddaa edilen bir kısım var ama akademik olmayan bir kitap için bile komik denilebilecek bir formatta yazılmış bir kısım burası. Birçok noktada yazarın referans verdiği kişiliklere dair arama yaptığımda herhangi bir sonuç bile bulamadığım oldu. Bu da kitabın güvenilirliliğini azaltıyor.
Muhammed Ali gibi spor tarihinin en tanınır figürlerinden biri hakkında dilimize çevrilmiş birçok eser var. Onun aktivist yönünü öğrenmek isteyenler bu kitabı tercih edebilir ama üslup yönünden kesinlikle çok iyi ancak kaynak yönünden yetersiz bir eser olduğunu aklınızdan çıkarmayın.
April 30, 2019
I was hoping to get a great book to learn more about someone I didn't know. But I did not get that. This was a poor book written about a poor person. The author didn't even try to introduce him well or paint him in at least good light. If this was some kind of raw , no frills books about a supposedly great boxer then I wasn't impressed by him at all. Ali's misdemeanor is terrible. When he died a few years ago so many people pretended to be sad, as if he was some great role model to be emulated and looked up to. No way. He was so full of himself. Plenty of times in the book he described himself as humble and he really wasn't. Instead he was very prideful as well as hypocritical. He flaunted Islam way too much and was very vain about that religion, too. To me, it seemed like he primarily converted to Islam because he was mad at Whitey.
I couldn't keep track of all his marriages, I believe there were four. The one to Belinda was ridiculous. I was very, very surprised she agreed to marry him.
I laughed when Elijah Mohammad ridiculed Ali.
Even Frasier hated Ali.
Ali was not the greatest of all time. He called himself that so that's how you know it wasn't true. Just like how Plano had to proclaim themselves as the City of Excellence.
I couldn't keep track of all his marriages, I believe there were four. The one to Belinda was ridiculous. I was very, very surprised she agreed to marry him.
I laughed when Elijah Mohammad ridiculed Ali.
Even Frasier hated Ali.
Ali was not the greatest of all time. He called himself that so that's how you know it wasn't true. Just like how Plano had to proclaim themselves as the City of Excellence.
April 25, 2021
Muhammad Ali is someone who has always perplexed me. On one hand, I think he was remarkable, not only as a boxer, but for the way he stood up against racism in America and refused to be drafted for the Vietnam War. On the other hand, I think he was quite strange, especially with regard to his behaviour toward women. I picked up this biography to try and better understand the infamous boxer.
A good chunk of this book takes us through the implications of Muhammad Ali’s refusal to be drafted for the Vietnam War. His reasoning was that he believed it was against the teachings of his religion, and he argued that no member of the Viet Cong had ever hurt him. His arguments reminded me of those MLK made in his speech against the Vietnam War, despite the stark contrast between the two men.
Apart from the cultural and political implications regarding Ali’s refusal of military service, I felt this book was extremely bland. There wasn’t anything raw or personal about it, perhaps because it was a biography, not an autobiography. It was a very surface-level read dominated by an outsider voice. I was pretty disappointed and actually felt relief when I finally finished the book.
A good chunk of this book takes us through the implications of Muhammad Ali’s refusal to be drafted for the Vietnam War. His reasoning was that he believed it was against the teachings of his religion, and he argued that no member of the Viet Cong had ever hurt him. His arguments reminded me of those MLK made in his speech against the Vietnam War, despite the stark contrast between the two men.
Apart from the cultural and political implications regarding Ali’s refusal of military service, I felt this book was extremely bland. There wasn’t anything raw or personal about it, perhaps because it was a biography, not an autobiography. It was a very surface-level read dominated by an outsider voice. I was pretty disappointed and actually felt relief when I finally finished the book.
January 30, 2018
Young Cassius Clay was an American hero after winning the Olympic gold medal in 1960. In 1962 after he defeated Sonny Liston in a huge upset, he renounced his past life by becoming a disciple of the Nation Of Islam and took the Muslim name of Muhammad Ali. He continued his boxing career defeating a series of undistinguished challengers. As the war in Vietnam heated up Ali’s original draft status changed to 1A. Ali and his lawyers challenged this classification based on religious reasons. The original court hearing judge ruled in Ali’s favor but the Justice Department overruled the court and said Ali was to be inducted. Ali refused induction and the reaction was immediate. State boxing commissions refused to let Ali fight. Ali’s lawyers fought his induction all the way to the Supreme Court where the court finally ruled in his favor albeit on a technicality.
For those of us who went through the angst and anxiety of being drafted during these tumultuous times, this is a must read.
For those of us who went through the angst and anxiety of being drafted during these tumultuous times, this is a must read.
September 2, 2017
I have read quite a few books on Ali. Who I consider one of the greatest athletes and personalities of my time. This book dealt primarily with his decision to refuse induction in the military during the Vietnam war. You learn much of his thought process that went into his decision. Plus the inner workings of the Nation of Islam religion that he was deeply involved in. Who am I to say, but I kind of came away with the thought that the people used Ali as a pawn to promote their agenda. Ali was sincere in refusal to fight and it did cost him the prime of his career. In this I have always admired him for. What was of special interest to me was simply the way that the Supreme Court finally rendered their decision to free Ali after years court battles.
March 15, 2018
I decent read about the years of Muhammad Ali's legal battles that went all the way to the Supreme Court. Stripped of his title and sentenced to 5 years in jail for being a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War. It is apparent that Ali was singled out by the legal system. But was it because of his race, his religion, his brash speeches? Maybe a little of all three. The history reader in me was hoping to have more details about the Supreme Court case other than the last chapter. As a sports fan, I was hoping there was more about his boxing matches. However, there is a good balance of both and it was an enjoyable read. The author is an excellent storyteller and journalist whose books I have read many times.
May 26, 2019
my favorite part of this book was listening to JD Jackson narrate it. Learned more about the greatest during the short (and very long) 5 years this book covers when Ali refused to be drafted and the US government was determined to make an example of him. This window into these years raised more questions for me - why did he solidly abandon Malcom X and support NOI so blindly? I want to watch him debate with Buckley and read Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s perspective on this. And also watch the Frazier fights and the movie Ali again. The book went on too long in places it didn’t have to, so I’d rate it 3 stars for content, and top honors for the best audible narration I’ve ever heard.
May 11, 2020
A clear-eyed look at Ali's battle with the U.S government written in sharp, direct prose that keeps you turning the page. Montville doesn't shy away from pointing out Ali's flaws and contradictions. He shows us the man rather than the legend, but the man is exceptional enough, warts and all. For all of Ali's showmanship and bluster, there was plenty of substance underneath that people were either could not see or were reluctant to acknowledge because the way he behaved did not fit their idea of how he should behave. Ali was more than a great boxer He was a singular talent and a singular man.
December 10, 2022
There was a flippancy in tone to this book that was by turns charming and grating. If you are a fan of Ali, it doesn't paint him in the most flattering of lights and even implies that his pre-1971 career was burnished by a wins over a string of carefully-selected tomato cans and washed-up has-beens. If you were never a fan of Ali, then this will not given you new reason to be.
Maybe worth a read if you're a diehard fan of the sweet science, but otherwise, meh. Even then, not worth a buy. A library read at best, and not one of any urgency.
Maybe worth a read if you're a diehard fan of the sweet science, but otherwise, meh. Even then, not worth a buy. A library read at best, and not one of any urgency.
July 2, 2017
Sting Like a Bee details the life of "the greatest" in arguably the most turbulent period of his life. Although Montville is a great writer and the book makes for a breezy read, it felt lacking on the premise of the book itself (the actual legal case).
Those looking for a book about this period in Ali's life will find it enjoyable, however those looking for something a bit more indepth about his case may want to wait.
Those looking for a book about this period in Ali's life will find it enjoyable, however those looking for something a bit more indepth about his case may want to wait.
August 30, 2017
More about the struggles through the court system, the times that Ali was living through and many of those close to him in the 1960's and the early 1970's than it was about the boxing. I was a child growing up at the time, so much of this was current events rather than history that is now 50 years old. The rise of the NOI and its influence on Ali and Black America were fascinating as was the litany of legal advisers that Ali had defending him. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
April 27, 2022
Good information regarding Muhammad Ali’s life during the trial and what happened during that time in court and his boxing career.
It’s is interesting book but if you expect it to be informative on Muhammad Ali’s general life then it’s not for that.
It’s is interesting book but if you expect it to be informative on Muhammad Ali’s general life then it’s not for that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 13, 2017
Learned a lot of things I never knew. Ali is more interesting than I gave him credit for.
October 4, 2017
I learned so much about Muhammad Ali. This was a wonderful book.
January 17, 2018
Fascinating, fast-paced, and a great deal of fun to read.
February 27, 2018
incredible book... learned more about Ali from this book than anything else i have ever read. Montville is amazing. highly recommend!
June 3, 2018
Comprehensive, if occasionally meandering account of Ali's life that also paints a picture of the world he lived in.
July 25, 2019
Nice light pop culture book.
January 19, 2021
Returned by kindle. I learned a lot about this period in Muhammad Ali's life. Great bio. Enjoy!
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