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The Muhammad Ali Reader
Muhammad Ali is still one of the best known figures in the world--a sports man, but seen by his fans and admirers as more--someone who ranks as one of the heroes of his generation.
Those who saw him fight talk of Ali with a dreamy look in their eyes, as if he was like nothing or nobody they had ever seen grace the canvas of the boxing ring before or after.
I'm A Little Special follows Ali's boxing career and life from his days as Cassius Clay in the 1960s to the slowed frame that we have seen in his later days as a shadow of his former self.
Magazine and newspaper articles of the time tell the story of a supreme boxer and talker, a world champion who believed--no, knew--that he was in his rightful place at the very top of the sport.
A variety of articles--news stories and features, observations and interviews--are threaded together to form a unique reading on boxing's most famous ambassador.
The book tells the story of a true superstar, but shows the slowing down of Ali through boxing-induced Parkinson's disease.
Articles are introduced chronologically and the tome includes writings from some of the world's most respected journalists and publications.
The differing styles of writing and the carefully selected and edited articles add a spice to the book and give the excellent collection a changing pace.
Gerald Early has shown through his choices--out of literally thousands of pieces written on the great showman--his respect and admiration of the man, not just the boxer, that is Muhammad Ali. --Andrea Thursday
Hardcover
First published June 21, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 29, 2025
Like so many books with the label "stories" or "reader" attached, much of the THE MUHAMMAD
ALI READER could be picked up and put down easily. Continuity is never an issue. Sometimes it
could be set aside for too long as new books came to distract the easily distracted reader.
Divided neatly into 4 decades of then contemporary articles and interviews , THE ALI READER
covers the metamorphosis from a relatively unknown Cassius Marcellus Clay to Muhammad Ali,
from obscurity to World Heavyweight Champion and from prime of life to onset Parkinsonism .
Sportswriters and literati and even fellow boxers are collected here on the topic of Ali, praising
or profaning.
Or both.
Much was collected in the 1960's and 70's so those articles comprise 2/3 of the book : the easily
put-downable stuff. From the pompous opinionated Norman Mailer to the obnoxious drug addled
Hunter Thompson the book lumbered on.
The last 1/3, the 1980's and 90's is the hardest part to read. The most difficult part to digest.
The slow ,observable decline, the reality of cumulative physical damage to mind and body is
sensitively revealed in narrative form by those who witnessed it firsthand . And in the midst of
the decline, flashes of humor, kindness and hope. There were even a few instances of balletic
movement or startling bursts of speed to suggest that maybe the decline was a ruse, part of
a devious joke that masked the prospect of one more glorious comeback. This was the part of
the book you could not easily put down. You had to know.
Maybe, just maybe, the real Ali was hiding the whole time behind the tremulous hand or the slow
nodding off in the midst of a sentence.
ALI READER could be picked up and put down easily. Continuity is never an issue. Sometimes it
could be set aside for too long as new books came to distract the easily distracted reader.
Divided neatly into 4 decades of then contemporary articles and interviews , THE ALI READER
covers the metamorphosis from a relatively unknown Cassius Marcellus Clay to Muhammad Ali,
from obscurity to World Heavyweight Champion and from prime of life to onset Parkinsonism .
Sportswriters and literati and even fellow boxers are collected here on the topic of Ali, praising
or profaning.
Or both.
Much was collected in the 1960's and 70's so those articles comprise 2/3 of the book : the easily
put-downable stuff. From the pompous opinionated Norman Mailer to the obnoxious drug addled
Hunter Thompson the book lumbered on.
The last 1/3, the 1980's and 90's is the hardest part to read. The most difficult part to digest.
The slow ,observable decline, the reality of cumulative physical damage to mind and body is
sensitively revealed in narrative form by those who witnessed it firsthand . And in the midst of
the decline, flashes of humor, kindness and hope. There were even a few instances of balletic
movement or startling bursts of speed to suggest that maybe the decline was a ruse, part of
a devious joke that masked the prospect of one more glorious comeback. This was the part of
the book you could not easily put down. You had to know.
Maybe, just maybe, the real Ali was hiding the whole time behind the tremulous hand or the slow
nodding off in the midst of a sentence.
March 29, 2021
Ali, with his incredible gifts of body and mind, has brought the central drama of is people’s history in America to a bright, gaudy life, for everyone to see. – A.B. Giamatti
Unusual book–a chronological compilation of journalism on Muhammad Ali, spanning the decades of his cultural dominance. Unfortunately not available on Kindle, so I had to track it down eBay (and squint at the small text). Only discovered from a random unrelated interview podcast (Source: Ezra Klein, with Tyler Cowen).
EK: There is something about sports being a canvas for writing through which we are allowed with relatively low stakes to work out other core issues in American life that is really tremendous. One of my favorite books is The Muhammad Ali Reader. It is the case that basically every great writer of the 20th century did their Muhammad Ali piece. You can just go through there and it is an amazing tour of particularly New Journalism, but there is a capacity to use sports to write about anything in the American experience.
So that’s the premise–simple, but fun to explore. These “primary sources” (not sure if that’s the correct definition?) do teach you a bit about Ali, but you'd learn more from a biography (FWIW it's probably best if you've already read one). But this is a far better way to experience how society grappled with Ali, and how that changed over time. The result is messy (a diversity of perspectives resists a tidy order), but it makes for a vivid time capsule.
There’s a piece by “Jackie Robinson”, and I assume it’s THE Jackie Robinson... my internet sleuthing confirmed that the famous one did in fact write for the right paper at that time (the Chicago Defender). But I can’t find any other reference to the article online, and I guess I’m surprised because surely other people would be interested in such a unique slice of sports history? (Can’t imagine a single person with a more relevant perspective here). Odd.
December 19, 2011
A chronological series of essays on and interviews with The Greatest, from the 1960s to the 1990s. Early's less than panegyric introduction talks about Ali's near-illiteracy, deconstructs the martyr image and says that in his old age Ali "brings out the insipidness of victimology." Rather cutting, what? Well, the book gives a well-rounded look at Ali the man as well as his career, with interesting bits from Hunter Thompson, Ishmael Reed and many others.
It's an amazing portrait: Ali was a complex, mysterious figure. How could someone supposedly so mentally slow (his Army IQ tests were very low, and he graduated last in high school) be so physically and verbally quick? How could someone who embraced a philosophy of exclusion and militancy be so embracing and easy-going? How could someone so great be reduced to such a spectacle? As the man himself says late in the book, "I'm just a man, like everybody else." Great stuff.
It's an amazing portrait: Ali was a complex, mysterious figure. How could someone supposedly so mentally slow (his Army IQ tests were very low, and he graduated last in high school) be so physically and verbally quick? How could someone who embraced a philosophy of exclusion and militancy be so embracing and easy-going? How could someone so great be reduced to such a spectacle? As the man himself says late in the book, "I'm just a man, like everybody else." Great stuff.
June 13, 2007
A lot of great material about a great subject with some really shitty editing and a pretty confusing introduction that tries to put everything in perspective but is actually just kind of shambling and aimless.
December 11, 2007
The Hunter S. Thompson piece is just great.
December 24, 2015
Hunter S. Thompson piece was the best one! Good essays about several stages in Ali's life.
July 12, 2018
Norman Mailer and Hunter S Thompson are so insufferable that I couldn't finish the abridged/adapted versions of their short-form pieces about Muhammad Ali.
I maybe skimmed a couple other pieces too but only Mailer & Thompson stuck out. Ugh.
I maybe skimmed a couple other pieces too but only Mailer & Thompson stuck out. Ugh.
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April 14, 2020Read this for a class. I definitely appreciated getting read so many different perspectives on Ali. I especially liked reading some of the interviews he did, particularly one he did with playboy magazine
August 3, 2025
The 70s had more insightful writing than the 60s. I wonder if that is caused by people becoming more familiar with Ali, and Black journalists having more opportunities to write for mainstream outlets. The best essay is by Ishmael Reed (I'll have to look up more of his writing later) who wrote "The Fourth Ali". He acknowledges the unabashed Blackness of the experience of being around Ali, from the unsettling slave auction nature of the pre-fight weigh-in, to Isaac Hayes doing a disco-style (but c'mon, it's gotta have some funk to it, right?) America the Beautiful.
The Playboy interview (remember when people used to joke about reading Playboy for the interviews?) was remarkably insightful. While Ali is charismatic and insightful about matters of race, it also shows his remarkable ignorance about some basic facts. At one point he claims that there eight times more Muslims than Christians. I'm not sure that was ever the case; it was never the case in the US. Maybe there was an era when Islam reigned supreme in the Middle East, Africa and India, and outnumbered Christianity. But I don't think that's been the case for several hundred race. But he also makes wonderful points about Black people supporting Black businesses. There is almost a W.E.B. DuBois "Talented Tenth" aspect to his ideas.
I didn't understand why Gay Talese wrote the article about the meeting between Ali and Castro (though come to think of it - why wouldn't a meeting between two people who challenged the status quo of US supremacy be noteworthy?). But followed by the David Maraniss piece, and closing the book with those two, it is perfect. we get to see Ali in the 90s, absolutely diminished physically, and in his ability to communicate, but still playful and loving.
The writers have very little consensus, other than that Ali had to be covered and explored. Some writers see him as the greatest boxer ever, others see him as someone who had to get inside his opponent's minds in order to plant a seed of doubt. Some saw him as brilliant, others cling to the fact that he graduated nearly last in his high school class. Some of these stories are about him in the ring, and others are about his love of a good time at the club. it is a fascinating collection.
Minutes after finishing this collection, I turned on the TV and a documentary called "City of Ali" was on. At least two of these essays were directly referenced in the first ten minutes I watched. I didn't love the Hunter S. Thompson essay, but it is always helpful to see the connections.
The Playboy interview (remember when people used to joke about reading Playboy for the interviews?) was remarkably insightful. While Ali is charismatic and insightful about matters of race, it also shows his remarkable ignorance about some basic facts. At one point he claims that there eight times more Muslims than Christians. I'm not sure that was ever the case; it was never the case in the US. Maybe there was an era when Islam reigned supreme in the Middle East, Africa and India, and outnumbered Christianity. But I don't think that's been the case for several hundred race. But he also makes wonderful points about Black people supporting Black businesses. There is almost a W.E.B. DuBois "Talented Tenth" aspect to his ideas.
I didn't understand why Gay Talese wrote the article about the meeting between Ali and Castro (though come to think of it - why wouldn't a meeting between two people who challenged the status quo of US supremacy be noteworthy?). But followed by the David Maraniss piece, and closing the book with those two, it is perfect. we get to see Ali in the 90s, absolutely diminished physically, and in his ability to communicate, but still playful and loving.
The writers have very little consensus, other than that Ali had to be covered and explored. Some writers see him as the greatest boxer ever, others see him as someone who had to get inside his opponent's minds in order to plant a seed of doubt. Some saw him as brilliant, others cling to the fact that he graduated nearly last in his high school class. Some of these stories are about him in the ring, and others are about his love of a good time at the club. it is a fascinating collection.
Minutes after finishing this collection, I turned on the TV and a documentary called "City of Ali" was on. At least two of these essays were directly referenced in the first ten minutes I watched. I didn't love the Hunter S. Thompson essay, but it is always helpful to see the connections.
July 9, 2016
A great book, but what ticked me off was that the editor of the book didn't include about 1/3 of the articles in their entirety. HST's piece I can sort of understand because the interview that was deleted wasn't much of an interesting interview to begin with, but still... I'd rather read the whole piece, not what someone thinks I should read. Two other books on Ali that should be read are KING OF THE WORLD by David Remnick and FACING ALI by Stephan Brunt.
April 19, 2008
Fun but tad too reverential. Ali was compelling, incredibly charismatic but complex. Early chose some interesting selections in this collection of articles written over this course of his life so far. But, for me, didn't really get inside him. Mostly it's like the Tom Wolfe entry, seeing him from inside a crowded room
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January 6, 2017Biog A3985e 1999
March 31, 2017
I really enjoyed this book, mostly since it was such a well put-together and comprehensive collage of the life of the most famous man of the twentieth century. Muhammad Ali passed away not too long ago and I had always wanted to read about him, mostly since I hadn’t been alive for his heyday due to my only being sixteen years old. This book is put together in a style all it’s own; with multiple authors and excerpts from plenty of different perspectives. This book covered The Greatest’s life better than most. Overall it was really great, it was fluid and didn’t feel forced since the whole thing was chronological according to Ali’s life. Altogether this book is one I would certainly advise getting into, the reason being it is not only a wonderful account of Ali’s life but it also follows different perspectives of major events in world history which Ali was a part of. This book is a ten out of ten and I would definitely recommend it.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews