Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Synopsis
Sports / American studies / African American Studies
Jim Burns - Library Journal
According to Ezra (American multicultural studies, Sonoma State Univ.), more has been written about Muhammad Ali than about anyone else in history. Ezra's contribution explores how Ali's cultural status has always been determined by who has been making money off of him. First, as Cassius Clay, he was the brash but lovable "Louisville Lip," guided to the heavyweight championship by the beneficent (and white) Louisville Sponsoring Group. Then his star fell as he came under the control of the Nation of Islam. And, finally, his image has been reconstructed under the direction of his wife, Lonnie, and with the help of what Ezra sees as sycophantic biographers. Scholars will appreciate Ezra's work, with its plethora of footnotes and paucity of ring action, more than Joe Fight Fan may. In the end, this book increases our understanding of how difficult it is to know the real Ali, a simple man paradoxically imbued with great complexity. Recommended for academic and larger public libraries.-