KING OF THE WORLD: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero.

[Ali, Muhammad] Remnick, David.

ISBN 10: 0375500650 / ISBN 13: 9780375500657

Published by Random House, New York, 1998

About this Item

Later printing. More than just a biography of Muhammad Ali, this shows how revolutionary his role was in the world of sports. Cassius Clay grew up in the segregated South but became a beloved figure in American life. Illustrated with photographs. Notes, index. 326 pp. Very good in very good dust jacket.

Seller Inventory # 47708

Bibliographic Details

• Title: KING OF THE WORLD: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero.
• Publisher: Random House, New York
• Publication Date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0375500650
• ISBN 13: 9780375500657
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: VERY GOOD
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Seller catalogs:
  • African American History and nonfiction

About this title

Synopsis

There were mythic sports figures before him--Jack Johnson, Babe Ruth, Joe Louis, Joe DiMaggio--but when Cassius Clay burst onto the sports scene from his native Louisville in the 1950s, he broke the mold. He changed the world of sports and went on to change the world itself. As Muhammad Ali, he would become the most recognized face on the planet. Ali was a transcendent athlete and entertainer, a heavyweight Fred Astaire, a rapper before rap was born. He was a mirror of his era, a dynamic figure in the racial and cultural battles of his time. This unforgettable story of his rise and self-creation, told by a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, places Ali in a heritage of great American originals.
        
Cassius Clay grew up in the Jim Crow South and came of athletic age when boxers were at the mercy of the mob. From the start, Clay rebelled against everything and everyone who would keep him and his people down. He refused the old stereotypes and refused the glad hand of the mob. And, to the confusion and fury of white sportswriters, who were far more comfortable with the self-effacing Joe Louis, Clay came forward as a rebel, insistent on his political views, on his new religion, and, eventually, on a new name. His rebellion nearly cost him the chance to fight for the heavyweight championship of the world.
        
King of the World features some of the pivotal figures of the 1960s--Malcolm X, Elijah Muhammad, John F. Kennedy--and its pivotal events: the civil rights movement, political assassinations, the war in Vietnam. Muhammad Ali is a great hero and a beloved figure in American life. King of the World takes us back to the days when his life was a series of battles, inside the ring and out. A master storyteller at the height of his powers, David Remnick has written a book worthy of America's most dynamic modern hero.

About the Author

David Remnick is the editor of The New Yorker. He began his career as a sportswriter for The Washington Post and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for Lenin's Tomb. He is also the author of Resurrection and The Devil Problem and Other True Stories, a collection of essays. He lives in New York City with his wife and two sons.