The Greatest: Muhammad Ali

The Greatest: Muhammad Ali by Walter Dean Myers

An illustrated biography of boxing great Muhammad Ali that addresses his politics, his fight against Parkinson’s disease, and boxing’s dangers.

At the start of his affectionate yet candid biography, Myers (Monster) acknowledges this legendary fighter's struggles in his private life and notes that he chose to focus his account on "the public Muhammad Ali, the man who represented so many views, personified the needs of so many Americans but, most of all, the Muhammad Ali who most touched me." After presenting a blow-by-blow account of the 22-year-old Cassius Clay's upset victory over world heavyweight champion Sonny Liston in 1964, the author flashes back to Clay's childhood in racially segregated Louisville, Ky. Emphasizing the young boxer's discipline and dedication--as well as his propensity for bragging at an early age--Myers recounts Clay's triumph as a gold medalist in the 1960 Olympics and his rise to global stardom. The smooth-flowing narrative reaches beyond the story of one individual to deftly describe the economics, tactics and techniques of the boxing profession; offers profiles of the boxer's chief competitors in the ring; and chronicles the driving political, racial and religious forces that drove Clay to follow the Nation of Islam and adopt the name of Muhammad Ali. The text is occasionally repetitious (e.g., on two separate occasions the narrative describes Ali's accusation that Joe Frazier was an "Uncle Tom"), but the author balances fact and his own deep admiration for Ali to create a warm, credible portrait of an athlete of uncommon skill, pluck and perseverance. Ages 12-up. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.