Beautiful, thoughtful, vibrant, dynamic -- this is a biography truly worthy of its subject!

David Remnick is perhaps best known for his award-winning work on Russia since the collapse of Communism (Lenin's Tomb and Resurrection: The Struggle for a New Russia). His most recent book deals with Cassius Clay and his transformation into Mohammed Ali. "Boxing in America was born of slavery." Southern plantation owners would often pit their strongest slaves against each other, sometimes to near death. Frederick Douglass objected to the sport because he believed it "muffled the spirit of insur...

My S.F. Chronicle review from 1998:David Remnick deserves a nod of thanks for, among other things, helping us associate the words ``King of the World'' with something other than a pop movie director so awash in Oscar-night self-congratulation that he seemed intent on drawing sniper fire. Remnick, who is editor of the New Yorker, is a writer to watch, and he and the greatest sports figure of the century are an excellent match. Some will complain that this compact study of Cassius Clay's evolution...

A superb biography and history by a masterful writer. This book has been described as a biography of Muhammad Ali, but it's really much more than that. Actually, it's a story about how three men (Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, and Cassius Clay who renamed himself Muhammad Ali) all responded in different ways to the identity choices African Americans faced as a result of the simultaneous civil rights and the black nationalist movements in the early 1960's. At times this book reads more like an ad...

I picked up this book to know about Muhammad Ali and his fights and it turned out to be so much more. David Remnick tells the story about the history of boxing in America, how it moved from being an entertainment for the white man by getting two black fighters to beat each other to an actual sport. In the worlds of Ali, "Fighters are just brutes that come to entertain the rich white people." Before Ali became the heavy weight champion, mafia use to control most of the fighters and boxing itself,...

This is my first David Remnick book and it certainly won't be my last. He writes with such fluidity and clear vision that every page is a delight to read.This isn't really a pure biography on Muhammad Ali, rather, it is an insight into his early years leading to his championship fight (and rematch) with Sonny Liston, his conversion to Islam, his match against Floyd Patterson and his views on the Vietnam war and eventual refusal to be drafted by the Army. Amongst all of this is also a fantastic h...

This was a deeply frustrating book on many levels. At times it was fantastic- I'm not a fan of boxing, but Remnick's descriptions of the fights he covered was great for me, as were his limited descriptions of Ali's childhood and conversion to Islam. Of far less interest was his detailed coverage of the life of the newspapermen covering Ali- even as he talks about the declining significance of newspaper reporting and the rise of television.I probably could have gotten over the distractions of pre...

King of the WorldClay comes out to meet Liston and Liston starts to retreat, 
if Liston goes back an inch farther he'll end up in a ringside seat. Clay swings with his left, Clay swings with his right, Look at young Cassius carry the fight Liston keeps backing, but there's not enough room, It's a matter of time till Clay lowers the boom. Now Clay lands with a right, what a beautiful swing, And the punch raises the Bear clean out of the ring. Liston is still rising and the ref wears a frown, For

David Remnick's King of the World, tells the story of Cassius Clay, a boxing legend also known as Muhammad Ali, who faces America's segregated society and boxing politics while trying his best to become the greatest boxing champion of all time. The book is set in the U.S. during the mid and late 20th century, where the colored stand separated from the whites and boxing is a very popular source of entertainment. Surrounded by many problems, Muhammad Ali continued his path to be the greatest boxer...

This book isn't a normal biography. It gives you the story of Muhammad Ali, but also gives you the story of the two previous heavyweight champions before him and puts them into the historical, cultural, and sociological context of their time and place in boxing history. It reads like a case study almost as much as it does a narrative.The writing itself is very well done. Remnick has a talent for balancing personal drama, social dynamics, and historical narratives to create a book that is as enga...

"It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up."-- Muhammad AliPre-Review Smack Talk:I will review this sucker tomorrow. David Remnick better quake. I'm coming for this book. I read it from cover to cover. I know the words better than Remnick could hope to ever know it. Of course he wrote it, because the words ran from him. I know Remick's words better than his mamma knows him. Tomorrow. Yes. I'll give this book till tomorrow. And then I'm coming. I'm coming wit...

Remnick is a wonderful storyteller. This book is about the early years of Cassius Clay and his transition to Muhammed Ali. It tells the story of boxing prior to Ali and his early impact. Prior to Ali, organized crime had quite a grip on boxing. The story ends at Ali refusing to be drafted. This tale is also about racial inequality and one talented, handsome young athlete who found himself in a unique position to successfully rattle the status quo in boxing and in America. Too young to "know his

While Muhammad Ali is the main focus, this lively book is in effect a triple biography of the three dominant heavyweight boxers of the first half of the 1960s: Ali, Floyd Patterson, and Sonny Liston, each of whom fought the other two once or twice between 1961 and 1965. The first quarter of the book focuses on Patterson and Liston, their backgrounds, key events in their lives, and detailed accounts of their two matches, in 1962 and 1963. Then Ali arrives on the scene, and the narrative really pi...

Liston is still risingAnd the ref wears a frown,For he can't start counting, Till Sonny comes down.Now Liston disappears from view.The crowd is getting frantic, But our radar stations have picked him upHe's somewhere over the Atlantic.Who would have thoughtWhen they came to the fightThat they'd witness the launchingOf a human satellite?- excerpt from poem by Cassius ClayLike Norman Mailer's The Fight, this book reminds me of the somewhat confusing fact that I like to read about boxing more than

majority of this book deals with the timeframe between Cassuis Clay's first heavyweight title fight against Sonny Liston, and the rematch between Liston and (now) Muhammad Ali. an instructive window into a time before Ali was an internationally-known sports icon, and before his refusal to be inducted into the US Army.well-written, and an interesting window into a time BEFORE Ali was the most polarizing figure in sports. the evolution from being just a talented black boxer to racial lightening ro...

I zipped right through this fantastic little biography of Muhammad Ali. In King of the World Remnick tells the story of Ali’s early career, from growing up in a middle class African American family in Kentucky, through his important fights with Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson up to his conversion to the Nation of Islam and his opposition to the Vietnam war. Remnick has a gift both for relating the blow by blow excitement of a big fight and for illuminating the complex character of a fascinating...

Sep 17, 1pm ~~ WOW! I will try to come up with a little more than that this evening.Sep 18, 250pm ~~ After I saw a link at BBC that resurrected part of a David Frost interview with Ali where he riffed about wondering why everything is white, I realized that even though I had grown up watching the man in the ring, knew of him as a major figure in America, and liked and respected him, I didn't really know anything about Ali beyond what I had seen on sports shows. So I ordered a few books, and chos...

There are some men and women who are born to live for generations who live in the hearts and minds of people forever because of the greatness they achieved seems unimaginable. Muhammad Ali was one of them. I lost interest in boxing long ago but the hype of recent fight between Khabib and Conor aroused my interest once again. As much as I enjoyed watching the UFC, I loved more reading about Ali and his historic life of being the greatest champion. When you think of Muhammad Ali, boxing is what co...

Simply amazing. Highly recommend for anyone, whether you’re a boxing fanatic or are completely new to the world of the squared circle. Outside of his achievements in the sport, Remnick shows how his character, humanity and personal development make Ali truly The Greatest!

Oh man did I love this book!This book is the story of the rivalry between Ali and Sonny Liston. Yeah, yeah, everyone says it is about Ali because everyone idolizes Ali; but Liston gets equal treatment here.So here's the deal. Today everyone talks as if they have always loved Ali, but back in the sixties, his Muslim beliefs scared people and his outspoken ways led many to hate him.Then there was Sonny Liston, cold, menacing, the man with the largest hands of any heavyweight champion. Liston had k...