By Gerald Early. Muhammad Ali is The Greatest. From Heavyweight Champion of the World to his ongoing battle with Parkinson's disease, Ali has captured the imagination of our finest writers and won admiration and scrutiny the world over. With sixteen pages of classic photographs, this collection brings together thirty-two essays, interviews, and articles by the best contemporary sportswriters and literary journalists. Spanning four decades, these pieces chronicle the highs and lows of Ali's career -- his first pro fight in New York; his affiliation with the Nation of Islam, his epic battles with Joe Frazier and George Forman; his Vietnam draft refusal, and the subsequent stripping of his title; and his ultimate return to the spotlight at the 1996 Olympics -- memorable milestones in a truly extraordinary life. Awe-inspiring, controversial, and beloved, Muhammad Ali, the man and the legend, comes out swinging in a collective portrait that is as illuminating as it is celebratory. Harper Perennial (1999), English, Paperback: 320 pages.
About the Author: Gerald Early is the author of The Culture of Bruising: Essays on Prizefighting, Literature, and Modern American Culture, winner of the 1994 National Book Critics Circle Award, and Tuxedo Junction: Essays on American Culture, both published by Ecco. A recipient of the Whiting Writer's Prize and the General Electric -- CCLM Foundation Award, Early is Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters at Washington University in St. Louis, where he also heads African and Afro-American Studies Program.
