Ali: A Life by Jonathan EigMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Jonathan Eig's "Ali: A Life" is a detailed and comprehensive biography. The book charts the life of heavy-weight boxer Muhammad Ali, perhaps the most famous athlete of the Twentieth Century. It is an arguable point, but Ali would have had an answer. He would say that he was the greatest of all time. Except that he would say "of allllll times.....!!" "Ali: A Life" was published in 2017 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and has a length of 640 pages.
There are several distinct narratives living between the covers of this book. There is the story of a heavy-weight boxer, Muhammad Ali. In and of itself, the tale of Ali's life would carry a normal biography. His larger-than-life personality, both in and out of the ring, made him front-page news. Ali's fame ran far outside the borders of the United States. Not only was he one of the most famous men in the USA, he was quite likely the most recognizable face in the world. And that face was Black.
Muhammad Ali was a Black Man. He was not a quiet Black Man. He did not fit into the mold of what a Black athlete was supposed to look like in a White society. Muhammad Ali was the man who would break that mold; upset the comfort zone of sportswriters and boxing fans. And this controversy, this collision of worlds, is the stuff of the second narrative. The second narrative is about race in the United States.
As a reader, I found a third narrative woven into the story of Muhammad Ali. That story was an oblique cultural history of the last quarter of the 20th Century. The perspective is as of something viewed in a mirror. In this case, the mirror is the life of Muhammad Ali.
To return to our first narrative: A Life. For readers who love a straight biography, there is a lot of meat here to chew on. Mr. Eig covers Ali's early life, when his name was Cassius Clay. We see a young boy growing up in segregated Louisville, Kentucky. He is always on the move, always in motion. Soon he is learning to box; the story of Cassius Clay mentored by a White policeman. Clay boxes his way to the US Olympic Team and a Gold Medal. And the story goes on, tracing his path to his first heavy-weight championship. The personal life of Muhammad Ali is documented in great detail, including the flaws and clichés that would become famous. The story continues, of course, through a new name, through other fights, other losses, other wives. As this very personal and complex life plays out, the author brings us to a fourth narrative but I will leave that for the last, as Mr. Eig does.
Woven through the transition from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali is the question of race in modern America. The very idea of race, of what it means to be a Black Man in the United States, is part and parcel to the life story of Muhammad Ali. There is no separating the two. Ali would not be quiet and he would not be humble. Ali would not be contained or defined by any preconceived notion of what a Black athlete should or should not do or say. Then, as if to draw the question of race into sharper focus, Cassius Clay did the unthinkable. He changed his name, he changed his religion, and he thumbed his nose at the US Government. He became more than a loud-mouthed Black boxer. Now he was thorn-in-the-side of those who hold the reins of power. Ali was a threat to the status quo.
Challenging the Powers-That-Be is a dangerous game. Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali after becoming a member of the Nation of Islam. During these tumultuous times, the life of Ali holds up a mirror for the reader. In this mirror, we see many of the famous Black men of the time. Malcolm X was a friend and mentor to Ali, until the former split with Elijah Muhammad. Ali had to chose between the two men, and the choice would haunt him. Dr. King is seen through the mirror of Ali's life, as are Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakhan. There were the Black men Ali would fight: Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, George Foreman, and Larry Holmes. Over the course of his career, we see Ali stripped of his title for refusing the Vietnam draft. We see him regain the heavy-weight title. Things are changing in the world. Black athletes from the US Olympic Team give the Black Power salute from the podium. Ali becomes a star. Some of the sportswriters that formerly reviled him now embrace him in their columns.
There remains a final narrative to the story of Muhammad Ali. Like many champions, he stayed too long. There are other clichés as well, sad and oft heard. There were other famous men, Black men, who would take advantage of the Champ. They sought a way to make a profit from Ali. It is the same sad story that happened to other champions from the past. Then there began to be clear signs that all was not well with the Champ. He was slower in the ring. He was slurring his speech. This was the time, the moment where Ali could have made the choice to retire. The Black men who profited from the Champ, Don King, Herbert Muhammad, they could have stopped Ali. But they did not. There was money to be made. Here we enter the final tragic chapter, the neurological damage that Muhammad Ali suffered. The end of Ali's life is the story of him dealing with this damage.
"Ali: A Life" is a well-written and well-crafted biography. The author does not pull any punches when it comes to the Champ's life. We see Ali as he was; complex and brilliant, flawed and naive. We see his generosity and his selfishness. Ali's life story is a large narrative, but when overlaid with the story of race and culture in the USA, this book reaches very far. I am happy to say that the author's reach does not exceed his grasp. A wonderfully successful biography, this is highly recommended reading.
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