George Plimpton, Shadow Box (1993) Plimpton, then a second-string boxing writer for Sports Illustrated, was sent by the magazine to cover a number of overseas fights, including the Frazier-Forman fights in Jamaica and Zaire, "The Rumble in the Jumble" Ali-Forman fight, many of Ali's fights when he fought under the name Cassius Clay, and Ali's winning world championship battle against Liston in Miami. Shadow Box is largely about Muhammad Ali, as the author considers professional boxing through the eyes of an amateur. The author, a true participatory journalist, steps into the ring against the light-heavyweight champion Archie Moore, and in telling his story recounts the world of boxing and its legends (boxers and devoted writers alike, among them Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Ernest Hemingway, and Norman Mailer). From the author: "Shadow Box is the best of my works because it gave me a chance to enter a very strange, but likeable and interesting fraternity; that of the boxing world." From TIME magazine: "Excellent sports reporting. . . The chapters on Muhammad Ali are delightful, and Ali is not easy to write about." MORE: Amazon Author Interview from TIME Author interview with The Guardian George Plimpton web site |
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