King Of The World Sparknotes

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Never judge a book by its cover.
Looking at the title, King of the World, with its photograph of Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr./Muhammad Ali, I assumed it was a biography. It isn't. Jumping to my next conclusion I thought it was a book about the "sweet science;" it isn't. Okay, maybe it's a tell-all about the seamy side of the boxing 'business.' It's not.
This book is actually about all of these things but much, much more. Rather than write a biography, David Remnick has given us a moment in time. King of the World covers three years in the life of Clay/Ali, but more importantly it covers the political climate in the United States, including the belief system held by the majority of the public regarding African Americans during the …show more content…

Remnick passes this information on not to make us uncomfortable, but simply to show us what it was like 35 years ago for black American citizens. Remnick was simply saying the vast majority of people, both black and white, bought into the idea of what a 'good black man' was supposed to be and do.
Which, of course, leads us to the main focus in King of the World, Clay/Ali. If the public, as well as the press, thought Liston wasn't an ideal role model for a heavyweight champion boxer, they had no idea what was in store for them with Clay. He was the bold, brash, brazen kid, just 20 when he was moving up to the top of the division and slated to fight for the title in February of 1964, shortly after his 22nd birthday. (I'd give my eye teeth to see how people decided who to root for when Clay and Liston fought; surely they both had detractors because of their non-compliant attitudes!)
The bout with Liston started Clay/Ali on his journey to fame, wealth and, more importantly, a place in America's political history. Despite his brashness, his antics and his very bad poems, Ali is now, finally, a hero to millions in a time when there are too few heroes and sheroes in evidence. It was his stance outside the ring that gave him a place of honour in America's sociopolitical history, and will continue to do so, hopefully, for

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