Product Description

Collected here for the first time are the best of Davis Miller's essays and memoirs. The volume contains his celebrated trilogy of award-winning Muhammad Ali pieces, including the classic 'My Dinner with Ali', together with a provocative new essay called 'The Yin and the Yang of Muhammad Ali'. There are also two pieces about Miller's unusual relationship with another boxer, 'Sugar' Ray Leonard, and he continues to explore the Bruce Lee phenomenon - as he did in his acclaimed bestseller The Tao of Bruce Lee. The Zen of Muhammad Ali tells us about fighting, living, friendship and love. The pieces are arranged - each with an illuminating new note - to form a unique and haunting book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #519432 in Books
• Published on: 2002-01-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Los Angeles Times
'Nobody has ever written so purely about Ali before.'

Joyce Carol Oates
'Davis Miller writes profoundly and beautifully.'

Tim Birch, Guardian
Easygoing but unflippant, formless yet rigorous. Solid reporting and sumptuous storytelling. Miller's is an American voice attractive to Brits.

Customer Reviews

Life is Not a Movie
Through a brilliant collection of essays, Miller grounds American culture's ambitions and dreams, uncovering the frailties and failings of those who have become the gods of his generation along the way. The result is not a depressingly harsh reality check, but a poignant personal view of the American Dream that seems to make the philosophy feel that much more accessible.

This was my first David Miller book. I have always been interested in modern iconography and like the majority of the western world am fascinated by Muhammad Ali and Bruce Lee. I bought "The Zen of Muhammad Ali" purely on face value. It was short and had an interesting title, which, in my mind, made it stand out amongst the rest of the heavily illustrated Ali merchandise currently being sold off the back of the Columbia Pictures/Michael Mann "Ali" film.

What I discovered was a deep, addictive read that I could relate to. Like me, Miller had ambitions on being a successful martial artist and author, but was prepared to learn from the lessons life taught him. He has his heroes and was fortunate enough to get to know two of them, Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard. Upon discovering their human sides and Bruce Lee's too, he does not then fall into the common media trap of ruthlessly dissecting them, but instead holds a mirror up to himself and those who decide to propagate the mythology of these figures. He makes a sound argument that through pushing these figures as modern-day gods and adding falsities to their lives devalues them as human beings. This is examined in full in his Bruce Lee essay in the book, "Bruce Lee, American."

After reading his four essays on his time with Ali, two on Sugar Ray Leonard and his one on Bruce Lee, I felt a better understanding and level of respect for these celebrities. I came from a showbusiness background myself and have seen first hand how harsh and seemingly unfair the media can be in their attempts to tell the "truth". Therefore, it was refreshing to see that Miller's frankness lacks the usual arrogant and condescending attitude too often seen in tabloids and unauthorised biographies. Instead he writes always with a close examination of his own mortality and often, by use of self-comparison, further shows why these great men truly are "great." This is never more evident than in his article "Wanting to Whup Sugar Ray."

The third part of the book, entitled "Personal Struggles", appeared, at my first glance at the contents page, to be a disappointing anti-climax. This could not be further from the truth and is in fact my personal favourite. The section starts with an inspired fictional short story and then follows on with real-life accounts of his life, which really touch upon the American Dream philosophy I spoke about earlier. These essays are sometimes sad, sometimes optimistic and always very human. Not being American, I found Davis Miller's work to be a warm and humble introduction to the culture he grew up in. Many can learn from his honest and gentle approach to the human spirit and the life it helps create.

a 'men's book' that's perfect for women
Wonderful story. Tells of how Mr. Ali affected an 'underdog's' life & gave him strength to become a writer- even though he (the author) failed english as a subject in high school. This book is not just for sport/boxing lovers. My bookclub (all women) loved it.

Mind blowing
Buy this, and all of Davis Miller's other books!!! They are amongst the most important pieces of literature to have been published in the last 100 years! Simply mind blowing.