Product Description

Norman Mailer's The Fight focuses on the 1975 World Heavyweight Boxing Championship in Kinshasa, Zaire. Muhammad Ali met George Foreman in the ring. Foreman's genius employed silence, serenity and cunning. He had never been defeated. His hands were his instrument, and 'he kept them in his pockets the way a hunter lays his rifle back into its velvet case'. Together the two men made boxing history in an explosive meeting of two great minds, two iron wills and monumental egos.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47235 in Books
• Published on: 2000-07-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Customer Reviews

Essential reading
A superb snapshot of a particular time and place; this is written in typical Norman Mailer style -allowing the reader amazing insight at times and a very personal, distanced view at others. Ali comes across as the great figure his reputation implies -even Mailer is humbly respectful in his presence. I would suggest reading David Remnick's equally impressive 'King of the world' first, as Remnick's book charts the 'back story' of how the heavyweight belt passed from Floyd Patterson to Sonny Liston and finally Ali. Then finish by watching the Oscar-winning documentary 'When we were Kings' -which of course, features Norman Mailer himself (Ideally, get the DVD, which features the entire Rumble In The Jungle fight as a bonus).

Entertaining
This was the first Norman Mailer book I read, and as such did not really know what to expect. It is certainly clear right from the start that he has a very keen eye on the sport. His description of the fight is like no other you will ever read or see, and thus would recommend this book to any fan of boxing or even sport in general.

Once you reach the fight itself, this is a gripping read.

There is also some very interesting insights into the characters and personalities on the scene, like Drew 'Bundini' Brown in Ali's corner who provides much amusement with his 'tête à têtes' with Forman's crew in the hotel lobby. You will also not see a better portrait of Don King in all the years since this was written. I also felt the portrayal of Ali interesting - rather than merely hero-worshiping him, the book deconstructs some of the myth which had grown up around him.

It would be wrong to say that this is simply a book about the fight, however. It would be better described as Norman Mailer's trip to Africa for the fight. Somewhat irritatingly, he writes himself a starring role in this story, and refers to himself in the third person throughout. For me at least, this device only serves to add to Mailer's clearly excessive ego, and is wholly unnecessary for the story itself. In fact, I am only giving this 4 stars instead of 5 because it annoyed me so much.

In short - this is definitely worth a read, but try to tune out for Mailer's constant egotistical and 'philosophical' ramblings as much as you can.

A collision of egos inside and outside the ring
The Fight is a vivid account of the 1974 world heavyweight boxing match in Zaire, billed as The Rumble in the Jungle, between George Foreman and Mohammad Ali. Mailer writes about Africa with more than a nod to Joseph Conrad, and writes about boxing with all the sweep and authority that Hemingway showed on bullfighting, but this book is about more than boxing. Mailer, a white Jew from New York, confronts his prejudices about blacks and about Africa, and while this seems less than remarkable now, it is easy to forget that mild racism was not only normal then among English-speaking whites, but was in fact the received wisdom of the time. This book was therefore a work of some courage and risk for a writer of Norman Mailer's stature.

The use of the third person to describe the author is strange at first, and it seems possible that Mailer's ego might overshadow even the monstrous ego of Ali. But what emerges is more sensitive than that. Ali is portrayed as an aging prodigy tortured by doubt and surrounded by a retinue of oddballs, and Mailer succeeds in first isolating and then overcoming his buried prejudice and superstition.

This is a powerful and at times moving book, and I would recommend it to all, including those who are uninterested or even repelled by the sport of boxing.