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Title: Ghosts of Manila: The Fateful Blood Feud Between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier by Mark Kram ISBN: 0-06-095480-9 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 19 February, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.42 (36 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Fantastic book
Comment: I waited and waited for this book to come out, knowing that it was going to be a great read. I conquered it in one night. It's even better than I expected it to be.
The greatest thing about this book is that it doesn't lie. There are no heroes, no bad guys; it is simply the truth about the massive hatred flowing between two men and how it came to be that way. Frazier is shown for the brilliant fighter that he was, (finally), and Ali is brought down to the level he should have always been at.
The story is somewhat terrible. They started out as friends. Now Frazier is almost obsessed with his hatred of Ali, and Ali refuses to mention the competitor that made him such a spectacle.
Mark Kram writes with an intelligence that one would not expect from a boxing journalist. His references throughout the book to philosophers and writers might lose some people occasionally, (like me), the fact remains that he possesses an uncanny insight into human beings. His profiles of Ali and Frazier are awesome, and this book should go down as one of the great reports on the world of boxing.
Rating: 3
Summary: Legacies of Great Fighters
Comment: Although Ghosts of Manilla is ostensibly focused on the 1975 "Thrilla in Manila" in which Muhammad Ali outlasted Joe Frazier in a brutal slugfest, the book really digs into who these men were before boxing, how boxing affected them, and how we should look upon them. Those looking for lots of boxing excitement will probably be disappointed. The fight descriptions are the least well done parts of the book. Those who are looking into what heavyweight boxing is really like will get more than they bargained for. The personal record on Muhammad Ali is dramatically revised downward, and you will again be reminded that boxing is a brutal sport. After the fight, "one left with the ruin of a life, the other battered to his soul." When offered a chance to watch the fight on videotape, Muhammad Ali declined. "I don't wanna look at hell again." The book's stylistic weakness is that the author is very opinionated, and often borders on sarcasm in conveying his views.
Mr. Kram has been a boxing reporter for many years, and has had close access to most of the people he writes about in the book. As a result, he can portray his own discussions and observations from a first-hand perspective. He seems to have decided to "tell it like it is" on events that many reporters probably observe but do not comment about in public. On the other hand, he does this telling as tastefully as possible while not pulling his punches.
The book is much more about Mr. Ali than about Mr. Frazier. The key themes that are new about Mr. Ali are that he was controlled by the Black Muslims through fear of being killed, had an uncontrolled sexual appetite, did severe damage to the personalities of the black boxers he verbally humiliated, treated one of his daughters poorly, and was an unprincipled self-promoter. The book also covers familiar territory about whether or not he was a hero for resisting the draft, a good role model for young people, and the effect that boxing had on his developing Parkinson's Disease.
I learned more about Mr. Frazier than I had known before. The man was an enigma to me at the time of the fight. Now, I think I understand him better. I was sorry to see how bitter he has become, due to his treatment by Mr. Ali and the public.
To me, Mr. Ali's appeal lay mostly in his unorthodox fighting style and in his willingness to try new things. Although both attributes are mentioned in the book, I think they were overly downplayed. I never expect boxers to be role models for children. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the book was the part that focused on what it meant to people how the heavyweight champion comported himself. That certainly says a lot about our society.
After you finish this book, I suggest that you think about how you would have played the cards that were dealt to Mr. Ali and Mr. Frazier. What would you have done differently? What would you have liked to have done differently?
Satisfy yourself by meeting your own high standards!
Rating: 3
Summary: Kram doesn't like Ali, but he doesn't really get it
Comment: It seems that Kram's primary goal in Ghosts of Manila is to deconstruct Ali's mythical legacy. He claims to be one of the few journalists who saw and still see Ali as he truly was - a not-so-bright, often mean-spirited, self-promoting man and easily manipulated tool of the Nation of Islam. He rejects the idea of Ali being a real symbol of the civil rights movement, and instead, he portrays him as a propaganda machine for the Nation of Islam. The author also takes serious issue with Ali's treatment of Frazier who he portrays as a fine human being with a few minor flaws whose life was permanently changed for the worse as a result of his bouts with Ali.
Now, there are definitely truths to Kram's viewpoints. Sure, Ali was not really the civil rights hero he's often portrayed to be. He was also an incorrible womanizer, and he didn't treat a lot of people around him very well. Unfortunately, Kram goes overboard in his attempt to completely destroy the Ali myth. For instance, maybe Ali wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was smart enough to use psychological warfare against both Frazier and Foreman inside and outside of the ring. Neither Frazier nor Foreman could fight back in like manner suffering devastating losses as a result. Also, Kram forgets a big reason why Ali was so loved. He was so damn charismatic. One needs only to view the Oscar-winning documentary "When We Were Kings" to appreciate Ali's appeal.
The story of Frazier's life is indeed sad, and he is still not appreciated as the great fighter that he was. Unfortunately, no matter how much Kram wants to build up Frazier's legend while destroying Ali's myth, the fact remains that Ali's place in sports history is secure because of his arrival at the right time in boxing and politics and not to mention, he was a hell of a fighter.
I did learn a great deal from this book, and I do agree with the author on many points about Ali's myth. I just think that he went for the overkill and failed.
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Title: The Devil and Sonny Liston by Nick Tosches ISBN: 0316897469 Publisher: Back Bay Books Pub. Date: 06 December, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Facing Ali: 15 Fighters / 15 Stories by Stephen Brunt ISBN: 1585748293 Publisher: The Lyons Press Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: The Fight: Norman Mailer by Norman Mailer ISBN: 0375700382 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 October, 1997 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Smokin' Joe: The Autobiography of a Heavyweight Champion of the World, Smokin' Joe Frazier by Joe Frazier, Phil Berger ISBN: 002860847X Publisher: Hungry Minds, Inc Pub. Date: 01 March, 1996 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: MUHAMMAD ALI: HIS LIFE AND TIMES by Thomas Hauser ISBN: 0671779710 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 June, 1992 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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