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In 1974 in Kinshasa, Za�re, two African American boxers were paid five million dollars apiece to fight each other. One was Muhammad Ali, the aging but irrepressible �professor of boxing.� The other was George Foreman, who was as taciturn as Ali was voluble. Observing them was Norman Mailer, a commentator of unparalleled energy, acumen, and audacity. Whether he is analyzing the fighters� moves, interpreting their characters, or weighing their competing claims on the African and American souls, Mailer�s grasp of the titanic battle�s feints and stratagems�and his sensitivity to their deeper symbolism�makes this book a masterpiece of the literature of sport. Praise for The Fight �Exquisitely refined and attenuated . . . [a] sensitive portrait of an extraordinary athlete and man, and a pugilistic drama fully as exciting as the reality on which it is based.��The New York Times �One of the defining texts of sports journalism. Not only does Mailer recall the violent combat with a scholar�s eye . . . he also makes the whole act of reporting seem as exciting as what�s occurring in the ring.��GQ �Stylistically, Mailer was the greatest boxing writer of all time.��Chuck Klosterman, Esquire �One of Mailer�s finest books.��Louis Menand, The New Yorker Praise for Norman Mailer �[Norman Mailer] loomed over American letters longer and larger than any other writer of his generation.��The New York Times �A writer of the greatest and most reckless talent.��The New Yorker �Mailer is indispensable, an American treasure.��The Washington Post �A devastatingly alive and original creative mind.��Life �Mailer is fierce, courageous, and reckless and nearly everything he writes has sections of headlong brilliance.��The New York Review of Books �The largest mind and imagination [in modern] American literature . . . Unlike just about every American writer since Henry James, Mailer has managed to grow and become richer in wisdom with each new book.��Chicago Tribune �Mailer is a master of his craft. His language carries you through the story like a leaf on a stream.��The Cincinnati Post (less)

In 1974 in Kinshasa, Za�re, two African American boxers were paid five million dollars apiece to fight each other. One was Muhammad Ali, the aging but irrepressible �professor of boxing.� The other was George Foreman, who was as taciturn (…more)