Title: Redemption Song: Muhammad Ali and the Spirit of the Sixties
Author: Mike Marqusee
Number of Pages: 310
Genre: non-fiction, social history, biography
Book Number/Goal: #10 out of the 18 I've read so far
My rating: 4/5

Review: This is not a biography in the traditional sense, but rather an exploration of those past and contemporary events that shaped Ali and how he in turned influenced the events of his culture. I was surprised by his attitude toward the civil rights movement and moved by how he changed and grew through the years.

I was very interested by the connections the author made between Ali and the rise of Black Power out of the civil rights movement, by Ali's influence on American/African/International culture, and by Ali's relationship with his religion and his sport. A thread that runs through the book is Ali's opposition to being drafted and the stand he took on that. His words speak most clearly about who he was: "I know where I am going and I know the truth, and I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want."

This is a passionate, loving and open look at Ali and the sixties, at what influenced him and the influence he had on both America and the world. A quick entertaining read, I enjoyed reading this very much. The only weakness with the book was the lack of footnotes. Notes on Sources at the end of the book does not make up for a complete lack in citing original sources.
blueswan: (Default)
([personal profile] blueswan Apr. 23rd, 2009 09:57 am)
Name: [personal profile] blueswan
Goal: 75 books read by the end of this year
Definition of "book": 200 pages or more though I do count comic trades, re-reads are okay
Books read so far: 18

A little about my goal and my reading habits: This is a goal I set for myself when I started using Goodreads. I've never kept track of my reading before, so I don't know if my goal is doable or me being a lazy sod and under-reaching. *g* I'm trying to read more non-fiction these days. I'd like at least a third of the titles to be non-fiction and two-thirds to be new reads.
.

Profile

a_reader_is_me: (Default)
A Reader Is Me!

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Powered by Dreamwidth Studios

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags