Zen of Muhammad Ali: And Other Obsessions - Softcover

Ever since my first book, THE TAO OF MUHAMMAD ALI, was published in 1997, readers have asked me time and again where to find the magazine stories on which that book was based. I can now suggest exactly where to look -- at this volume. The first section of THE ZEN OF MUHAMMAD ALI AND OTHER OBSESSIONS comprises three of my Ali stories, as well as a new piece called "The Yin and the Yang of Muhammad Ali" that I consider to be among my most powerful work.

In addition, I've hand-picked seven directly and indirectly related stories, including an essay titled "Bruce Lee, American" that helped inspire my second book, THE TAO OF BRUCE LEE. The result is a volume about fighting -- fighting of all kinds -- public displays and personal struggles.

Recognizing that many readers are intrigued by the particulars of how and why stories come to be written -- and how they are expanded into books (and, in some cases, edited from book chapters into magazine pieces) -- I've penned either opening or closing "insider" comments on the writing process and on the origins and histories of these works. I hope that you'll enjoy THE ZEN OF MUHAMMAD ALI AND OTHER OBSESSIONS. In many ways, it is my personal favourite among my first three books.

The best of Davis Miller's essays and memoirs - including the award-winning "My Dinner with Ali."
Collected here for the first time are the best of Davis Miller's essays and memoirs. The volume contains the 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." The title story "The Zen of Muhammad Ali" was nominated for the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing and was included in the 1994 edition of "The Best American Sports Writing. 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 book concludes with a section of compelling essays about Miller's own life - "filled with the clarity of ordinary human experience." ("TLS about "The Tao of Muhammad Ali).
"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.