Running with the Champ
My Forty-Year Friendship with Muhammad Ali
گزارش تخلف
کتاب های مرتبط
- اطلاعات
- نقد و بررسی
- دیدگاه کاربران
نقد و بررسی
March 14, 2016
First-time author Shanahan shares an engrossing story of his longtime friendship with the former heavyweight boxing champion of the world. The former medical technology salesman recounts the day in 1975 when he met Ali through a sports organization in Chicago for troubled teens, and chronicles the evolution of an enviable friendship that, as the book's title suggests, often included early-morning runs. Shanahan and his wife became close to Ali and his family members and traveled with his entourage to fights. He includes accounts of Ali's encounters with numerous celebrities, including Elvis Presley, John Travolta, Warren Beatty, Andy Warhol, and Bill Cosby, and portrays Ali as a generous man who regularly gave $20 bills to strangers in need. Shanahan comes off as a likable guy, too, and it's easy to understand why the fighter allowed him into his inner circle. However, Shanahan shames many of the hangers-on who took advantage of Ali, yet readers could argue that Shanahan is doing the same thing.
April 1, 2016
To some, the title might imply that Shanahan was one of Muhammad Ali's entourage, performing minor tasks in return for far greater perks. Instead "running" initially refers to the predawn exercise the author and Ali shared as friends, after meeting as a result of Shanahan's work with a charity for at-risk youth. Shanahan, a medical equipment salesman, proved to be a Zelig-like character, dining with Brigitte Bardot, studying under artificial heart pioneer Denton Cooley, meeting Pope John Paul II, and hobnobbing with sports stars and other celebrities from Chicago Bears great Walter Payton to Warren Beatty, John Travolta, Bill Cosby (whom he rather obligatorily disses), and a cast of seemingly hundreds more. The people and their homes are often described rather breathlessly. Yet Ali is the heart of the book, and Shanahan presents a complex but less bombastic person than is popularly associated with the name; generous to a fault, devoted to his religion and (despite four marriages) family, and a champion of the less fortunate. VERDICT This view of a fabled boxer from the unusual angle of friendship offers justification beyond the boxing ring for calling Ali "The Greatest."--Jim Burns, formerly with Jacksonville P.L., FL
Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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