At Home with Muhammad Ali

April 8, 2019
Ali (Ali on Ali) crafts a compassionate and intimate memoir of life with her father, championship heavyweight boxer Muhammed Ali (1942–2016). In her telling, Muhammad was the epitome of a doting father to his nine children— especially the outspoken, determined Hana, who was born to Muhammad’s third wife, Veronica Porche. Ali depicts her father as a deeply religious Muslim who was dedicated to helping those he encountered—whether it was a man he didn’t know who was contemplating leaping out of a ninth-floor window, or a friend and minister advocating for the release of American hostages in Iran in the 1980s. A family man who grew up in Louisville, Ky., during the height of segregation, Muhammad kept extensive audio diaries throughout his life, as well as tapes of his daughters’ lighthearted giggles and his buoyant phone calls to friends like fellow fighter George Foreman. Ali, however, doesn’t shy from discussing her father’s Achilles heel—women—a subject he didn’t talk about on the recordings. Through frank talks with her mother, Ali learned of their courtship and the events that led to their divorce (“Listening to my mother, I felt like a whole new world was revealed to me”), and it is through her mother that she relived the early stages of her father’s Parkinson’s disease. Ali’s tender memoir is a heartfelt tribute to her father.

May 1, 2019

What was boxing's "The Greatest" like when he was out of the ring or the cameras weren't rolling? The answer according to daughter and author Hana Ali is simply and unquestionably: the greatest. Here, the third youngest child of Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) draws from a treasure chest of previously unseen material to paint a picture of the private Ali. Included are extensive audio tapes he made in the late 1970s and early 1980s of himself interacting with Hana, her sister Laila, and his third wife, Veronica, at their Los Angeles home. There are also published and unpublished photos; journals, poems, and notes; undelivered love letters from Muhammad to Veronica, written even as their marriage was slipping away; and memories from the time the family broke apart until Ali's death. VERDICT Scholars of the sweet science won't find much new here, but Ali's fans and general readers will enjoy a charming glimpse into the private life of one of the most public of men (and few will come away from the author's description of her last visit to their old home with dry eyes).--Jim Burns, formerly with Jacksonville P.L., FL

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Kim Staunton's narration of this audio memoir is impressive. She delivers all the power of boxer and legendary public figure Muhammad Ali, as told by his daughter. Hana Ali's audiobook recounts her father's life, beginning with the love letters he wrote to his estranged wife. Listeners hear Hana's memories of a loving family man who was seeking a higher purpose, a man who acknowledged that boxing "paid the bills." Ali's declaration of being "the greatest of all time" is legendary; his daughter recalls a father who faced every challenge and was the "measure of greatness." Staunton skillfully voices both father and daughter. The result is moving, emotional, and at times funny and thrilling--like the man the public knew, but so much more. S.P.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine