The Fight

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A collision of egos inside and outside the ring - Rated
The Fight is a vivid account of the 1974 world heavyweight boxing match in Zaire, billed as The Rumble in the Jungle, between George Foreman and Mohammad Ali. Mailer writes about Africa with more than a nod to Joseph Conrad, and writes about boxing with all the sweep and authority that Hemingway showed on bullfighting, but this book is about more than boxing. Mailer, a white Jew from New York, confronts his prejudices about blacks and about Africa, and while this seems less than remarkable now, it is easy to forget that mild racism was not only normal then among English-speaking whites, but was in fact the received wisdom of the time. This book was therefore a work of some courage and risk for a writer of Norman Mailer's stature.

The use of the third person to describe the author is strange at first, and it seems possible that Mailer's ego might overshadow even the monstrous ego of Ali. But what emerges is more sensitive than that. Ali is portrayed as an aging prodigy tortured by doubt and surrounded by a retinue of oddballs, and Mailer succeeds in first isolating and then overcoming his buried prejudice and superstition.

This is a powerful and at times moving book, and I would recommend it to all, including those who are uninterested or even repelled by the sport of boxing.

A Classic - although Penquin got the year wrong '74, not '75 - Rated
This is a classic piece of sports writing and goes way beyond 'the fight' and into the atmosphere of all the pre hype. It covers one of the most important sporting (shock) events ever to have taken place..."The Rumble in the Jungle" and you get a real sense of this in Mailer's enthusiam. If you're an Ali fan, you should've read it by now....if you're not a fan, you'll still love the detail described in this book. It's one of those books that people remember reading years later. It's a shame that Penquin got the year of the fight wrong in their synopsis...and I've told them!. Rumble in the Jungle was October 1974, not 1975....(which was the "Trilla in Manila", now there's another story!)

Great non-fiction - Rated
One of the greatest sportsmen of our world, and this was possibly one of the greatest moments of his sporting career. This book is not just about a fight but about Africa, the nature of men, race and racism and superhuman achievement.

Mailer is completely honest throughout the book, and sometimes what he says, particularly about race, can be a little shocking. But the author is being honest with us about what he thinks, and his thoughts are interesting and thought-provoking.

The image of Ali, bouncing off the ropes for the first 6 rounds despite promising the world he was going to dance is vividly painted. The description of Foreman's training on the heavy bag, which he hit so hard he left dent in it, is close to mind when in the later chapters ali is absorbing those same punches.

The book also deals with the author's own celebrity, and makes this a very personal account of a great moment.

I left this book with one overpowering feeling - i wish i had been there.

Essential reading - Rated
A superb snapshot of a particular time and place; this is written in typical Norman Mailer style -allowing the reader amazing insight at times and a very personal, distanced view at others. Ali comes across as the great figure his reputation implies -even Mailer is humbly respectful in his presence. I would suggest reading David Remnick's equally impressive 'King of the world' first, as Remnick's book charts the 'back story' of how the heavyweight belt passed from Floyd Patterson to Sonny Liston and finally Ali. Then finish by watching the Oscar-winning documentary 'When we were Kings' -which of course, features Norman Mailer himself (Ideally, get the DVD, which features the entire Rumble In The Jungle fight as a bonus).

A Great follow up to "when we were kings" - Rated
If you have seen the oscar winning documentary "When we were kings" and wished for "more" , this is a good book to read. A word of warning though, it is a classic "Mailer", at once written in prosaic, almost sureal style and simultaneously dripping with the man's ego (fans of his other work, especially "Harlot's ghost", will know what I mean).

But why not? the film documented the clash of two titanic egos, Ali & Frasier, so the style of writing mirrors the event anyway.

However, for those of you who are going onto their next Mailer book, I would start with "When we were kings first". Note , its not about the boxing REALLY, as I have never seen any other boxing video or read any such book, but both capture the mood, the zaniness and the spectacle of a great sporting event in the midst of a brutal dictatorship that existed in Zaire at that time. In that sense, the two compliment each other wonderfully, like reading/viewing "The English Patient", or "I Claudius" or "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"