Collecting together 30 pieces written about Muhammad Ali, the boxer's story is told in this book by an array of authors, athletes and social commentators. In addition to pieces by Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe and Norman Mailer, Floyd Patterson defends Ali's right to criticise America's participation in the Vietnam war; Malcolm X explains how he went from entertainer to threat with his declaration as a man of race; Ali himself contributes with some poetry in his famous interview with Playboy magazine; and Gay Talese gives the reader a front seat on the 1996 ride to Cuba where Ali met Fidel Castro.