The Fight

"The Fight" is not just a week-long journey into the events, places, and people surrounding "The Rumble in the Jungle," the classic championship bout between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman that will be forever remembered as one of the greatest displays of athletic prowess. It's also a free-ranging tour of a mind into a genius wordsmith; yes, there's the obnoxious narcissism of a man at the height of his literary powers and at the apex of his celebrity profiling a man about to reach the peak of his athletic glory and at the cusp of his stardom. But there's also the endless and compelling curiosity of Norman Mailer, as he zooms in and out of people's minds as he fast as he zooms in and around Zaire. Above all, there are all these psychologist insights into the athletic genius of Muhammad Ali that only a literary genius like Norman Mailer can appreciate.The actual fight itself will go down as the most fluidly and accurately description of a championship fight in literary history, and could be compared to the final battle scene in The Aeneid. From Mailer's description, we can see that the epic battle between Foreman and Ali was violent and brutal, but ultimately who wins fights is not whoever is strongest and fittest but who is braver, smarter, and more determined. Boxing then is psychological warfare at its rawest and at its most subtle, and in the fight it becomes painfully and exhilarating clear to the audience that midway into the fight both men are on the brink of death, that their bodies and their minds have taken punishment and torture that would have killed any other human being, and that if they were to take a shot in the wrong place at the wrong time then they will come crashing down to their death. But Foreman and Ali buried their fear deep, albeit in their own individual way that defines the character of each. With Foreman he compensates with his fear of death and the much worse possibility of defeat by summoning a blind brutality and violence -- it's not only to think of winning; he needs to kill. With Ali he's looking deep into himself, summoning the mental discipline and courage he needs to do what he knows he can and must do -- land that awesome combination of strikes when Foreman is most vulnerable, that awesome combination that had not flinched his fearsome opponent in previous rounds but which most bring him down in the waning minutes of the fight when both men are on the brink of death and annihilation.Ali proved himself the cooler and the calmer of the two fighters, and thus the infinitely superior one. And Mailer has written a book that will make eternal Ali's great athletic performance.

Mailer's New Journalism here serves up a real feast, a smorgasbord of topics such as masculinity, economic dictatorship, journalism, the African climate, the African 'nature' and American stewardesses - er, flight attendants - mixed into the slow-heating but ultimately succulent and rewarding narrative of the boxing match that simmers in the background. A very New Journo sentence that!Zaire, from 1971 and 1997 what is now the highly unstable DemocraticRepublic of the Congo, is the Portugese word for the Congo River, itself taken from the Congo word nzere (river that swallows all rivers). The river, nature and weather are ever present here - will it rain before the fight (the rains came after the fight and flooded the whole concrete stadium, dressing rooms, everything).Zaire was a military dictatorship under Joseph Desire Mobuto, who then "Africanized" his name (getting rid of Belgian colonial influence) to Mobuto Sese Suko Kuko Ngbendu Wa Za Banga, sort of "all conquering warrior who goes from triumph to triumph". This is all detailed by Mailer at the beginning of the book, although Wikipedia is also useful for those trying to remember and writing a book review on Amazon!Essentially as a showcase for and to consolidate his rule Mobuto set up this historic boxing match. Thus a lot of the early book is Mailer's perceptions of the bizarre dictatorship and its brief history and, like all dictatorships, cult of personality. We can then compare Mobuto the warrior to the other warriors in the story, Foreman and Ali.A major theme of the book is maculinity. There are almost no female characters in the book, apart from Ali's wife who briefly appears at the end and an American stew - er flight attendant - who is something of a heroine in the final act. Thus there is George, portrayed as the one dimensional knock out machine he probably was back then. There are the men in George's camp, who worry he might kill Ali. Then there are the men around Ali, his camp. Many doubt him. A fascinating figure is Bundini, whose role in the camp appears to be court jester, motivator and mystic provider. As another reviewer has mentioned one of the most satisfying chapters is when Mailer ("Norman" in the text) goes for a morning jog with Ali and is ultimately disappointed and worried by the seemingly lackadaisical aspect of Ali's training. The chapters chronicling the fight itself are just amazing writing that should be set as a text for any budding sports journalist. Mailer here is good, very very good. However for me the best New Journalism tome on masculinity is actually The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe, a book of genius.

Norman Mailer was one of the best writers to come out of the Twentieth Century. He was also one of those writers in the Hemingway mold, who sought to immerse himself in the subject matter about which he wrote. No stranger to the sweet science (he once did a three-round boxing match on the Dick Cavet Show with ex-light-heavyweight champ, Jose Torres), Mailer was sent to cover the Rumble in the Jungle in Africa in 1974 when Muhammad Ali became the second man to regain the heavyweight title when he took it away from George Foreman. Mailer had a way with imagery and metaphor, and his writing is engaging. His colossal ego is also in evidence in this piece. He refers to himself in the third person throughout. Interestingly enough, there is more written about the events leading up to the big fight than of the actual contest itself. Despite Mailer's friendship and obvious idolization of Ali, the author does give us a few glances of Ali's cruel nature. Foreman, who later became the oldest man ever to regain the heavyweight title, is not described in much detail, and is cast as a bit player in this piece. Ironically, Foreman's genial personality wouldn't become evident until his comeback about ten years after his original reign as heavyweight champion. The Fight focuses primarily on Ali, who was a larger-than-life icon during the 1970's. It's too bad Mailer didn't try to gain more insight into Foreman's nature, but perhaps that wasn't an option at the time, since Norman was clearly a member of Ali's camp. Originally written as a two-part article for Playboy magazine, Mailer later expanded the article into this book. It's an interesting memoir and gives the reader a sense of being caught up in the big event.

I found this book fascinating. But have to admit I struggled tounderstand why Norman Mailer seemed not to be the man writing all aboutthe great Muhammad Ali and George Foreman,s classic fight in Zaire in the 1970s. There was a reference toMailer being amongst the chaos (at times) and build-up then leads to the Fight itself. Buthe seemed to only play a minor role in all this drama. Well written and insightful about the twofighters never the less.Craig : }

This is a great little book from a great little writer about a great big boxing event. It is a short book, even with some pointless waffle at the end, but it gives a different insight into the crowning moment of the most important sports man, or woman, in history. The Rumble in the Jungle in 1974 when an "ageing" Muhammed Ali foolishly, some said, challenged the most fearsome fighter in boxing history to a showdown in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the DR Congo). The book describes events and emotions from the build up in the training camps through to the fight aftermath, in Mailer's distinctive voice. You will already know the story but Mailer tells it well, with some brilliant boxing insight.

Great writer telling this epic fight story.The writing is superb, and fights don't get better than the rumble in the jungleMailer was a friend of Ali's and this book adds more even if you're a fan of when we were kings etc

A championship bout with a hard as whiskey writer (Mailer) a great fighter (Foreman) and a genius of life (Ali) sometimes this strives for profundity, but often finds it with eternal truths applicable to all of us who struggle in all different ways.

Never read any Mailer before, but I shall now work my way through his canon of work. A terrific read!