Sting Like a Bee

A PEN/ESPN AWARD FOR LITERARY SPORTS WRITING FINALIST A tremendous new biography of Muhammad Ali that zeroes in on the moment Ali turned from an athlete to an activist-icon. Muhammad Ali: heavyweight champion, Olympic gold medalist, and cultural icon. In Sting Like a Bee , bestselling author Lee Montville takes a close look at the famed boxer, whose bombastic persona was rivaled only by his athletic performance. But Ali was more than just a boxer. He renounced his 'slave name,' joined the Nation of Islam, and refused to join the military. His story is the story of America in the late sixties, his life intersecting sports and pop culture, politics and the people. Sting Like a Bee zeroes in on five important years of his life, putting the legend in context. It's a portrait of an athlete and a portrait of America during a time of social unrest and earth-shaking change, a must-read for anyone looking to get a clear view of the man and his country.

ONE OF THE BOSTON GLOBE'S BEST BOOKS OF 2017

“Montville, one of the best sportswriters of his generation, vividly frames Ali's individual struggle against the backdrop of the civil rights movement and the upheaval of the late '60s.”
--Chicago Tribune

"An absorbing portrait of Ali during his years of vilification and exile from the ring . . . Somehow Mr. Montville has managed, in a sympathetic but not hagiographic fashion, to find a fresh angle on the Greatest—by showing him embattled, as one might expect, and yet outside the ring."
--The Wall Street Journal

"Meticulously researched . . . The inventory of Ali books is indeed long. But put this one on the short list."
--Newsday

"A fresh, ambitious book about one of the most written-about men in the history of sports or anything else . . . He’s a writer who never disappoints."
--The Boston Globe

"Sting Like a Bee is a valuable, indeed essential, addition to the growing library on Ali, offering a broader understanding of the enigma known as 'the Greatest.'"
--The Washington Post

"A fast-paced account of Muhammad Ali's struggle as a conscientious draft objector, a flashpoint for a tumultuous era. . . A dramatic, pleasing tale of a sports iconoclast fighting for his rights."
--***Kirkus

"Montville has given fans and boxing historians a thoroughly enjoyable and informative read."
--Library Journal* (starred review)

"Fascinating backstory . . . the result is a book that belongs in the top tier of Ali literature."
*--Booklist

"Revealing . . . With dry humor, Montville portrays the central figures of Ali’s life—mostly hustlers and religious idealists—as well as the controversies surrounding an African-American who both condemned racial injustice and praised George Wallace . . . Montville shows how Ali earned the title he came up with for himself: 'The Greatest.'"
--Publishers Weekly

"In *Sting Like a Bee, Montville has put together an exhaustively researched and deftly written account of that stretch. The portrait of Ali is rendered with rich, meticulous detail . . . there’s no denying that Sting Like a Bee will give the reader a new appreciation for the difficulties of Ali’s journey."
--*The Maine Edge

"Montville has conducted serious research into the legal maneuvering and legal issues surrounding Muhammad Ali and the draft, and brought the source material together in a way that makes it more easily accessed and more fully understood. That’s a valuable service."
--Ring Magazine*

Auteur
Three-time New York Times bestselling author Leigh Montville is a former columnist at The Boston Globe and former senior writer at Sports Illustrated. He is the winner of many sports journalism awards, including the 2016 Red Smith Award, and was inducted into the Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame in 2009. Montville is the author of Evel, The Mysterious Montague, The Big Bam, Ted Williams, At the Altar of Speed, Manute, and Why Not Us? He lives outside of Boston, Massachusetts.

Texte du rabat

**A PEN/ESPN AWARD FOR LITERARY SPORTS WRITING FINALIST

A tremendous new biography of Muhammad Ali that zeroes in on the moment Ali turned from an athlete to an activist-icon.

Muhammad Ali: heavyweight champion, Olympic gold medalist, and cultural icon. In Sting Like a Bee, bestselling author Lee Montville takes a close look at the famed boxer, whose bombastic persona was rivaled only by his athletic performance. But Ali was more than just a boxer. He renounced his "slave name," joined the Nation of Islam, and refused to join the military. His story is the story of America in the late sixties, his life intersecting sports and pop culture, politics and the people. Sting Like a Bee zeroes in on five important years of his life, putting the legend in context. It's a portrait of an athlete and a portrait of America during a time of social unrest and earth-shaking change, a must-read for anyone looking to get a clear view of the man and his country.

Échantillon de lecture
Chapter 1

Local Draft Board No. 47

The day moved slowly. Bob Halloran tried to keep the conversation going in the living room of the small concrete house at 4610 NW 15th Court in the worn-­down section of Miami, Florida, that the residents called Brownsville, but after one hour passed, two hours, three, there wasn’t much else he could say. The list of topics had been covered and covered again. He mostly sat and waited, a talkative man curiously out of words as Muhammad Ali puttered and fretted, went outside and came back, and sometimes watched cartoons on the black-­and-­white television set.

A worry squirmed in Halloran’s chest that Ali would become tired of him and would send him home. Or would want to be with different people. Or something. What then? The twenty-­nine-­year-­old local television sports reporter from WTVJ tried to be as inconspicuous as possible.

His cameraman had set up on the front lawn in the morning. The guy was still somewhere out there watching the equipment. Neighborhood kids also were out there, kids who came around Ali every day, kids who treated him as if he were one of them, another kid, ready for fun. Most days he was. This day he wasn’t. A worry also squirmed in the chest of the heavyweight champion of the world.

Local Draft Board No. 47 was preparing to make its move in Louisville, Kentucky. The machinery already was in motion. Although a New York lawyer had been dispatched to plead Ali’s case, there was little doubt what the result would be. The weight of the U.S. government would fall directly on top of the primary resident of this house.

Nobody knew for sure when it was going to happen, but rumors had been floating for a week that he was going to be made eligible for the military draft at any moment. The demand for soldiers had grown, more than doubled, with the escalation of the Vietnam War. The generals at the Pentagon now wanted more than 400,000 troops for the war effort.

Ali had failed the intelligence test twice, which resulted in a 1-­Y classification, unfit for service, but under new standards, changed only three days ago, his score of 16 now passed. He not only would become 1-­A, eligible, but at twenty-­four years of age, newly single again, he would be at the top of the induction list for the next month’s call. All indications—­which included comments he had made in the past on the subject—­were that he would challenge the order to report.

Halloran had received a tip that today, Thursday, February 17, 1966, was the day all this would begin. Thursd…