THE TAO OF MUHAMMAD ALI, Davis Miller SIGNED #1 BESTSELLER Sold to You By Author 

REVIEW HIGHLIGHTS of Number-One International Bestseller

The Tao of Muhammad Ali

Andrew Martin, (London) Independent (book of the week):

Ranks among the best of contemporary American writing.

Tim Kawakami, Los Angeles Times:

Nobody has ever written so purely about Ali before.  Maybe no one has ever written so purely about anyone. 

FHM:

An instant classic.

Joyce Carol Oates:

What brilliant stories these are!  Davis Miller writes profoundly and beautifully.

Glenn Stout, Editor, The Best American Sports Writing:

The Tao of Muhammad Ali resonates with wisdom.  This is the single best sports story I've ever read.  The book is a classic, part of the standard against which I'll measure all other sports writing.

Matthew DeAbitua, Esquire:

Miller's astounding book, more in the tradition of writers such as Tobias Wolff, Richard Ford and Tim O'Brien than that of mere biographies, is a seminal interpretation of fame, how it affects both those who have it and those who live in its shadow.

Daily Telegraph:

Miller is Ali's spiritual Boswell.  A compelling, strange and beautiful book.  

Michael Mulhall, Times Literary Supplement:

Filled with the clarity of ordinary human experience.  Miller's best writing occurs when he recalls periods of his life when Ali was not part of it, for example the buzz of early journalistic successes or the sudden illness that took his father's life. After all, the real Zen lesson to be learned from a man like Ali, Miller argues, has nothing to do with lionizing the mighty infallible heroes whom we aspire to be.  It is, instead, about living with the potent fallibility of ourselves.

Simon Holt, Glasgow (Scotland) Herald:

It is rare that a book, especially a sporting book, can move a grown man to tears.  In his quite wonderful story, The Tao of Muhammad Ali, Davis Miller finds inspiration and not distress in Ali's condition.  You may rightly deduce that this is not your usual sporting book.  The subject matter is altogether broader:  it is the only sports book I've ever read which seems important. 

John Colquhoun, Scotland on Sunday:

My New Year's resolution:  Do not leave mobile telephones on public transport.  Do not purchase compact discs on the strength of one single.  Do work hard to write a book that I can pretend is half as good as The Tao of Muhammad Ali by Davis Miller.

Maxim:

(four-star review) Inspired by Ali, Miller began practicing martial arts, drove himself to become a writer and finally met, sparred and befriended his idol.  Miller's tale is inspiring, beautifully written and keenly insightful about himself, Ali and the nature of hero worship.

Sharon Barnes, indublin magazine, Dublin, Ireland (book of the fortnight):

The classification on the cover is 'Biography/Sport.'  I think the author might demur at this.  In its painfully honest self-scrutiny, the story is also accomplished autobiography; and the moving portrait of Davis's father gives us at least one other hero.  There is occasionally a Messianic tone to the writing, but this is nicely counterbalanced by the sheer sense of fun displayed by the Champ, and his willing playmate. 

Playfulness becomes a serious issue here as life throws knock-out punches at all contenders and the late 20th century, here charted in all its fast-forward mayhem, is analysed for its lasting values.  The sort of thinking which has other journalists regarding Ali as a mere has-been has galvanised an indignant Davis into proving that some heroes are greater than the sum of their parts; and in identifying the need -- at once human and transcendent -- to admire and emulate, (Davis) fights a corner for all of us.

Newcastle Upon Tyne (England) Journal:

(Ali's) charisma and achievements have inspired some of the finest writing by the likes of Norman Mailer and Hunter Thompson.  The Tao of Muhammad Ali . . . easily earns Miller a place alongside these benchmark writers.  This is more love story than conventional biography.  It is impossible to imagine either a more intimate, revealing portrait of Ali or a better example of sports writing.

Cork (Ireland) Examiner:

With its honest self-analysis, and the sublimity of Davis' relationship with his own father, there is more than one hero in this story, just as the theme of fathers and sons underpins the whole. 

Davis takes interesting risks with the fullness of the portrait he paints.  We see Ali free, for precious moments, of debilitating tremors, playfully throwing punches, performing magic tricks, playing practical jokes.  Children are often present when this transformation occurs:  As Ali says, "They're angels in exile.  Children are so close to God, they haven't had time to separate from him."

Davis' own young son Isaac swears he has seen Ali fly.  Who are we to doubt an angel in exile?

Art Taylor, The Spectator:

The beauty of this daringly different book arises from the interconnectedness between Ali and the young man who chose to follow in the way of Ali.  The heart of the book can be found in its lyricism, its spiritual sense of seeking and striving, its uncommon approach to the everyday questions of existence and its defiant originality.  The Tao of Muhammad Ali is, in the best senses of the word, organic:  It grows at a steady pace beyond the bounds of easy description, beyond classification, reaching for its own greatness.

H.A. Branham, Tampa Tribune:

The author tells us more about Ali than perhaps anyone ever has.  Or ever will.  In the process, Davis Miller also tells us much about himself.  A funny thing happens while following Miller on his (journey):  Miller's alignment with Ali makes you envious, but leaves you awed.  And, at some point, Miller takes on a bit of an aura, as well.  The book starts with one hero.  It ends with two.  Davis Miller?  My man.

(London) Times: 

Beautifully recalled, tenderly told meetings with Ali.  Not Ali in his strutting pomp, but as the seraphic person he became in illness.  Not a pitiable character, in Miller's view:  but a saintly one.

Halifax (England) Evening Courier:

The best book on the subject -- and whole forests have died to publish material on Ali. 

A beautiful, inspiring, and fantastically readable book.