Olsen, Jack – Black is Best. The Riddle of Cassius Clay. A Biography; 1956 1st American edition. G.P. Putnam

Description

Olsen, Jack ‘Black is Best. The Riddle of Cassius Clay. A Biography; 1956 1st American edition. G.P. Putnam’s & Sons, New York. 255-pages. VG in a good non-price clipped dust jacket.

Book Description & Physical Specifications:
Published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York in 1967, this work by acclaimed journalist Jack Olsen stands as the very first biography written about the man who would become Muhammad Ali. Sports Illustrated editors later recognized it as one of the best sports biographies ever written.
• Content: The book captures a volatile 3-year window in the fighter’s life. When he defeated Sonny Liston for the world heavyweight title in 1964, the mainstream press praised him as a wholesome, clean-cut kid. By 1967, that public image was shattered by his conversion to Islam, alignment with the Black Muslims, outspoken support for Black Power, and refusal to be drafted during the Vietnam War. Olsen bypasses the surface-level public debate to interview family members, early coaches, trainers, and the fighter himself, attempting to piece together what he described as a “jigsaw puzzle whose pieces were cut by a drunken carpenter.”
• Format: Octavo (roughly 8.5 in. x 5.75 in.), consisting of 255 pages.
• Binding: Bound in black cloth boards featuring an image of Cassius Clay’s face stamped in blind on the front cover, complete with brown title lettering on the spine.
• Illustrations: Contains an internal set of black-and-white photograph plates