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Larger than life biography to be unveiled by the black Superman
Frankfurt, Oct 09: Boxing legend Muhammad Ali will today unveil a new biography whose proportions sum up his unique style: big, heavy, brash and, at more than 3,000 dollars a copy, larger than life.
Frankfurt, Oct 09: Boxing legend Muhammad Ali will today unveil a new biography whose proportions sum up his unique style: big, heavy, brash and, at more than 3,000 dollars a copy, larger than life.
The tome, which he will present at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the largest of its kind in the world, weighs in at a hefty 34 kilograms (75 pounds).
It's big, measuring some 50 by 50 centimetres (20 by 20 inches). It's long at 800 gilt-edged pages bound in white.
It has a limited, individually numbered print run of 10,000, all signed by Ali. Above all, it has a heavyweight price befitting an out-of-proportion career -- 3,000 euros (3,542 dollars), or 7,500 euros if you care to purchase one of the first 1,000 books that come with a sculpture by pop-artist Jeff Koons.
"It's going very well. Some people are ordering it without even seeing it. The buyers are fans of Muhammad Ali as well as collectors," said Gaelle Cueff, a spokeswoman for the book's German-based publisher Taschen.
"There won't be any reprints," she told reporters, standing beside the specially constructed boxing ring where the book is on show.
With its proportions, the tome is being sold as a work of art as much as a biography. It is being offered on limited sale in a handful of selected major bookshops and luxury stores per country, and via the internet.
The first part of the title, goat, might seem like an unfortunate acronym, until the rest explains that this is about the "greatest of all time."
Bureau Report
The tome, which he will present at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the largest of its kind in the world, weighs in at a hefty 34 kilograms (75 pounds).
It's big, measuring some 50 by 50 centimetres (20 by 20 inches). It's long at 800 gilt-edged pages bound in white.
It has a limited, individually numbered print run of 10,000, all signed by Ali. Above all, it has a heavyweight price befitting an out-of-proportion career -- 3,000 euros (3,542 dollars), or 7,500 euros if you care to purchase one of the first 1,000 books that come with a sculpture by pop-artist Jeff Koons.
"It's going very well. Some people are ordering it without even seeing it. The buyers are fans of Muhammad Ali as well as collectors," said Gaelle Cueff, a spokeswoman for the book's German-based publisher Taschen.
"There won't be any reprints," she told reporters, standing beside the specially constructed boxing ring where the book is on show.
With its proportions, the tome is being sold as a work of art as much as a biography. It is being offered on limited sale in a handful of selected major bookshops and luxury stores per country, and via the internet.
The first part of the title, goat, might seem like an unfortunate acronym, until the rest explains that this is about the "greatest of all time."
Bureau Report