Iron Mike: A Mike Tyson Reader [Paperback]

Daniel O'Connor (Author), George Plimpton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2002

Iron Mike collects the best writing on the tumultuous fifteen-year career of the most reviled and idolized athlete in the world, Michael Gerard Tyson. Since becoming, at age nineteen, the youngest heavyweight champion in history, Tyson's dramatic rise, fall, and continuing struggle has provoked more passionate writing, both in and out of the sports pages, than that of any other boxer since Muhammad Ali. Iron Mike is about more than boxing. Like no other athlete, Mike Tyson is at the nexus of America's cultural anxieties about race, class, masculinity, violence, and celebrity; like no other athlete his story of high drama and low comedy inspires writers to wrestle with these themes, with Tyson often no more than the occasion for the writer's own preoccupations. And Tyson has provided many such occasions: his rise to the Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship at age twenty-one; his rocky marriage to Robin Givens; his controversial conviction for the rape of Desiree Washington; his return to boxing and reclamation of the WBC and WBA belts; his biting of Evander Holyfield. Iron Mike is a kaleidoscopic portrait of a man who, for better and worse, is one of the most recognizable, popular, and defining icons of our time. The book includes selections from Joyce Carol Oates, Pete Hamill, Jose Torres, Pete Dexter, Phil Berger, Christopher Hitchens, Robert Lipsyte, Dave Anderson, Jonathan Yardley, Richard Rodriguez, Katherine Dunn, Budd Schulberg, William Plummer, David Remnick, Keith Botsworth, and others.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This anthology paints a varied and even-sided portrait of the enigmatic heavyweight's career. Arranged chronologically, the essays cover Tyson and other characters in his life from the time that he was training with Cus D'Amato to the prefight antics this past June. Though many of the essays are vehemently either pro- or anti- Tyson, the reader gets a fair and fairly complete picture of Tyson as, for the most part, the opinions in the pieces are varied. There are many quality articles by famous writers, including Joyce Carol Oates and Robert Lipsyte, but perhaps the most interesting essays are penned by associates of Tyson, including Jose Torres (light heavyweight champion, a former Boxing Commissioner, Tyson biographer, and D'Amato prot‚g‚) and Rudy Gonzales, Tyson's chauffeur, whose piece from The Inner Ring (coauthored by Martin A. Feigenbaum), about how Don King's camp wooed Tyson and helped end his marriage, is one of the most compelling and insightful entries here. The book loses steam about three quarters of the way through just as Tyson's career itself declined and the fighter became a caricature of himself. Everything up to the Tyson-Lewis prefight news conference is included, but because it lacks a final article about the humiliating and potentially career-ending fight, this otherwise strong work feels incomplete.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In addition to inspiring fear and a record number of pay-per-view "buys" in the ring, Tyson has generated a huge body of sports writing, some memorable, some muzzy headed. Arguably the last heavyweight champion to have been the biggest thing in sports, Tyson went from ex-street thug to 20-year-old champion, Pepsi spokesman, and (briefly) husband of actress Robin Givens and neighbor of Donald Trump. Since Tyson first lost his title to Buster Douglas and, in 1992, his freedom as a convicted rapist, his life has been an escalating freak show. All the stages of Mike (except the sad latest one) are represented by O'Connor, a Thunder's Mouth editor, who, despite hinting that most criticism of Tyson is racially motivated, has gathered a relatively balanced collection of views ranging from Phil Berger on the prodigy years and aftermath to Joyce Carol Oates and others on the rape trial. In Pete Hamill's controversial prison profile, Tyson holds forth on Mao, John Quincy Adams, and Alexandre Dumas, while Gerald Early gives an incisive 1996 accounting of Tyson's strengths and weaknesses, and David Remnick makes a calm, masterly witness to the riot of the 1997 "Ear" fight. Times writer Robert Lipsyte's columns from the 1990s show an increasingly labored attempt to find a fresh angle on Mike's explosions. Several Tyson biographies are excerpted here, including Peter Heller's Bad Intentions, which remains the smartest extended work on Tyson. With a final piece by Tyson's one-time chauffeur, this worthwhile collection hits the street already a step behind its humbled subject's volatile life. Nathan Ward, "Library Journal"
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (May 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560253568
• ISBN-13: 978-1560253563
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #439,083 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, June 22, 2002

By 

kevin hakanson (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Iron Mike: A Mike Tyson Reader (Paperback)

Well, this book is the best all around book I have seen on Iron Mike, and believe me I have seen and read them all. It finally gives an extensive look on this complex individual. Mike is a genius whose greatness may never be understood for years to come. Every quote you you've ever read about him or interview you have ever seen has been doctored to portray him has a brutal, ignorant bully. But in truth he is a very introverted, intelligent, and compassionate human being. But, the media needs a villain so consequently we have an amazing misunderstanding of who the man really is. This book pulls no punches and shows both sides of this often troubled and victimized individual. Be Real Mike and never give up your goal of regaining your belts.

Peace,
Soldier

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For The Tyson Fan, Hater & Everyone Interested, June 23, 2004

By 

Buster Paris (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Iron Mike: A Mike Tyson Reader (Paperback)

For The Tyson Fan, The Tyson Hater & Everyone Interested In The Tyson Story

Truly a great and encompassing book.

First - you should know that I am a big Mike Tyson enthusiast and supporter.

Iron Mike - A Mike Tyson Reader - is a compilation of stories written by different authors. The chapters go pretty much in chronological order of Tyson's life. From a touch on his childhood to the classic saga of Cus & The Kid to post Holyfield II.

You get different perspectives of Tyson from those that see him in different ways. You get the good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly.

I felt that a lot of what is covered in the book was pretty fair and balanced (to borrow a phrase). I really appreciated and got a lot out of the different views and different interpretations of Tyson from those who knew him in different avenues of his life.

I went into reading this with a sympathetic view of Mike and this view was reinforced and I was actually given more insight into the hardships that he has had to face as a kid and as an adult.

You would think that with his money and fame how could he have such a hard time, well this book does a good job in showing you how.

What stands out for me is the rape conviction. He had a horrible lawyer - Don King's tax attorney, certain witnesses weren't allowed to testify, certain evidence was not admitted and let's admit it - if he was a Kennedy (see William Kennedy Smith) he wouldn't have gone to jail.

There are some extremely interesting chapters in this that are genuinely eye opening into just how unfairly Mike Tyson has treated and taken advantage of.

Highly recommended to any boxing fan and especially recommended for anyone interested in the story of Tyson - fan or hater - you'll learn something.

5.0 out of 5 stars No complaints!!! Big hit!!, January 22, 2012

By 

CLewis - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Iron Mike: A Mike Tyson Reader (Paperback)

I purchased this book for my husband and he read it sooo fast it was ridiculous! He is the biggest Tyson fan ever so finding a book he never read that would compare was a bit of a challenge... The reviews were good from what I read so I bought it as a gift. In his words " the best Tyson book I've read yet " yay! I did good;) I was happy with the purchase!