Customer Reviews

Sound and Fury: Two Powerful Lives, One Fateful Friendship

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For those of us who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, The Sound and Fury is a wondrous re-telling of the period through the lives of two unlikely partners, Howard Cosell and Muhammad Ali. It is not a boxing book. It is a work of social history, responsibly reported and told. Dave Kindred's superior writing and interviewing have made a book that should last for many years. The tales of Cosell's and Ali's lives, each up-from-bootstraps, and their accidental friendship, will impress even the most jaded sports fans and grownups.

I could not stop reading this once I began.

May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

Bob Dylan's song, Forever Young, serves as one of Dave Kindred's melodic themes in his wonderful book, "Sound and Fury". Sound and Fury is a biography of Muhammad Ali, Howard Cosell, and the relationship between them.

Sound and Fury carries the reader along as Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Marcellus Clay, and Howard Cosell, born Howard William Cohen, burst like stars upon the public's imagination in the 1960s and takes them through their respective heydays and then to their inevitable fading away.

Kindred, a sportswriter for close to forty years, began his newspaper career at The Louisville Courier in Muhammad Ali's hometown. He covered Ali since his earliest days, his glory days. It also seems he was one of the few print reporters that Howard Cosell respected and liked. They stayed in close touch with each other until Cosell's death. But, although it is quite clear that Kindred admires and respects both men, and with feelings toward Ali that are powerfully affectionate, even loving, Sound and Fury is no hagiography.

The book takes us quickly through Ali and Cosell's early days. As Kindred alternates between Ali and Cosell's struggle for success in their respective fields one can see the similarities between the two, particularly a single-minded determination to achieve their goals. Ali and Cosell came together in the public imagination after Ali's conversion to the Nation of Islam and his decision to refuse induction into the Army after being (finally) classified as draft-eligible. Ali's famous line "I ain't got nothing against them Viet Cong" made him something of a marked man. Ali was stripped of his title, denied the right to box, and convicted of draft evasion, a conviction later overturned by the Supreme Court. Cosell was one of the few to stand up Ali and it was this stand that helped make Cosell as controversial as Ali. Kindred does an excellent job covering the evolution of the symbiotic relationship between the two men. Kindred points out that Cosell was always very careful never to endorse Ali's views about religion or the war in Vietnam. Rather, Cosell always made it very clear that he argued only that Ali had a fundamental right to hold those opinions and no one had the right to deprive him of a livelihood simply because he held unpopular views.

Kindred, for all his respect and admiration for both men, is quick to point out those instances in which Ali and Cosell acted badly. Ali's treatment of his original religious mentor, Malcolm X, after Malcolm was tossed from the Nation of Islam and then killed is covered as is his brutal and unfair characterization of Joe Frazier (calling him less than a man and an Uncle Tom when in fact Frazier had grown up in greater poverty and experienced more racism than Ali had). Kindred does not hesitate to take Cosell to task for his vaunted insecurity and his callous treatment of those around him, particularly print journalists whom he considered to be inferior beings. Kindred's coverage of Cosell's stormy tenure on Monday Night Football is both informative and balanced.

Kindred is at his finest in describing the twilight of each man's career, Ali's descent into a Parkinson's syndrome induced shell of his former self and Cosell's withdrawal into retirement, seclusion after the death of his beloved wife Emmy, and eventual death. Kindred comes close to capturing that which cannot truly be captured: the ineffable feeling of loss that someone experiences when time has passed them by. This feeling must be particularly intense in the case of those who once were the center of worldwide (Ali) and national (Cosell) attention.

That indescribable notion is set out in the second melodic theme that marks "Sound and Fury". Cosell's favorite poem, one he recited at length with or without prompting, was Keats' Ode to a Nightingale and one which Kindred cites often in his book. If Dylan's Forever Young serves as a theme for Ali and Cosell's early days, Keats' Ode serves as a mournful and extraordinarily apt coda.

Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget
What thou among the leaves hast never known,
The weariness, the fever, and the fret
Here, where men sit and hear each other groan;
Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs,
Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies;

Dave Kindred has written a wonderful account of Ali and Cosell and their lives spent at the intersection of sports and the media. It will satisfy sports fans and non sports fans alike. It was a great read.

Sound and Fury (14 hours, 11 cds, unabridged, Blackstone Audio) is a duel biography of Howard Cosell and Mohammed Ali.

Sport writer Dave Kindred knew both men, he has written a bio that transcends his knowledge of both men. His text is an honest, no hold barred , warts and all biography. When a third person (like Kindred) writes a biography, he tends to put his personal touches with his own bias, this book is NOT that.The book showed an unlikely partnership created by media hype.

In the audio narrative hands of Dick Hill, this audio project seems more like a docudrama in its scope. Hill's narrative voice takes on verbal personas of Cosell and Ali, without mocking them. His talent has grown from the days at Brilliance Audio.

Sound and Fury is an amazing production . . . you won't forget it audio, long after you heard it

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

Mr. Kindred is a wonderful storyteller in this very readable dual biography of two controversial men: Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell. Like "Beyond Glory" -2005- by David Margolick (which tells another story of a white man and a black man linked by history in the 1930's), "Sound and Fury" is a history of a later era, the chaotic 1960's, and a history of two outsiders. Mr. Margolick makes clear that their relationship was less of a friendship and more of a partnership -- the two of them never hung out socially but each saw the other as a genius in their domain who could further their respective careers. This book is a wonderful introduction to their lives for any reader who was born after the time when Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell had already come and gone, and as a reminder to those of us who were there.

This is the first book by kindred that i've read. i knew of him mostly as a columnist for the sporting news who seemed to dislike everyone and everything, especially anything new or unusual. but i have always been fascinated by both cosell and ali, and was willing to give this a shot.....thankfully. this is one of the best sports books of recent years: cosell and ali as individuals and their relationship (which in reality took place almost fully onscreen) is covered in full, but the author also shows these incredibly complex characters, warts and all, as they maneuver through their respective careers.

ali was never more alive than when he was in the ring, or training for a fight: that is why he, as so many other fighters, was loath to leave the life he loved, fought for several years more than he should have, and of course paid a dear price for it. the fact that he may be the most beloved human on the plane today owes more to our society's need for heroes than anything else: ali is no longer able to cheat on his wife(s), turn his back on his friends (since his current spouse controls his schedule), or be manipulated by religious leaders and businessmen with their own terrible agendas (since he has little income, there is little need for the con artists of the world to carve out their pound of flesh). now, we can project all our own ideas on to this man who reportedly spends the bulk of his day in prayer, harmless to all.

cosell, having passed away years ago, can be looked at in a much more balanced and subjective manner now than when he was alive. his combination of ego and insecurity was toxic to most who associated with him, apparently, but there can be no doubt that he deserves to be considered a groundbreaker and a risk taker. while the rest of american media villified ali for attempting to evade the draft, cosell sided with the boxer. this and other events recounted by kindred show cosell, as compared with his contemporaries at least, to be a man of courage, vision and conviction. the fact that he became a casualty to his own ego later in his career (ex: trying to become a news anchor, distancing himself from the sport that made him famous once ali left the scene, the bitter jealousy aimed at his MNF cohosts) does not reduce his greatness.

a wonderful, moving work that will not make you want to nominate either cosell or ali for sainthood (far from it), but instead will provide the reader a deeper understanding of both, as well as the times they lived through.

Howard Cosell and Muhammad Ali are American icons. One turned sports broadcasting upside down, the other energized and stylized sports in this country. Both displayed extraordinary courage and conviction. Both were one helluva lot of fun.
Ali is one of my heroes and I'll never forget the day I met him and shook his hand. I never had the privilege of meeting the late Mr. Cosell but greatly admired him. Cosell in fact, was the type of personality you could both hold in high regard and poke fun at simultaneously. (That voice! That somehow lovable pretense!)
Growing up in the '60's as I did, in Berkeley no less, Ali and Cosell provided diversion from the weighty issues of the day. Ali, the flamboyant and brilliant boxer, Cosell the outspoken trailblazing sports broadcaster and commentator. Yet both, like so much in that tumultuous decade stood for something. Ali risked jail by standing up to the draft and was unjustly stripped of his livelihood. He'd already embraced Islam and stood for a new kind of black athlete who, as we said back then, "did his own thing." Cosell tackled such issues as the injustices visited upon Ali and others, championing the causes of the oppressed. It would not be an overstatement to say that Cosell was the Edward R. Murrow of sports.
In "Sound and Fury", sportswriter Dave Kindred tells the tale of these two who played such key roles in one another's lives. Many sportswriters, even ones who write books, are, quite frankly hacks, but others are practiced wordsmiths who know how to tell story with economy and grace. Fortunately, Kindred is most solidly in the second camp.
In "Sound and Fury" Kindred has the huge advantage of having been around both his subjects at the very times they were making news. He brings this personal perspective along with a thoroughly done research job to fully illuminate the story.
Much of what Kindred tells of Ali is familiar to those of us who followed his career, yet he manages to bring new material and offers some of the old from a new perspective. What I particularly enjoyed was some of the back story about Cosell, being unfamiliar with almost all of it. We follow Ali from his boyhood days in Louisville, through his boxing career, political stands, return to boxing glory and his failed attempts to thwart father time. We start with Cosell in his Brooklyn childhood, early love of sports, law career coincident with his determination (despite that nasal New York Jewish twang) to break into broadcasting. Next are his big breaks including Monday Night Football. And of course, we see where the twain met. Beautifully playing off one another in one of the best unscripted shows in TV history.
For anyone interested in either Ali, Cosell or both (and if you like one you probably at least appreciate the other) "Sound and Fury" is an absolute must.

For some reason I was expecting hagiography, but this book is exactly the opposite: unblinking, unvarnished, honest. Somehow, showing Ali's and Cosell's flaws only makes them more impressive.

Having said that, I think where Kindred fails is in not really explaining why Ali was and is so beloved by so many. We see why Ali's physical talents and bravery were so integral to who he was, but not why millions who cared not a whit for boxing still idolized him. (And Kindred's telling of the fight chronicled in the movie "When We Were Kings" is very different from the way that award-winning documentary portrayed it. Now I'm not sure what to think.)

Still, the relationship between the two men, opposites in everything except ego and ambition, is well told, and I've been recommending this book ever since I finished it.

Howard and Ali were pals...you can feel their love for each other in this book. We miss both of these players...

Dave Kindred has done lovers of sports and history a favor with Sound and Fury.

Using two cultural giants - Mohammad Ali and Howard Cosell - he has produced a fresh and readable social history of the latter half of the Twentieth Century. Let me be clear. I love Ali. Kindred refers to him as the most influential sports figure of the last century. In my mind, he understates the case; Ali is the most influential person of the last century.

Cosell, on the other hand, may have hesitated to tell you he was. He was not. Trained as a lawyer and gifted with the ability to articulate complexity, he brought a thinking man's view to radio and television sports journalism.

Individually, they were interesting. Together, they were hypnotizing. They produced controversy, drama and comedy almost every time they appeared together.

Dave Kindred tells the story of this alliance from a unique perspective. As a newspaper and magazine sports columnist with nearly 40 years experience, he covered Ali's early fight days as a reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal before moving on to the The Atlanta Journal- Courier and The Washington Post. He draws upon his experiences to re-create the Ali-Cosell story in ways I have never seen attempted.

The result is a fascinating portrait of two outsized figures - their heroics and their demons. Drawing on personal observations, fresh reporting and interviews, Kindred writes a page-turning treatment of two lives that together changed sports, television and I would argue, the world, forever.

The praise given Dave Kindred's book "Sound and Fury: Two Powerful Lives, One Fateful Friendship" on its back cover doesn't even begin to do it justice. This "tri-biography" of Muhammad Ali, Howard Cosell, and the partnership between the two, is a wonderful book and a novel concept that only a few had the knowledge, connections and talent to write. Thankfully for all of us, Kindred has.

Two books on Ali stand out for me -- Thomas Hauser's defining "Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times," an oral history that Kindred rightly cites as generating relevance for Ali more than 10 years after his retirement, and David Remnick's majestic "King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero," which chronicles Ali's rise in the context of the often-frightening period during which it occurred. In his acknowledgements, Kindred admits that he had wanted to do an Ali biography but was overwhelmed by all the current work, so he offered to do one on Cosell. His agent suggested a biography of both. "Great agent," is the author's comment on that suggestion.

Kindred, a longtime sportswriter for The Washington Post, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and The Sporting News, among other publications, knew both men well. How well? In his introduction, he describes a scene in which he crawls into bed with a naked Ali in order to get a list of the names in the fighter's entourage, then segues to a scene at Cosell's house on Long Island in which the broadcaster emerges from his bedroom in his underwear, sans toupee, and flexes his muscles to show off to the author. Kindred has a genuine appreciation for both men, but his book is far more than an homage to their greatness.

The author paints a balanced portrait of both as flawed human beings, who rose to fame together in the turbulent 1960s, both minorities who dealt with persecution and rose above it. Despite their most obvious differences -- age, race, religion, marital history, and looks -- they had a great deal in common.

First, they were both driven by their own insecurity. Ali (then Cassius Clay) was driven to the Black Muslims by the sense of belonging they gave him, even as the group was undergoing a philosophical split that would result in Malcolm X's murder. His proclamations of his greatness before the cameras were driven by self-motivation as much as showmanship. Cosell was a perfectionist who feared the worst before almost every broadcast but managed to deliver every time. His selection for "Monday Night Football," the gig that cemented his celebrity, came only after a series of calls to badger creator Roone Arledge, which finally drew a return call and this hilarious ensuing exchange:

Arledge: "Get over here as soon as you can. There's something I need to talk to you about."
Cosell: "Ahhhh, from the desperation of your tone, I can only conclude that the bon vivant who is Roone Pinckney Arledge is beseeching me to rescue the trifle he's devised for Monday evenings. Am I not correct?"
Arledge: "As always, Howard."
Cosell: "And you no doubt expect me to shoulder this Stygian burden without additional compensation."
Arledge: "Yes, Howard, I do."
Cosell: "I accept."

Yet for all their haughty speech and insecurity, both worked to get where they were. Ali fought his way out of the Jim Crow South, took out perhaps the most feared champion of all-time in Sonny Liston, took on the government over the Vietnam War, regained the heavyweight title twice more, and retired with five career losses -- three of which came in his final four fights, when his body had already begun deteriorating and he was going for the paycheck. He is one of the most beloved men in the world. Cosell put himself through law school, joined the Army during World War II, directed his own early work, jumped to television at precisely the moment it was taking off in the national consciousness, and had a sixth sense of where to be when a major story was breaking so that his was the first voice you heard when you needed information. Followers have called him one of the "three C's of television:" Carson, Cronkite and Cosell.

So often Cosell's path intertwined with Ali's. A political liberal, Cosell defended Ali's right to take an anti-war stance (though Cosell was careful not to adopt the same public stance himself). He read the fighter's on-air statement announcing that he had refused to enter the service. Cosell was the first to reach the new champion upon his miraculous dispatch of Liston. He attended every Ali fight thereafter except the former champ's career-ending loss to Trevor Berbick, and shared numerous interviews along the way, probing Ali's thoughts and intentions. Their exchanges were often playful, occasionally serious, always memorable.

Both fell from glory at roughly the same time. Ali's final fights were money grabs to support himself after divorces, the Black Muslims and hangers-on who had taken advantage of Ali's good nature, had drained much of the champ's bank account. He refused to train seriously and was beaten soundly by Leon Spinks, Larry Holmes and Berbick. Cosell, who helped establish "Monday Night Football" as an American tradition, left it bitter with his broadcast partners and done in by a scandal in which he had, ironically, called Washington Redskins receiver Alvin Garrett a "little monkey." The man who did as much for racial equality than anyone in sports was wrongly labelled a racist, but no one could overlook his increasingly boorish treatment of his broadcast partners and his self-serving rants directed toward the hypocrisy he now saw in sports.

Heroes are the people we wish ourselves to be, at least for a while. And at their best, both Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell filled the bill. We wish to see the Ali who danced around the ring as a youth, who outran Liston, outsmarted George Foreman and outlasted Joe Frazier. We wish to see Cosell on the television describing the boxer he knew best, or uncovering the story behind Tommie Smith and John Carlos' Olympic protest, or opining on Reggie Jackson's dramatic homers or Lynn Swann's acrobatic catches.

Most of all, we want to hear them. For both were masters of language. Ali's street poetry and off-kilter proclamations that somehow became reality made him more intriguing than any athlete of our lifetimes. Cosell's polysyllabic hyperbole couldn't obscure the truth or conviction from the words he spoke and brought him at least a grudging respect. We want to hear them again, at the top of their profession, perhaps together in a boxing ring or a TV studio.

But Cosell has been dead nearly 11 years, and Ali is stricken by Parkinson's disease that has rendered him mute. It has taken another man with a gift for language, Dave Kindred, to restore them to us.

DJ