THE TAO OF MUHAMMAD ALI

Part reminiscence, part rumination, this book relates how the author's fascination and relationship with the great heavyweight led to a profound spiritual awakening. Miller's slight speech impediment gives an appropriately childlike nuance to his somewhat flat reading. Occasionally, he becomes animated, but mostly he distances himself from his own prose. What could easily prove monotonous is broken up by Charles Dutton's impersonation of Ali and by sporadic musical bridges. In spite of the deficiencies and the book's solipsism, charm and ingenuousness carry the day in a surprisingly gentle story of a brutal sport and a champion's cruel luck. Y.R. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB 97]