'The man who has no imagination Stands on earth He has no wings He cannot fly' Muhammad Ali Just off Highway 61 in northern Pennsylvania, up the dirt drive of a wooded hill lay a place called Fighter's Heaven. This was once the training camp of the 'greatest of all times'. From early '73 through the summer of '74 Victor Bockris visited Muhammad Ali, while Ali was preparing for his epic battle in Zaire to regain the World Heavyweight crown from the fearsome George Foreman. Bockris, who was later to write about people like William Burroughs, Andy Warhol and Lou Reed was less interested in his subject's boxing career and ambitions than in his extraordinary gifts as a poet, preacher and performer. As Muhammad Ali said himself of this book, 'These are some of the things I don't reveal to the public too much'.
Victor Bockris has lived in New York City for the past twenty-four years. During that time he has devoted himself to chronicling New York's downtown culture, with an emphasis on the worlds of William Burroughs, Andy Warhol, and punk rock. In March 1994 he was the subject of a profile in Italian Vogue entitled 'Poet of the New York Underground'. His articles have appeared in Interview, People, Elle, Mirabella, The Village Voice, Penthouse and numerous other magazines and newspapers in the United States and around the world. A recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant, he is the author of a number of books including:
Lou Reed: The BiographyKeith Richards: The BiographyThe Life and Death of Andy WarholUptight: The Velvet Underground AtoryMaking Tracks: The Rise of BlondieWith William Burroughs: A Report from the Bunker
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