Tyson

Ellis Cashmore is Professor of Culture, Media and Sport at Staffordshire University

“A terrific read! This a fascinating study of a central figure in American life. Meticulously researched and perfectly timed, Tyson does more than any previous work to put Mike Tyson's story in its proper sprawling context.”Grant Wahl, Sports Illustrated “Ellis Cashmore has gone beneath the persona of Tyson with intelligent sensitivity. He has pointed us towards the motives in the psyche of an extraordinary figure in the history of sport and analysed why Tyson remains such a figure of fascination to so many people.” John Goodbody, The Times “Ellis Cashmore’s book will fascinate and frustrate an unusually wide range of readers. He juxtaposes the biography of Mike Tyson against mini-narratives of other prominent athletes and celebrities, African American leaders, and contemporaneous incidents, allowing biographical narrative to unfold almost seamlessly into analysis and cultural history. In situating Tyson in his times, Cashmore offers an uncompromising critique of late twentieth-century US race relations, as well as presenting a compelling account of an intriguing career and life story.” Douglas Hartmann, University of Minnesota "His account is a well-written and fascinating attempt to help us understand this. It will undoubtedly appeal to a large readership. It is not a purely academic read, but neither is it a trashy hagiography. As such it deserves a broad audience outside of what is traditional for an 'academic' book." Guy Osborn, University of Westminster

• Acknowledgments viione INTRODUCTION: I WILL KILL YOU. DO YOU UNDERSTAND THIS? 1two IF YOU’D BE KIND ENOUGH, I’D LOVE TO DO IT AGAIN 13three ARE YOU AN ANIMAL? IT DEPENDS 29four LIKE WATCHING A SERENGETI LION RIP INTO A WARTHOG 43five HIS VITAL ORGANS IN EXCHANGE FOR FORGIVENESS 60six GOD’S PLANNING TO SCREW HIM 87seven TO RAPE THE VIRGINAL BLACK PRINCESS 108eight IN HANDCUFFS IN THE BACK OF A POLICE CRUISER 131nine THEY BELIEVE WHITE MEN HAVE HAD TO PAY FOR BLACK SUCCESS 144ten TIME TO LEAVE THE WHITE MAN’S WORLD 162eleven FACTS ARE LOST IN THE PRECONCEPTIONS OF RACIAL GRIEVANCE 191twelve GIVE HIM ENOUGH TIME AND THE NIGGER WILL COME OUT IN HIM AGAIN 213thirteen THE DEBT OF THE GHETTO BOUND 231fourteen YOU’D STILL LOOK AT ME AS A SCUMBAG 245Bibliography 256Index 260