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

“A terrific read! This a fascinating study of a central figure in American life. Meticulously researched and perfectly timed, <i>Tyson</i> does more than any previous work to put Mike Tyson's story in its proper sprawling context.”<br /> <p><b>Grant Wahl, <i>Sports Illustrated</i></b><br /> </p> <p><br /> </p> <p>“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.”<br /> </p> <p><b>John Goodbody, <i>The Times</i></b><br /> </p> <p><br /> </p> <p>“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.”<br /> </p> <p><b>Douglas Hartmann, <i>University of Minnesota</i></b><br /> </p> <p>"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."<br /> </p> <p><b>Guy Osborn, <i>University of Westminster</i></b></p>

<b>Ellis Cashmore</b> is Professor of Culture, Media and Sport at Staffordshire University

Beast. Monster. Savage. Psycho. The glowering menace of Mike Tyson has spooked us for almost two decades. And still we remain fascinated. Why? Ellis Cashmore's answer is disturbing: white society has created Tyson as vengeance for the loss of privilege produced by civil rights. <br /> <p>Told as an odyssey-style homeward journey to Tyson's multi-pathological origins in the racially-explosive ghettos of the 1960s, Tyson's story is part biography, part tragedy and part exposition. His associations with people like Al Sharpton, Don King and Tupac Shakur shaped his life; and events, such as the O J Simpson trial and the Rodney King riots, formed a turbulent background for the Tyson psychodrama. Over the course of an epic boxing career, Tyson was transformed from the most celebrated athlete on earth to a primal, malevolent hate-figure. Yet, even after being condemned as a brute, Tyson retained a power - a power to captivate. Cashmore reveals that the sources of that power lie as much in us as in Tyson himself.</p>

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