Sports!

A beautiful book, revealing why Leifer is heralded as a great photographer, in addition to being known as a great sports photographer. 100 color images, a 35 page Plimpton essay, a Leroy Nieman sketch of Leifer at work, and over 20 pages of Leifer's notes on the photos. There are lots of big names captured in strong images, mostly from the 1960's and 1970's: Reggie Jackson, Juan Marichal, Don King, Joe Frazier, Chris Everett, Bjorn Borg, Dorothy Hamill, Jack Nicklaus, Don Watson, Sugar Ray Robinson, Willie Shoemaker, Dave Cowens, Nate Thurmond, et al. Many Olympic moments as well. Of particular interest are two of the Ali photographs, one, iconic, of Ali (Cassius Clay) snarling over Sonny Liston and the second, an overhead photograph of mind-numbing simplicity and beauty, depicting Ali having just knocked out Cleveland Williams. My favorites are two football portraits, side by side: Burt Reynolds, artfully pimped out as a 1970's football stud while making The Longest Yard; next door, Joe Namath, muddy and bedraggled on the sidelines, looking like an officer who is barely making it through a horrific battle. Fiction or nonfiction. Take your pick.