Muhammad Ali, Champ's edition, Collectors edition

GOAT - A Tribute to Muhammad Ali
"This is not a book. This is a monument on paper, the most megalomaniacal book in the history of civilization, the
biggest, heaviest, most radiant thing ever printed - Ali's last victory." - Der Spiegel, Hamburg

Muhammad Ali is one of the most remarkable personalities of our time and the greatest sportsman ever to walk the
earth. To honor this living legend, TASCHEN has created a work that is epic in scale and as unique and vibrant as the
man himself. A worthy tribute to his life should reflect the scale of his achievements, and GOAT - GREATEST OF
ALL TIME is fully up to that task.

Four years in the making, and the most comprehensive study of Ali to date, GOAT tips the scales at 34 kgs (75 lbs)
and is 50 cm x 50 cm (20" x 20") in size. Nearly 800 pages of archival and original photographs, graphic artwork,
articles and essays - many of them previously unpublished - chronicle six decades of his life in stunning detail. To cap
it all, the project takes place with the participation of Ali himself and those members of his inner circle who have been
closest to him over the years: from managers and key cornermen to friends, family and children; from spiritual and
other advisers to broadcasters, essayists and journalists.

Motivating this endeavor is the conviction that Ali is not just a figure from the past, but one whose influence even today
pervades everyday popular culture. The merest glance at the world of sports and music, for example, reveals his
psychic DNA on everything from the lyrics and style of rap music to the way sports figures represent themselves. More
significantly, his actions outside of the boxing ring still speak even louder than the verbal outrageousness of his
pre-fight spectacles. He is a man who stood by his convictions, and took a highly unpopular stance at the peak of his
career in a country not yet ready for radical change. He risked everything - his title, his livelihood, and his status - and in
the process emerged as a man of principle and indeed, a hero for all time. No stone has been left unturned in telling this
remarkable story: the book features written contributions from hundreds of writers and photographers, as well as over
3,000 photographs of Ali's dazzling life. Plus Ali's own insights, writings and drawings, and reproductions of fight
posters and classic memorabilia.

After the enormous success of Helmut Newton's megabook, SUMO, publisher Benedikt Taschen felt that his next
challenge lay not only in creating a work that had multiple sources and extraordinary photography, but one where the
emphasis on the written word, narrative and research would be on par with that of the most comprehensive literary
biographies. In short, matching meticulously crafted prose with incredible color and black-and-white photography. In
addition, new work - commissioned from artist Jeff Koons - gives the Ali mythology a 21st-century edge and an entirely
contemporary context.

GOAT will come in two versions. The "Champ's Edition," limited to the first 1,000 copies, features an original
companion art piece by Jeff Koons and four silver gelatin prints by Howard L. Bingham, signed by the photographer
and Ali himself. The remaining 9,000 copies, the "Collector's Edition," come with a photo-litho made by Jeff Koons
depicting Koon's art piece created for the "Champ's Edition". All 10,000 copies are individually signed by Muhammad
Ali and Jeff Koons.

Every production detail has been meticulously managed as have the launch activities for the book itself - starting with
the Frankfurt Book Fair, where two six-meter (20-foot) billboards showing powerful Neil Leifer images of Ali sat at the
center of an enormous exhibition area.

Beyond this a boxing ring and seating space replicated the exact décor, ambience and lighting of the famous Cassius
Clay vs Sonny Liston title clash of February 25, 1964, when the 22-year-old Ali won his first heavyweight title. Further
international launches, including Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2003, will take the unique experience to audiences
everywhere.

But why the enormous investment (of over 10 million Euros) on a project about Ali, especially after we've read all the
books, seen the movies, watched some of the great documentaries and, after all these years, grown familiar with his
story? Benedikt Taschen says, "We wanted to turn the logic of a conventional biography on its head. In this book, we
lead from the photography, but even through the detailed narrative captions, we draw the reader into the written story
and the texts. The end result is a structured narrative that's like the most richly detailed screenplay you can imagine.
You could make a film straight from the book. And so the result is an experience that works on many levels, depending
upon your mood, sensibilities and even the time available to you to taste the riches in this amazing monument."

****

* Limited to 10,000 individually numbered copies, each one personally signed by Muhammad Ali and Jeff Koons.

* Over 3,000 images - photographs, art and memorabilia, much of it published for the first time - from over 150
photographers and artists. Original essays and the best interviews and writings on the Champ of the last five decades,
from hundreds of writers, totaling nearly 600,000 words.

* XXL Format: 792 pages, including two gatefold sequences measuring 200 cm x 50 cm (80" x 20") and nine
gold-metallic double-page spreads printed in silkscreen, opening each chapter. Measuring 50 cm x 50 cm (20" x 20"),
GOAT tips the scales at 34 kgs (75 lbs).

* Each copy comes in a silk-covered box illustrated with Neil Leifer's iconic 1966 photo, "Ali vs Williams."

* Bound by the official bindery for the Vatican, in pink leather, the color of Ali's first Cadillac. The bindery specializing
in the most elaborate and oversized editions of the Koran and the Bible enforces the strictest standards of quality control
and only several hundred copies can be assembled per week.

* Utilizing state-of-the-art digital technology, no expense has been spared to restore the original photographic materials
to the highest possible standards. The results of this effort create unparalleled intensity and range in the colors, and
exquisite tone and density within the duotone images.

* Eight-color printing on Galaxi Keramik 200 gsm semi-matte paper with gloss varnish on all images.

* Prioritized delivery of GOAT commences in the Spring of 2004. As copies are completed they will ship to customers
in the order in which the pre-orders were received. Place your order now for an early arrival.

Howard L. Bingham
Howard L. Bingham has lived in Los Angeles since the age of four. He has worked and studied there, and most
importantly perhaps, met his lifelong friend Muhammad Ali there, in 1962. He had no idea who the emerging fighter was
when he was assigned by the Los Angeles Sentinel to photograph the young Cassius Clay (Ali still reminds him of this
oversight 40 years later). Since then, Bingham has become a highly-respected portrait and reportage photographer,
honored with awards in the United States and with his work gracing magazines like Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, Time
and People. His work has been exhibited internationally, but he remains best known for his extraordinary body of work
capturing, at close quarters, the many faces of Muhammad Ali. The most powerful expression of this came in his
acclaimed 1991 book, Muhammad Ali: A Thirty-Year Journey. He is Principal Photographer and Editorial Consultant of
GOAT.

Jeff Koons
We are proud to have Jeff Koons create his own tribute to Muhammad Ali as part of the "Champ's Edition" of GOAT.
Koons, 48, is one of the most influential living artists and an icon of the modern art world. He started his meteoric rise in
the 1980s as part of a generation of artists who explored the meaning of art in a media-saturated age. With his stated
intention to communicate with the masses, Koons draws from the visual language of mass media and advertising, and the
entertainment industry. Testing the limits between high and low culture, his sculptural menagerie includes
Plexiglas-encased Hoover vacuum cleaners, basketballs floating in glass aquariums, and porcelain homages to Michael
Jackson and the Pink Panther. Koons' frequent goal is to present the common object as is. "When I'm working with an
object I always have to give the greatest consideration not to alter the object physically or even psychologically. I try to
reveal a certain aspect of the object's personality. I'm placing the object in a context or material which will enhance a
specific personality trait within the object. The soul of the object must be maintained ..."