Bundini: Don’t Believe the Hype

Todd D. Snyder

Nov 2020 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Sean Crisden

About this audiobook

Fifty years after he coined the iconic phrase Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, Drew "Bundini" Brown remains one of boxing's most mysterious and misunderstood figures. His impact on the sport and the culture at large is undeniable. Cornerman and confidant to two of the greatest fighters ever-Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali-Brown lived an extraordinary American life. After a poverty-stricken childhood in Jim Crow Florida, Brown came of age traveling the world as a naval steward. On being discharged, he settled in New York City and spent wild nights in the jazz joints of Harlem, making a name for himself as the charismatic street philosopher and poet some called "Fast Black." He married a white woman from a family of Orthodox Jewish immigrants, in dramatic defiance of 1950s cultural norms, and later appeared in films such as the blaxploitation classic, Shaft. In Bundini, Todd Snyder digs deep into Brown's expansive story, revealing not only how he became Muhammad Ali's "hype man," but also, as boxing's greatest motivator, how he became a model for others who seek to inspire, in any endeavor.

About the author

Todd D. Snyder is an associate professor of rhetoric and writing at Siena College in Albany, New York. He received a BA and an MA in English from Marshall University and a PhD in rhetoric and composition from Ohio University. Snyder is the author of The Rhetoric of Appalachian Identity and 12 Rounds in Lo's Gym.

Sean Crisden is a multitalented actor and an AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator who has recorded audiobooks in almost every genre, from science fiction to romance. He has also voiced characters in numerous video games and appeared in many commercials and films, including The Last Airbender.