MUHAMMAD ALI

Rudeen's easy-reading profile falls halfway between Burchard's Sports Hero (1975) and Beth Wilson's emphasis on the Muslim conversion and subsequent persecution of the once and future champ. Actually, the differences in content are negligible, though Rudeen writes better than both his rivals. His Ali is an inspirational figure for American blacks, giving them ""the faith to believe in their dreams and not to become discouraged,"" a characterization which leaves out the man's sting and publicly cultivated cussedness as well as those bum-of-the-month bouts. But Rudeen makes it work on its own terms.