The Reverend Posted March 27, 2014 Posted March 27, 2014 Just had this delivered today, looks like it might be ok. Some great pics of inside Titan Towers in it: Quote
Paid Members Onyx2 Posted April 14, 2014 Paid Members Posted April 14, 2014 How could you not enjoy Have a Nice Day? Its the blueprint for fantastic wrestling books. He was 4 when it came out though. Neither of Foley's first two hold up half as well as it seemed they would, I don't think. Holy post quote necromancy! Apologies for reviewing two ancient books I've just been away for a week and thought I'd re-read Have a Nice Day. It's probably my third reading but it's been a long time since I last read it. I enjoyed it a bit but nowhere near as much. He just won't leave the WCW bashing alone. I understand he was being a company man and putting the boot in to the opposition at the tail end of the Monday Night Wars, but it really grates. Here's a thing: he debuted in 1983 and wrote this in 1999. That's now 15 years ago, nearly as long as he was active before then. How's the second half of that career turned out Mick? I thought I'd move on to Hardcore Diaries which I remembered enjoying. Christ that was bad. Not one person thought to stop and edit him. If you have blocked it out or don't remember, it was a book recounting the evolution of an angle he came up with. When he's actually discussing the story it's really interesting, with the booking meetings and having his legs cut off from under him. Fascinating. But 60% of the book is about him meeting publishers and American celebrities which is just tedious. They've both really aged badly. Then it occurred to me I've never read Hogan's. Off the back of a whole chapter dedicated to it in Millard's Smoke & Mirrors and Steven Seagal, I thought I should read it. What a crushing disappointment. Like Foley, he's only out for revenge - in this case, getting an early boot into his soon-to-be-ex-wife Linda. He zooms through wrestling at a devilish pace but labours for pages and pages on the houses he bought and the coke he hoofed. Barely a thought behind his mindset going into WrestleMania III, or what it was like to put Warrior over, or even anything of note about WrestleMania I. And Bash at the Beach 96 is dealt with in about three lines. Bitterly underwhelming. Quote
Paid Members JNLister Posted April 14, 2014 Paid Members Posted April 14, 2014 I've started a news and reviews blog at www.prowrestlingbooks.com. If you want updates you can RSS the feed (http://www.prowrestlingbooks.com/feed/), "Like" it at www.facebook.com/prowrestlingbooks or follow it on Twitter @prowresbooks Quote
Moderators Astro Hollywood Posted April 14, 2014 Moderators Posted April 14, 2014 (edited) I've just been away for a week and thought I'd re-read Have a Nice Day. They've both really aged badly. I haven't revisited it, but it makes sense that the years haven't been kind. Back then, nobody was doing good writing about wrestling. Remember how it was a huge deal that a wrestler could read, let alone write? And without a ghostwriter? There were no wrestling books in those days, save those shitfests like Lou Albano's Complete Idiot's Guide to Pro Wrestling deals -- "The Rock's real name is Rocky Melvin." Certainly, there weren't biographies of pretty much every guy who ever stepped in the ring. Have a Nice Day was right in the midst of Foley's run as the real people's champ; one of us; with the internet hijacking Time's Man of the Year poll, and fans all super proud that one of their guys had made it to the NYTimes best seller list. I suspect that for a lot of us, it was the biggest proper book we'd ever read at the time. I wasn't much of a reader when I was 19/20, so what did I know? I had wondered how good it actually is, when looked at with 2014 eyes, but I'm so irritated by the modern Foley, I'd be completely biased against it. It's nice to have my suspicions confirmed without having to plough through it. Having a book in the wrestling category on Amazon makes you appreciate how much of a cash-in category it can be. I'm currently #4 (and one of those is a romance novel with 'WWE' stuck in the title to help it sell more), but last week, I was trailing behind a Warrior 'biography' that was, according to all the 1 star reviews, literally just his wiki page with a few Google images pictures stuffed in. The guy who put that out has 40 similar 'books', including one that's evocatively titled CM Punk: The CM Punk Story "Has CM Punk left the WWE Since Jan.27, 2014? Edited April 14, 2014 by Astro Hollywood Quote
bobby dazzler Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 How about this for a fabulous book cover? Quote
bobby dazzler Posted May 16, 2014 Posted May 16, 2014 I just picked up "Gene Lebell - The Toughest Man Alive" for 50p. Is it any good? Quote
C-Rock Posted May 16, 2014 Posted May 16, 2014 I just picked up "Gene Lebell - The Toughest Man Alive" for 50p. Is it any good? I read the book a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it as far as i can remember. Gene LeBell is one tough tough man, he has a fascinating and interesting story, I remember he talks about both his wrestling and MMA career. He refereed the match between Ali and Inoki and was often requested to work/shoot wrestlers who didn't want to do business or needed to be taught a lesson. He is the mentor of Roddy Piper also and has worked with Rhonda Rousey as far as im aware. Quote
Moderators Astro Hollywood Posted May 16, 2014 Moderators Posted May 16, 2014 And choked Steven Seagal until he shite himself. Quote
The Invisible Boy Posted May 24, 2014 Posted May 24, 2014 I was in my local comic book shop today just browsing about and noticed on the new titles shelf they had a graphic novel/comic book titled Andre the Giant: Life and Legend by Box Brown. It's a biography graphic novel obviously about Andre's life. From flicking through it, it does look pretty good and from reviews I've read it seems to be well researched by the author. If you like your comic books I think this may be one that could be worth a look at! Quote
FalconHoof Posted May 25, 2014 Posted May 25, 2014 While I'm here, has anybody read The Squared Circle: Life, Death, and Professional Wrestling by David Shoemaker and can you recommend it? I haven't read it yet, but I think it's mostly a collection of his Grantland columns, which are spectacular. Shoemaker's the best wrestling writer out there today, by far, really smart, insightful, and he's got a huge cultural frame of reference, unlike most of the 'wrestling writer' types who work in the wrestling bubble, and just regurgitate what the million other terrible columists have already said. Cool. I'll pick it up. I enjoyed him on the Torch livecasts, which was where I heard about his book and my only exposure to him. Might as well get the hardcover, the Kindle edition is more expensive then that. It's a wonderful book. I don't think it is made up of a collection of Grantland pieces, rather, it's all original material. It traces the history of American pro graps from the golden age right up to modern day, using greats that have passed away as the spine of the narrative. It's the best book about Pro Wrestling that I have ever read. Quote
The Reverend Posted June 19, 2014 Posted June 19, 2014 Searching for new books to add to my collection. I have 162 Wrestling books but surprisingly I don't have ones like Kurt Angles, Edge's, The Rock and Goldberg's - are any of these worth getting at all? Quote
Dr.PeterVenkman Posted June 19, 2014 Posted June 19, 2014 Searching for new books to add to my collection. I have 162 Wrestling books but surprisingly I don't have ones like Kurt Angles, Edge's, The Rock and Goldberg's - are any of these worth getting at all? Goldberg's is beyond shite, just him basically being bitter that he had to become a fake wrestler rather than being an American footballer Quote
Moderators PowerButchi Posted June 19, 2014 Moderators Posted June 19, 2014 A lot of The Rock's is written as The Rock. Avoid. Quote
Paid Members JNLister Posted June 19, 2014 Paid Members Posted June 19, 2014 My review of Angle's book: http://www.prowrestlingbooks.com/true-true-kurt-angle/ Quote
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