Cranjis McBasketball
Crow T. Robot
Knew what the hell that thing was supposed to be
Peace Love and Nothing But
Posts: 41,889
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Post by Cranjis McBasketball on Feb 14, 2014 5:01:05 GMT -5
I've read a lot of them, wondering if there's any others I am missing? Been reading a lot again since I got an iPad, just wondering what else I could be missing. I've read all the ones people would normally mention, I think the only WWE ones I haven't are DiBiase's, Andre, Goldust and the WWE Championship ones. Are these any good? I flipped through Andre's once at a bookstore, seemed like a guy just watched as much tape as possible and wrote down what he saw.
I read Squared Circle recently, World Wide Insanity, Sex, Lies and Headlocks, all the WrestleCrap books, Terry Funk's and am struggling through Wrestling Babylon at the moment.
So, any must reads left? Sadly can't find Heenan's second book on the iBooks store.
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Capt Lunatic
Unicron
Buttah in mah ass, lollipops in mah mouth
Posts: 3,241
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Post by Capt Lunatic on Feb 14, 2014 7:34:24 GMT -5
GolDust's is very bland. For everything Dustin Rhodes has been through in the business it's got very little emotion to it.
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Ultimo Gallos
Grimlock
Dreams SUCK!Nightmares live FOREVER!
Posts: 14,344
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on Feb 14, 2014 7:39:01 GMT -5
Bob Holly's is good.
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Post by newbombturk on Feb 14, 2014 7:56:13 GMT -5
From the 'non-mainstream' ones I have read I enjoyed :
- Pure Dynamite by Dynamite Kid - King by Harley Race - The world according to Dutch by Dutch Mantell - Pain and passion (about Stampede Wrestling)by Heath McCoy - Hacksaw by Jim Duggan
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Post by Aceorton on Feb 14, 2014 12:20:39 GMT -5
GolDust's is very bland. For everything Dustin Rhodes has been through in the business it's got very little emotion to it. Agreed. Major buyer's regret on this one. I thought there'd be more backstage insight from his debut through the Attitude/Monday Night War era, but he just glosses over a lot of it.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,716
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Post by nisidhe on Feb 14, 2014 12:24:54 GMT -5
From the 'non-mainstream' ones I have read I enjoyed : - Pure Dynamite by Dynamite Kid I would not recommend reading this book if you've already read Bret's. Dynamite and his ghost writer do an utter whitewash of his career and antics. Between the two books you won't like him at all. Lord of the Ring by Marsha Erb is actually a very good bio of Stu Hart, though it touches more on the personal side rather than going really in-depth about Stampede. The old photos are worth the cover price. Sadly, most first-person wrestling accounts have been ghostwritten, so it's really hard to gauge how much input the subject had into the style of the writing. That Foley and Hart both wrote in their own words with such success leads me to think that most of the others were merely WWE fluff pieces.
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Post by D'Jasper Probincrux III on Feb 14, 2014 16:26:56 GMT -5
Here's a list by F4W/WO's Todd Martin:
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Post by YaakovLee on Feb 14, 2014 16:54:57 GMT -5
"Listen You Pencil Neck Geeks" by Freddie Blassie is pretty hilarious and an interesting view of the business decades before any of us were born. Blassie is anything but classy, but that's part of it's charm.
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Post by thetower52 on Feb 14, 2014 17:07:22 GMT -5
From the 'non-mainstream' ones I have read I enjoyed : - Pure Dynamite by Dynamite Kid I would not recommend reading this book if you've already read Bret's. Dynamite and his ghost writer do an utter whitewash of his career and antics. Between the two books you won't like him at all. Lord of the Ring by Marsha Erb is actually a very good bio of Stu Hart, though it touches more on the personal side rather than going really in-depth about Stampede. The old photos are worth the cover price. Sadly, most first-person wrestling accounts have been ghostwritten, so it's really hard to gauge how much input the subject had into the style of the writing. That Foley and Hart both wrote in their own words with such success leads me to think that most of the others were merely WWE fluff pieces. I really enjoyed dynamited way more then Bret's Dynamite is a pretty big asshole but he's books still worth a read to me. Pro wrestling hall of fame: the heels is really good.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,716
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Post by nisidhe on Feb 14, 2014 18:18:46 GMT -5
Here's a list by F4W/WO's Todd Martin: Avoid: Be Ready When the [Excrement] Goes Down by Forrest Griffin I bought that book new and read it cover-to-cover, laughing my ass off the entire way through. It's hilarious. Anyone who saw the cover and thought it would be an encyclopedia of survivalist knowledge or a Foley-esque autobiography either didn't see the cover or has no sense of humor.
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Post by Amazing Kitsune on Feb 14, 2014 18:25:49 GMT -5
GolDust's is very bland. For everything Dustin Rhodes has been through in the business it's got very little emotion to it. Agreed. Major buyer's regret on this one. I thought there'd be more backstage insight from his debut through the Attitude/Monday Night War era, but he just glosses over a lot of it. I disagree--sort of. It's very good for what it is. It's more a story about his drug addiction than his career. As a story about a man dealing with drug addiction, it's very good. As detailed wrestling biography, it's poor. -- Outside of the true classics, I very much enjoyed It's Good to be the King...sometimes... by Jerry Lawler.
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Post by Manute Bol on Feb 14, 2014 19:11:12 GMT -5
I feel like we have a thread asking for wrestling book recommendations every three weeks. Here's my wrestling library:
-Have a Nice Day by Mick Foley -Foley is Good is Mick Foley -Hardcore Diaries by Mick Foley -Countdwn to Lockdown by Mick Foley -Hitman by Bret Hart -A Lion’s Tale by Chris Jericho -Undisputed by Chris Jericho -Midnight Express 25th Anniversary Scrapbook by Jim Cornette -Broken Harts: The Life and Death of Owen Hart by Martha Hart -To Be the Man by Ric Flair -The Pain and the Passion by Heath McCoy -It’s Good to Be the King....Sometimes by Jerry Lawler -Hardcore Truth by Bob Holly -Hardcore History by Scott Williams -Rise and Fall of ECW by Thom Loverro -Hardy Boyz: Exist to Inspire by Matt and Jeff Hardy -Top 100 Pro Wrestlers of All Time by John Molinaro -Adam Copeland On Edge by Edge -The Three Count by Jimmy Korderas -Sex Lies and Headlocks by Shaun Assael and Mike Mooneyham -Ring of Hell by Matthew Randazzo -First Lady of Wrestling by Missy Hyatt -Tributes by Dave Meltzer -Tributes II by Dave Meltzer -WrestleCrap by R.D. Reynolds and Randy Baer -The WrestleCrap Book of Lists by R.D. Reynolds and Blade Braxton -The Death of WCW by R.D. Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez -Are We There Yet? Tales from the Never-Ending Travels of WWE Superstars by Robert Caprio
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Post by The Gambler Fan on Feb 14, 2014 23:20:49 GMT -5
I enjoyed Lex Lugers book.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2014 13:00:18 GMT -5
1) Read the huge list posted above. That's a fair barometer. 2) I go through the SLAM! Wrestling book reviews and read up on what they think. Keep in mind, very few books are panned for being bad. On the same thought, others are considered "good...if you are interested in the subject". 3) Try the library, see what they have available to borrow. It costs basically nothing (gas money is your main cost) and you can take a chance on it if you feel it's worth your time.
Myself, I like having an actual book in my hand, as opposed to reading it on a device or my computer. So your decisions may vary from mine.
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Post by Kash Flagg on Feb 15, 2014 15:22:00 GMT -5
Ole Anderson's book is a great look at what a booker does. He's opinionated for sure but I loved it.
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Cranjis McBasketball
Crow T. Robot
Knew what the hell that thing was supposed to be
Peace Love and Nothing But
Posts: 41,889
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Post by Cranjis McBasketball on Feb 16, 2014 2:40:30 GMT -5
Thanks for the huge list. I'm kind of limited right by what I can find on the iBooks store, and we only have one bookstore in town and I'm too damn lazy to order one and don't do any kind of on-line shopping for stuff like that.
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Post by eDemento2099 on Feb 17, 2014 5:46:02 GMT -5
Wrestling books I recommend:
Bret Hart's autobiography.
Mick Foley's first 2 autobiographies (The 3rd one isn't nearly as good as those two, but isn't terrible, either. It has its moments).
Controversy Creates Ca$h by Eric Bischoff (It's flawed in many respects and distorts history in some instances, but the style of writing kept me interested).
The Death of WCW
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Post by "Playboy" Don Douglas on Feb 18, 2014 0:48:55 GMT -5
If you can find it, I cannot recommend "My Life In Wrestling" by "Playboy" Gary Hart enough.
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Post by nickcave on Feb 18, 2014 1:16:54 GMT -5
I saw the DDP book on the avoid list and it's really not that bad from what I remember but it's been awhile.
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Cranjis McBasketball
Crow T. Robot
Knew what the hell that thing was supposed to be
Peace Love and Nothing But
Posts: 41,889
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Post by Cranjis McBasketball on Feb 18, 2014 6:10:25 GMT -5
Wrestling books I recommend: Bret Hart's autobiography. Mick Foley's first 2 autobiographies (The 3rd one isn't nearly as good as those two, but isn't terrible, either. It has its moments). Controversy Creates Ca$h by Eric Bischoff (It's flawed in many respects and distorts history in some instances, but the style of writing kept me interested). The Death of WCW Appreciate it, but I've read all those, plus Foley's 4th book.
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