sebsy Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 Hi folks, figured I'd ask in here as it seems the logical place. The only thing I read is PCZone magazine which comes out every 4 weeks. I only read when I'm in bed and always have it read in 2 weeks so have 2 weeks where I've gotnothing to read. Was in my local WH Smith today and saw a few books and wondered if anyone here has read them and if they are any good. I saw Bret Hart - My real life in the cartoon world of wrestling Chris Jericho - Around the world in spandex Eddie Guerrero - Cheating death, stealing life Bret Hart was my facourite wrestler when I was younger. When I got back in to wrestling around WM20, I loved Eddie, and Chris is one of my favourite current performers. Others I could be interested in picking up if people recommend them highly would be Adam Copeland on Edge Heartbreak and Triumph: The Shawn Michaels story Really enjoyed Edge over the last few years and HBK has always been one of my favourite superstars ever. EDIT: Also reckon I would enjoy reading something from Ric Flair, legend that he is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Self Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 Bret Hart's book is AWESOME . Chris Jericho's is really good, light-hearted and fun like Mick Foley's stuff. I wholeheartedly recommend those two. Edge's is from just before the Lita/Matt thing, so it isn't as comprehensive or interesting as it could have been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocland Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 I actually have a bunch of wrestling books. And I gotta say I think the Bret Hart book is my favourite. It's an excellent read. I highly recommend it. Self's right about Jericho's. It's just a fun read. Lots of good stories and it's very well written. The Eddie Guerrero book is actually one that had eluded me for a while. I've never been able to find it. The HBK book I found great. But that could only be because he's my favourite of all time. It's interesting to read his book followed by the Hitman's book, as there is a lot of stories they both tell but from two totally seperate view points. The Nature Boy's book is my second fav, behind Bret's. It's a fantastic read as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tha Black Phenom Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 Only book I have so far is Jericho's and I indeed love it. Entertaining read, amusing stories, Chris always keeps you reading somehow. I'm looking really forward to his follow-up, me wants to hear Triple H stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderz Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 got all of Mick Foley's books (and his two novels - Tietam Brown is excellent); Jericho's book is very good as well.. ive got Edge and The Rock's - neither of which are that great, but worth a read.. aside from autobiographies.. ive got Death of WCW and Turning the Tables (Story of ECW) and they were both good reads.. I cant think of anything else I own off the top of my head, but im sure theres another.. definately reccommend Foley's three and Jericho's though.. and everyone should read Tietam Brown.. its brilliant.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebsy Posted October 31, 2009 Author Share Posted October 31, 2009 Cheers guys, I'll definitely be looking to get Bret's, Jericho's, Eddie's, HBK's and Flair's. Might pass on the Edge one. I reckon 5 will last me a good while Never been a huge Foley fan, although the reason I started this topic - aside from wanting something to read apart from PCZone - is because my brother has been reading some WWE superstar books recently. He is 30 now and doesn't follow the wrestling these days but he is a huge Stone Cold mark and also loved Ted DiBiase. He has read Stone Cold and one of Foley's books recently and said they were great, and is looking to get DiBiase's soon. It's his birthday in November and with xmas coming up I reckon there's a good chance I'll be getting it for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Casey Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 Hart's books and Foley's trio are great - but have their drawbacks. Hart is a big fan of himself. He tells the stories unflinchingly - but somehow he seems to come out of all of them well. To be fair, the title says a lot: his life has been incredible, good and bad, but towards the end I got a bit bored of how none of it was his fault. Foley's third in particular has a lot of non-wrestling stuff, some better than others. Jericho's is just a really fun read. I've heard that Eddie's is a bit lightweight, considering the life that he led. And obviously stay away from Hogan's, which could have done with a fact checker and a hyperbole filter, to say the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebsy Posted October 31, 2009 Author Share Posted October 31, 2009 Never been in to Hogan either tbf. The only Flair book I can find is entitled To Be The Man. Is this his only book? I have only looked on Play.com tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Self Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 Not sure if it's the only one, but I've read 'To Be The Man'. Flair himself has expressed disappointment with it, but it's an interesting little read. It's not overly short, but considering the career he's had it doesn't feel as epic as it should. An interesting companion piece to 'Death of WCW' I found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stennick Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 I do not own Flair's book but the one time I sat down to read it, I felt like it jumped around a bit. He's here, then he's there, then he's back to before, then its at this part, then its back, etc. Maybe that was just revisionist history on my behalf but I strongly remember that of course I read it when it first came out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebsy Posted November 1, 2009 Author Share Posted November 1, 2009 Had a look around. I only want new, not used, and the only places I can think of to look are play.com, whsmith and waterstones. Waterstones are the highest priced for every book so they can rot off. Will have to look in WH Smith next week see if the prices are any different to online. Anyone know of any other well known shops that sell books or anywhere online. ebay, Amazon and their ilk are not an option. Currently I have Bret Hart Hardback 10.87 whsmith online Chris Jericho Hardback 12.99 play.com Paperback 7.25 whsmith online Ric Flair Paperback 5.99 play.com Eddie Guerrero Paperback 6.99 Shawn Michaels Paperback 6.99 play.com Ideally I would have them all in Hardback. Don't get bent so easily, scuffed etc, but can't argue with Jericho being almost 6 pound cheaper in paperback than hardback. Also the fact I can't find the last three in hardback doesn't help on that score Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntman Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 I read HBK, Foley, and Jericho's books. Really good books. I want to read Harts and Eddie's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebsy Posted November 1, 2009 Author Share Posted November 1, 2009 Now found I can get Bret Hart's book in Hardback for 9.99 from Amazon or for just 6.99 in paperback from an online store called Blackwells Would much prefer hb tbf, may be worth it for an extra 3 quid. Can't even find hardback for Flair, Guerrero or HBK, though. Flair one I actually can, but in pocket size :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Ryland Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 I'd recommend avoiding DiBiase's book; it's listed as Christian Autobiography rather than Sports Autobiography for a reason, it's more about his personal life than his in-ring career, and is overly-preachy. He also goes out of his way not to say anything controversial, so it's very, very bland. Dynamite Kid's book hasn't been mentioned, and that is definitely worth tracking down as it's one of the "Big Four" (with Foley, Hart and Jericho) wrestling autobiographies that are must-reads for wrestling fans. Everything else is a huge step down from those four in terms of quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebsy Posted November 1, 2009 Author Share Posted November 1, 2009 Cheers Adam. I'll tell my brother what you say about DiBiase's book. He won't listen and will get it anyway, but I'll certainly tell him I won't be getting Dynamite Kid's book as he was before my time. Never seen him wrestle and don't really know anything about him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanMcFly Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 The Unauthorized History of DX was very funny in my opinion, but then again, I love DX, but then again, who doesn't ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebsy Posted November 1, 2009 Author Share Posted November 1, 2009 Heh, might have to pick that up too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperOwens Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 I'd recommend avoiding DiBiase's book; it's listed as Christian Autobiography rather than Sports Autobiography for a reason, it's more about his personal life than his in-ring career, and is overly-preachy. He also goes out of his way not to say anything controversial, so it's very, very bland. Dynamite Kid's book hasn't been mentioned, and that is definitely worth tracking down as it's one of the "Big Four" (with Foley, Hart and Jericho) wrestling autobiographies that are must-reads for wrestling fans. Everything else is a huge step down from those four in terms of quality. I's give that recommendation a 10 out of 10 for running to the ring, running round the ring and shaking the ropes. But a 0 out of 10 for actual wrestling ability Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Fenoli Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Jericho's book is GREAT. Eddie's book was good. Foley's are good. Roddy Piper's book is very good too, no one has mentioned it. I enjoyed it alot. I also enjoyed Dusty Rhodes book, but I'm a Dream mark... I liked Flair's book ok, as I did Lawler's. I have been waiting for Bret Hart's book to go to paper back, because I'm cheap. But, with all this praise I might have to splurge. So, besides the one's already mentioned. Check out Piper's and Dusty's books. I love wrestling books, I love the stories... Why do I love this fake crap so much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebsy Posted November 2, 2009 Author Share Posted November 2, 2009 I believe Hart's isn't going paperback until May next year. I'll be asking someone to buy me the hardback version for xmas without a doubt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CQI13 Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 The Unauthorized History of ECW (I think is the name) is absolutely awesome. Much better than The Death of WCW (which I found way to smarkish for my taste). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrestling Century Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I've actually only read Eddie Guerrero's book, but in my opinion it focused on his personal demons too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tristram Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Read a few; Bret Hart's - great, great, great, great read. This is actually one of my favourite books, he really sells the era well. Billy Graham - I read this in like 2 days, I couldn't put it down. I never saw Billy Graham in action, nor was I really around for his peak, but reading that book makes me understand wrestilng a whole lot better. Ric Flair - To be the man - It was a little overly simplistic, but it was good to hear about the days on the road, and his view on the whole Bischoff-Flair saga. I could understand Flair when he talked about how he felt useless, like he was nthoing at the end of WCW. It's not a biography, but Death of WCW is extremely interesting. It points out a lot of basic flaws in the WCW business model and culture. It does however gloss over a large number of very relevant points that I think could have been expanded further. Some of the things they've also brandished I thought had merit but just didn't have that ability to arc the storyline and execute it to an end package. Overall though, a very fine insight into WCW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrestlingfan1 Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I've read: Hulk Hogan's AB: Good read real informative Mick Foley's AB's: Both of them were really good the first one hooked me with the opening line " I can't believe I lost my F'N ear!", I couldn't put it down after that. I've wanted to read Bret's book since I first seen it but at the time (don't know if its changed) he didn't have an american publisher lined up yet, so the only way to get it was online which I didn't and don't have a way to do. If you're looking for all things wrestling then the one I highly reccommend (despite the name) Complete Idiot's Guide to Professional Wrestling : I used to avoid those books like the plague but being the avid wrestling fan that I am I was intrigued plus I just borrowed it from the library. An excellent read and it covers the entire history of Pro Wrestling from its conception to the time of publishing. Those are the only four I've read as far as wrestling books go on my to get list are: Ric Flair Bret Hart and maybe a few others Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Self Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I hear William Regal's is pretty good too. A little dark, delving into the personal problems he developed while on the road, but a few people have recommended it to me in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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