One of those titles long-term collectors will recognise, this turns out to be a pleasant surprise. Originally published in 1974, this was a familiar sight when searching book catalogues in the pre-Have A Nice Day era, but wasn’t always easy to track down. Lewin is the brother of the better known wrestlers Mark and Donn. While he had the odd match later on, the bulk of his career came in the mid-sixties on the WWWF circuit. He wrestled mainly to fund his education and went on to become a successful illustrator. This gives him something of an outsider perspective on the crazy world of pro wrestling, which he shares here. Given the publication date, it’s surprisingly lax on kayfabe. Lewin doesn’t explicitly say wrestling match finishes were worked but neither does he say he legitimately competing to win. Beyond this point he’s completely open, discussing how wrestlers tried to control the crowd, perform moves in a visually pleasing way, and shave time when working a draw before a dead crowd. The book also plenty of memories of some of the more outlandish stars of the era such as Danny MacShain, Buddy Rogers, Killer Kowalski and Haystacks Calhoun. Appropriately the book…
This is that rarest of beasts: an academic book about wrestling from which wrestling fans might actually learn something. With most philosophy essays and books on wrestling there’s a familiar pattern: start by citing Roland Barthes, raise the revolutionary point that pro wrestlers are performers rather than athletes competing to win a match, then discuss how the whole thing is a cipher for morality/ethnography/society/homoeroticism, making sure at no point to acknowledge that pro wrestlers and promoters are attempting to turn a profit. Fortunately Philosophy Smackdown takes a different approach, even leaving Barthes until page 121. Where most such books attempt to use philosophy to analyze and explain pro wrestling, this title — whether intentionally or not — uses wrestling to explain philosophy. If like me you are unfamiliar with concepts such as Plato’s Cave or Aristotle’s Virtues, you’ll get a clear explanation in relatable terms through the medium of pro wrestling, learning more about both wrestling and philosophy. For example, you might assume that face and heel wrestlers displayed binary good and evil characteristics until fans began turning against the traditional white meat babyface. Instead you’ll learn here that virtues and vices instead work on a spectrum with the hero…
Profiling the subject of the tallest of tall tales, this extensive biography strives for truth without sacrificing readability. Between graphic novels, a WWE published bio and two documentaries, the story of Andre’s life has been covered multiple times but never in such depth. Running nearly 400 pages it covers the familiar stories but also lesser-covered parts of his career including his time in Europe and Mexico and his importance to the Montreal territory. The book is written with a dose of healthy scepticism and aims to find the true story behind commonly debated “facts” such as Andre’s true height, his childhood, his copious drinking sessions and even his date of birth. What makes this particularly effective is that the authors present the conflicting evidence and explain the working, making clear where uncertainty remains. One inherent drawback is that pursuing the true story of Andre’s life means this doesn’t provide the neat narrative of some previous accounts. That’s just reality however, and you certainly get a rounded account of Andre as both a professional and a person, without a one-dimensional character portrayal. The book does a good job of explaining why Andre — who was far from the tallest pro wrestler…
The Internet Archive has added a large selection of books for free loan during the COVID-19 Pandemic. You’ll need to sign up for a free account and the books are then virtually “checked out” while you read them. The copyright issues are a little questionable, with the site’s logic being that this replaces physical libraries that are temporarily shut. It doesn’t appear to be paying any royalties so if you read a book this way and enjoy it, you should try to buy a copy (print or eBook) if possible so the author gets compensated. You’ll find just under 600 wrestling-related titles, though most are on amateur wrestling and many of the pro wrestling titles are from the budget end of the market. (The collection is generally 20th century titles without an eBook edition.) A few of note that I’ve reviewed on here include: A Lion’s Tale: Around the World in Spandex by Chris Jericho Are We There Yet by Robert Caprio At Issue: Professional Wrestling Can You Take The Heat? The WWF Is Cooking: By Jim Ross Countdown to Lockdown by Mick Foley Demolition Dad by Phil Earle Drawing Heat by Jim Freedman Foley Is Good by Mick…