Following a question from a reader, I thought I’d share some recommendations from among the 250+ books I’ve reviewed on the site, broken into a few categories.
The Must Haves
These are books that every wrestling fan should own:
- A Lion’s Tale: Around the World in Spandex by Chris Jericho
- Gorgeous George by John Capouya
- Have A Nice Day by Mick Foley
- Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling by Bret Hart
- Hooker by Lou Thesz (which I appear to have not reviewed for some reason. The best version is the annotated reprint from Crowbar Press.)
- Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling by Heath McCoy
- Pure Dynamite by Tom Billington
Hidden Gems
These are books which I particularly enjoyed but have either been forgotten or didn’t get as much buzz for some reason:
- A Chosen Destiny by Drew McIntyre
- Chair Shots And Other Obstacles: Winning Life’s Wrestling Matches by Bobby Heenan
- Headquarters by Mike Quackenbush
- Lita: A Less Traveled R.O.A.D. – The Reality of Amy Dumas by Amy Dumas
- Spandex Ballet by Lee Kyle
- Tod is God: The Authorized Story of How I Created Extreme Championship Wrestling by Tod Gordon & Sean Oliver
Niche Topics
These books cover a specific wrestler, period or region. They may not be for everyone but are definitely worthwhile if you have any interest in the topic:
- Blood and Fire: The Unbelievable Real-Life Story of Wrestling’s Original Sheik by Brian R Solomon
- Crazy Like A Fox: The Definitive Chronicle of Brian Pillman, 20 Years Later by Liam O’Rourke
- Kendo Nagasaki and the Man Behind The Mask by Peter Thornley
- Stu Hart by Marsha Erb
- The Eighth Wonder of the World: The True Story of André the Giant by Bertrand Hébert and Pat Laprade
- There’s Just One Problem… By Brian Gewirtz
Hard to Find
These books are worth reading but not readily available through major distributors. While not worth paying ridiculous money for, keep an eye out for these on the used market, through independent publishers, or through… other… electronic means:
- Drawing Heat by Jim Freedman (available from Crowbar Press)
- Fall Guys by Marcus Griffin (ideally get the annotated reprint from Crowbar Press)
- Hey Boy! Where’d You Get Them Ears by Paul Boesch
- My Life in Wrestling by Gary Hart
- The Midnight Express 25th Anniversary Scrapbook by Jim Cornette with Tim Ash
- When Wrestling Was Real (volume 1) by Paul ‘The Butcher’ Vachon
- Wrestlers Are Like Seagulls by JJ Dillon
3 Comments
Drawing Heat is also available from Crowbar Press.
Thanks – have updated the post.
Going to respectfully disagree on McIntyre’s. I was extremely disappointed with that book. It felt like an extended wikipedia article. I actually just skimmed the last 60-80 pages as I was done with that book.