Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pro Wrestling (2nd Edition) by Lou Albano, Michael Benson, Bert Randolph Sugar ISBN: 0-02-863961-8 Publisher: Alpha Books Pub. Date: 11 October, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.41 (34 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Good Idea...Rather Poor Execution
Comment: As my title suggests, the idea behind an Idiot's Guide to the sport of professional wrestling is excellent, but I must mimic what others are saying about this book. I couldn't even finish the work, because it was chocked full of more errors than any such book of its kind. Names were wrong, dates were wrong, winners were wrong, federations were wrong, and that's just scratching the surface. I'm a longtime fan and scholar of professional wrestling, I'm a bigtime news man on several of the bigger sites devoted to the sport, and I'll read almost anything about it, but halfway through this one I just couldn't do it anymore. If you're trying to learn about the sport, check out Jeff Archer's book or PLEASE go and purchase the yearly Pro Wrestling Illustrated Almanac (may already be unavailable for this calendar year) and do it that way. Check out the three real autobiography projects, Mick Foley's by himself, and Page's and Rock's with assistance. That's my two cents, until next time.......................
Rating: 2
Summary: Basic, basic, basic
Comment: If you're a complete wrestling addict, this book will fail to enthrall you. There are a few nuggets of entertaining information, but for the most part, this book is for people who really don't know much about the world of sports entertainment. The bios on the wrestlers are dated and are angled from the character's aspects, rather than the real life stats of the wrestlers themselves.
Rating: 1
Summary: Consider the title to be a WARNING:
Comment: This book is so badly-written as to make me wonder exactly who the market audience would be. The only person I could really see benefitting from Albano's and Sugar's frequent factual errors and glossing-overs would be someone who has seen wrestling on TV a few times, found it to be less awful than they expected, and want to know more about what they're watching. Anybody with more than a passing interest in this form of entertainment will be left sorely disappointed.
So many things about this book bugged me: the fact that half the time, the authors act as if wrestling is real (especially Albano, when he is recounting his days in the WWF)...the fact that they suggest that the reader only follow one federation (so we don't bite off more than we can chew, supposedly)...the fact that their description of "the moves of pro wrestling" don't explain that the moves for the most part DON'T hurt the opponent...the fact that they consistently refer to Real Life in wrestling as "real-real" (when any mark or carny knows it's "shoot") and to the bad guys as "villains" (not "heels," as they're known to wrestlers). A thousand factual errors share pages with a thousand typographical errors.
Basically, this is a book which purports to be an "insider view" of professional wrestling, but which is written by two people from the outside who feel the need to keep the illusion of "wrestling as real-life violence." There's some interesting information about the earliest days at the turn of the 20th century, but it's hard to believe it as gospel when ten pages later the authors are telling you that Kane and the Undertaker are really brothers, that the first ladder match was in ECW, that Onita's barbed-wire cage uses real live electricity, and not just fireworks.
Rather than really explain what goes on in the industry (from backstage to in the ring), they try to get the reader to choose one of the two major companies (now, of course, there's only one) and believe that it's real. This may have been the way fans were in the 70s, but by now, for some reason, we are all in on the gag. All of us, apparently, except Albano and Sugar.
If you are in fact a Complete Idiot, and you need to spend 19 bucks to have someone tell you that you can look up a favorite wrestler on search engines for more information, then go ahead and buy this book. Otherwise, steer clear or get it at a Salvation Army like I did.
 |
Title: The Buzz on Professional Wrestling by Scott Keith, John Craddock ISBN: 0867308664 Publisher: Lebhar-Friedman Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 2001 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
 |
Title: Positively Page: The Diamond Dallas Page Journey by Diamond Dallas Page, Larry Genta, Terry Bollea ISBN: 0967992206 Publisher: Positve Publications, LLC. Pub. Date: 01 February, 2000 List Price(USD): $28.95 |
 |
Title: The Hardy Boyz : Exist 2 Inspire by Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy ISBN: 0060521546 Publisher: Regan Books Pub. Date: 18 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
 |
Title: Rock Say, The by The Rock, WWF ISBN: 006103116X Publisher: Regan Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 2000 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
 |
Title: Foley is Good: And the Real World is Faker Than Wrestling by Mick Foley ISBN: 0061032417 Publisher: Regan Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
