Customer Reviews

Dungeon of Death

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

So, the book is not horrible, but it was misleading. Benoit is the whole cover, and in small print it says something about the Hart Curse. Well, Benoit is barely even mentioned in this book, save for the first couple of relatively short chapters. Why? Why did he use Benoit to sell his book? While not a terrible book, I for one would not have bought it if I knew it was not about Benoit, or at least mostly about him.
Bad business to exploit someone's image and then not even add anything to the story.

I was loaned this book by a friend, who suggested it to me as a fan of Chris Benoit. I read it, and I cannot say that I recommend it.

First of all, the title is incredibly misleading. The author does point out a lot of dead Stampede alumni, but doesn't claim there is a curse. More accurately, the book is a list of people in wrestling who have died, with some history thrown in.

Secondly, if you are the kind of wrestling fan who reads the Observer or Torch, there is nothing new here. If you have been a fan of wrestling at all in the last 5 years, there is nothing new here. Shocking insights like: Dynamite Kid is in bad shape, Davey Boy Smith did steroids, and Chris Benoit killed his family!

Finally, the book isn't very well written. It reads like a long-time wrestling fan telling stories at a convention. There are spelling and grammatical errors, and the writing just isn't compelling. Furthermore, there are many references to other information, but almost never is it linked so you can verify or follow up on anything.

This book is really just a crass attempt to monopolize on the Benoit tragedy and the deaths of many wrestlers.

Someone remarked that reading Scott Keith is like reading a poorly written High School book report by someone who was better at shop class than English. That person hit it right on the head. This is such a poorly written piece of work. Scott simply can't write well. He mismashes styles to the point where you can tell he's painfully trying to write something, anything, that's remotely passable--and fails miserably.

When I opened up the book and read page one, I knew this was going to be a bad read. Scott places himself in the first person...then the third person...then as a casual fan. This ridiculous approach is the kind of thing I used to see when I tutored students who didn't have a firm grasp on writing well. It's disturbing to know that there are publishers and editors out there who actually thought this is a decent body of work ready for the public.

By the same token, people remarked how Scott blatantly lifted from other sources and I must say he took a lot...and I mean virtually cutting and pasting huge chunks of texts from "Pure Dynamite." It's kind of pathetic to lazily take another writer's work product--his hard earned time and money--and pass it off as your own. Scott does this and its pretty evident from just the first few pages.

If you don't believe me, just take a look for yourself. I just don't think this is worthy of any kind of purchase. I think this might be worth 50 Cents at most. It's just very, very bad. I can't stress that enough. I feel compelled to ask him directly for either an apology or a refund.

This is the Weekly World News of wrestling autobiographies. Pure tabloid crap. The author obviously has read some of the great bios out there: Meltzer's "Tributes". Bret Hart's autobio. The bio of Stampede:"Pain and Passion" and the best of them all "Pure Dyamite" by the Dynamite Kid. All this book is, is highschool level book-reports of the above books, put into chapter form. Just rips them off, almost word for word. This book is presented to target Nancy Grace fans, and readers of the National Enquirer. It's NOT for wrestling fans. He makes a point of saying how much of a jerk Mark Mero came off as, when he made the talk-show rounds with his notorious list of all-too-soon deaths of pro wrestlers. Such a jerk, the author then gives HIS list of dead wrestlers. Summing up their careers in 2 to 3 paragraphs (mostly copied from a Meltzer chapter). At least Mero was in the business. This author is just a wannabe a-hole. Do not even consider picking up this book, if you're interested in wrestling or the wrestlers this book highlights. Pick up one of the aforementioned bios. They wrote with knowledge and passion because they were there. Unlike this creep.

If you're interested in what the fat shut-in that lives down the street from you thinks about people that he never met, this is the book for you. Literally, the only information that this person has about the subject is what he has glommed from other books or made up and treats as facts. He understands nothing about performing or drawing money or even how to construct a profesional sentence. The 'author' comes off as a junior high shop student that has been forced to take an english class. Awful awful awful awful awful. Leave this dreck on the internet where this sort of baseless accusations and ridiculous idiocy belongs.

Authors of wrestling books come in all kinds: journalists, some of whom know wrestling and many who don't: former wrestlers, hoping to either set the record straight or taking one last chance to work the marks; current wrestlers, hoping to ride their current fame to as much cash as they can make while they can. And then there is this book, written by one of the most famous (or infamous, depending on your viewpoint) wrestling fans out there, Scott Keith. Keith is a passionate wrestling fan and a fine author: he's always had a special passion for wrestlers from his native Canada, and Benoit and the Hart family were his favorites. Which makes this narrative, written by an informed fan, especially poignant.

The Benoit tragedy was an international scandal; and its focus on the world of "sports-entertainment" highlighted a business whose roots in organized crime and the seedy world of carnivals, and whose performers embrace a lifestyle combining the worst parts of rock-and-roll performers and high pressure athletes. It is a strange business behind it all, and this story may the most unbelievable one of all.

The end of the story here is known to many; the details of how many other sad tales litter this history is less known. This is a good read for people (like me) who are not wrestling performers, but who harbor a strange love for a type of performance art that has destroyed many of its own performers. Recommended.

great book that summarize the the life and deathes of many superstars
from the wrestling world ,including the high's and down's of their career.

u can also learn the reasons for their deathes.

truly a history lesson.

Great insight into the world of pro wrestling and its tragedy. I could not put this book down. This book is far better than Keith's other books. I recommend this book over most wrestling books. Certainly over the other books that are centered around the Benoit tragedy.