Customer Reviews

Have a Nice Day! A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks

5 star:		(626)
4 star:		(50)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Pro Wrestler Mick Foley has giving us a very heartfelt, entertaining story. One that told of a young teen who followed his dream to become thw WWF World Heavy Weight Champion. Please readers...do not let Mick Foley's on screen persona dissuade you from reading this insightful autobiography but a new and strong author. You will be entertained by his heartfelt rise to the top. Marvel at his entertaining literary writing. Some may percieve wrestlers as musclebound, unintelligent jocks but in reality Mr. Foley is an intelligent and likable person. He offers a look behind the scenes of professional wrestling from his bloody hardcore matches in Japan to the battle in which he lost his ear and on to the now famous WWF 'Hell in the Cell' match and the championship belt. You will here about encounters with famous wrestlers such as Ric Flair, Vader, and the Undertaker. You will read about Mick's admiration for the Legendary Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka. Yet that is not all. Readers also get to know Mick Foley the family man and the boy who followed his dream at all costs. Anyone interested in Autobiographies in general should read this book. I found it not only interesting to fans of Pro-wrestling but of interest to anyone who likes an inspiring autobiography.

I've been watching wrestling for seventeen years. People who don't watch wrestling have always had this skewed view of the wrestlers, and their fans. For those people, I think this book would be wonderful. This book shows that wrestlers aren't the steroid-popping, braindead, non-athletes that the world has come to see them as. Mick Foley is an intelligent, funny, charming family man who happens to love the world of professional wrestling. Because of that love, he has given wrestling fans some of the most memorable, and sometimes frightening, matches. And, of course, for the wrestling fan, it offers an inside view of the wrestling world, and some wonderful stories that you might not expect from some of the most loved, and hated personalities.

This book is truly a literary work of art. For those of us in this business, it describes exactly how complicated, and mostly misunderstood our closed industry is. For those outside our industry, this book reveals how much love, sacrifice, and dedication is required to succeed in a world where frustration and failure sit on an extremely thin line with fame and fortune. This book is a must read for both believers and doubters regarding the unique world of professional wrestling.

I never thought that a book about the life of one man could be a book I couldn't put down. From the first story through the last, Mick Foley proved to be a great writer, writing about a great life. I laughed at the countless jokes, I cried at times like when the girl he loved didn't know his name, I cringed at the tales from the ring, I was inspired by the courage and intestinal fortitude he showed to have. I recommend this book to anyone in the world.

I read this book about a year ago and I am still impressed with Foley's life story to this day. The book had everything in it I could ask for: action, adventure, romance and of course, humor.

It's a must-read for any fan of professional wrestling. Mick takes you on a complete tour of the industry from his time in the U.S. independents, to his time in WCW, ECW, Japan and of course, the WWF. He talks about many of the great wrestlers he's had an opportunity to work with over the past decade. He's encountered just about EVERYONE. Being a life long fan of wrestling it was a great read for me to hear about his encounters with many of my favorites that he worked with.

Some highlights for me from the book in particular was: his student film he made in school of his backyard wrestling league, his skipping out of class to attend a WWF show, when he recounts a trip he took to Africa in the beginning of his career, his adventures in Japan and of course his story of how he lost a part of his ear in Europe.

Even if you are not a wrestling fan, you will marvel and the many exploits that Mick Foley has encountered throughout his life. It's a great story about how a young man has had a chance to live out his dream and how one man "beat the odds to become one of the best at what he does." It was an awesome read. Great story about a great guy. It is unbelievable some of the things he's seen and done.

Highest recommendation.

When I first got this book, I figured I'd be reading a lot of interestingly funny anecdotes about one of the most intriguing and popular wrestlers of this decade. What I got was something slightly different... yes, it's a book of anecdotes... but most of them aren't quite that funny - they're very serious and engaging --- while at the same time, a little bit of humor will creep in every so often. As many of you who follow Mick Foley's career know, he has been through a lot of damage and abuse, mostly physically. You cringe when you read his account of that brutal match he had with Terry Funk in Japan; you grimace when he took a really hard powerbomb from Vader in 1993. But somehow, Mick finds a way to make you smile!

Occasionally, the WWF influence can be felt while reading up on the book, but overall, this is all Mick's words. You'll notice that many of his thoughts about wrestling might even share some of yours, and not just the belief that "yes, pro-wrestling is real, it's just the matches that are a work"...

This is a great read for anyone who's into wrestling - or for anyone who's very curious as to how one man lives out his dream to be a wrestler. I highly recommend this book. "Have a nice day!"

This book is a great piece of writing, especially concidering that the writer does not specialize in books, but in wrestling. I, myself, am an avid wrestling fan and a Mick Foley fan but I believe that non wrestling fans will share the same opinion as I about this book. It goes in detail about Mr. Foley's childhood and how he rose against all odds to become one of the greatest wrestlers ever. He has sacraficed himself to many times not to deserve everyone's respect.

This has to be the best damn book. His history as Mankind and Cactus Jack was just amazing. To read how he came up in the ranks and how he was equaly held down by duba-see duba. If your not a fan you will be afterwards.

When I first picked this book up, I thought "there is no way I'm going to read a book this long about a professional wrestler." I began reading, however, and once started I couldn't stop. This is the story of Mick Foley, better known at various stages of his career as Cactus Jack, Dude Love, and Mankind. Foley wrote the book himself, and did a spectacular job. In fact he writes much batter than most of the "ghostwriters" who pen celebrity autobiographies today. Foley has a style, in which he tells a well-crafted and compelling narrative while cracking jokes that one can't help but laugh at. This is, literally, a tale of blood, but for some reason it's a funny tale.

Behind all the glitz and glory of professional wrestling comes the sport's most unlikely hero: Mick Foley. With a less-than-stellar physique, Foley sometimes didn't have the visual appeal of other would-be wrestlers, and consequently had to work many times as hard for what he achieved. This book follows Foley during his fourteen year (I believe) career as Cactus Jack, from wrestling in small high schools to touring Africa to tangling himself in barbed-wire in Japan and earning the title "King of the Deathmatch." It also covers his stint as Dude Love in the WWE, and his most recent character, Mankind. Through it all Foley gave it his best, not being afraid to bleed even when only a few fans would see him. Foley was bruised, battered, beaten, cut open, torn up, blown up and otherwise abused during his climb to the top of the WCW, IWA, ECW, and WWE (which eventually happened in late 1998, when Foley won the world championship belt), but he gave it all for the sport he loved. Foley is an unlikely hero, but is nevertheless a good example of what hard work and determination can get you in life. After reading this book I'm compelled to agree with the masses: Foley is good.

As a Foley fan I preordered this book. As a writer I opened it with a cringe: I knew my hero's background was not literary; I've seen a lot of the kind of writing that covers professional wrestling, and I expected the worst. What I got was a personal, personable, intelligent look at a life and at an industry which makes most people crazy (not to mention intolerant). Yes, Foley's tale is a bloody one. I would still recommend this book to anyone who wants to know why someone would become a pro wrestler or enjoy pro wrestling. The writing is fresh, direct and clear, and you are on Mick Foley's side if not from the opening passages, by the time he tells you about high school. His is a story about someone who gave up everything for a dream, and received almost everything in return--at a high price. Certainly I would want any kid who wanted to enter this business to read his tale. The main flaw here is the lack of serious editing: rewrites and cuts done responsibly would have tightened things up a bit. As it is, I hope Mr. Foley continues to write, because I think he has a talent worth pursuing, and an eye for and knowledge of a world that has seen far too much carnival writing. If he lacks for ideas, I have a few suggestions: I'd like to see his takes on the life of the legendary Terry Funk, of the Japanese and ECW wrestling circuits, and even a history of wrestling as a whole. I'm proud to be a Foley fan.