Customer Reviews

Hooker : An Authentic Wrestler's Adventures Inside the Bizarre World of Professional Wrestling.

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We can go back and forth, argue and banter over the question "When was pro wrestling's golden age?" without coming to a consensus. One thing is certain: the golden age of pro wrestling literature is here and now. "Hooker" ranks on the top of the wrestling publication mountain, right alongside the autobiographies of Mick Foley and Dynamite Kid. What makes Lou Thesz's biography stand apart is his firsthand account of the pro wrestling industry during an era that has too little authentic historical coverage. Mr. Thesz gives us something that I doubt many others from that period (1930s onward) could: he eloquently tells of his fascinating journey as a wrestler, and gives the story greater depth since he tells us about the nature of pro wrestling as an industry. We get a bird's eye view of the cyclical rise and fall of several powerful wrestling promotions, the specifics of promotional wars, and the bartering between promoters. We see the profession through the eyes of a man who had to work simultaneously as the World's Heavyweight champion and a savvy man of business.

If there is any weakness in this book, Mr. Thesz is upfront about it. He makes no pretenses that it is difficult to write a first hand account of promoters and fellow wrestlers objectively; no matter how hard one tries, prejudices and biases will show. Taking this into account, I have even greater admiration for the end result. He pulls no punches criticizing men he considered limited technical wrestlers (IE Antonino Rocca Baron Leone), yet he carefully points out their strengths as performers, and sounds genuinely sympathetic when such performers were exploited by greedy promoters.

We read detailed accounts of Thesz's experiences with wrestling legends like Joe Stecher, Ad Santel, George Tragos, and Dara Singh. We learn about his lifelong friendship with mentor Ed "Strangler" Lewis; how if it weren't for one phone call Lewis made, the name Lou Thesz could have been absent from wrestling history.

I am especially jazzed that Mr. Thesz wrote a detailed account of "The Iowa Cornstalk," Fred Grubmier, the wrestler who deceived people into thinking he was the village idiot, when in fact he was quite the sharp shooter! I have heard stories about Fred Grubmier before, and am glad Mr. Thesz chose to include him in this book. It would be a crime to let Fred Grubmier's name fade from wrestling history.

Whether you are a fan of wrestling past or present, this book will give you a vivid picture of pro wrestling as an industry. If you are somebody who has aspirations to enter the pro wrestling business, I strongly urge you to read this book along with Foley's and Dynamite's; these works will give you fair warning before diving into a career that requires a clever sense of business, talent, and as Lou Thesz says in the beginning of the book, perhaps something in the way of a guardian angel!

I got the book "Hooker" over a year ago. It came in the mail at 4:30 p.m on Tuesday and I had read it completely by 6:00 p.m. Wednesday. I could not quit reading it. It is one of the best books I have ever read. Lou Thesz is one of the greatest wrestlers that this business has ever produced. I promoted several towns out of Nashville booking office and I had the privilege of having Lou wrestle for me several times. On one occasion we started selling tickets at 5:00 p.m. and was completely sold out at 6:30 p.m. The matches did not start until 8:30 p.m. and the fans sat there for two or more hours waiting for that match. We turned several thousand people away. Anytime Lou would wrestle in a town for me;the attendance would stay up for several months eventho he was not on the card. He had that kind of impact on wrestling. After the matches we went out to a nightclub in Memphis and Lou had all the respect of everyone there. He has been an inspiration to me for all my entire wrestling life (45 years in the wrestling profession as wrestler and promoter). If you have not read this book;be sure and purchase it as it is one of the best and informative books I have ever read.

This book is amazing! On telling the history of professional wrestling its second to none. And the best source for the history of Catch Wrestlers(Hookers), How wrestling went from Carnivals to the big time. And the stages of evolution it went through on the way to the Sports Entertainment its evolved to today. All the greats are talked about in length. Frank Gotch, Ed Lewis, Joe Stecher all the great hookers of yesteryear. This book tells how all the old promoters used to run the Business. Very intersting reading.

This book's weak point is in the actually biography of Lou Thesz. Way to much stuff left out. He would rattle on for page after page about Toots Mondt and other promoters. And then throw in a sentence like "I was married for 30 years to so and so. I wished I never met her." And just leave it at that. So he comes out of this book kind of like a cardboard cut out of the good guy he played in the ring. But dont get me wrong this book is awesome and a must read. 5 star supreme, one of the most interesting books Ive ever read. Just dont think that Lou reveals much about his self. Because he dosent. He talks about his 3 sons with just a one liner about he has three sons. Very shallow about his family life. And no pictures. But a great biography of the actual wrestling and behind the scene promotions. And how George Tragos took the son of a Hungarian/German shoe maker and made him one of the most dangerous human beings to ever walk the planet. Must read!

Lou Thesz IS pro wrestling. He is its greatest world champion and the last of the old style shooters. Thesz started in wrestling back in the 30's and was the top wrestler in the business for decades. There is an entire era of wrestling that is long forgotten, an era of guys like Ed "Strangler" Lewis and Warren Bockwinkle and Leo Nomellini. Lou Thesz is the last of that era, the remaining voice of an incredible and colorful time. "Hooker" tells the life and times of Lou Thesz, and his famous partnership with promoter Sam Muchnick, which formed the basis for everything we know as pro wrestling today. Which makes this book all the more remarkable. Not only is Thesz the last surviving voice of that era, he was the greatest star of that time! Imagine reading a book about baseball in the early twentieth century written by Babe Ruth! Or a book on boxing in that era written by Jack Dempsey.

As is often said, one cannot understand the future unless one understands the past. For the past is the future. One cannot understand pro wrestling, as it is today and how it became what it is, if one doesnt understand the life and times of Lou Thesz. "Hooker" is the story of pro wrestling's true legend.

Lou Thesz provides a most interesting look at the world of Professional Wrestling for seven decades. Thesz gives interesting summaries of some of the most famous characters from wrestling before his time, including Frank Gotch, George Hackenschmidt, Farmer Burns, Billy Sandow, Joe "Toots" Mondt, Ed "Strangler" Lewis (who was his idol), Jim Londos, Stanislaus Zbyszko, George Tragos, and so forth. The stories that Thesz tells shows the all too humanistic side of the wrestling industry, and he even shows his own anger and negative attitude at times (usually have some level of justification).

The only negative thing I can say about the book is that you must realize all of the stories and explanations of various superstars are from *HIS* eyes. For example, Jim Londos is portrayed as a total coward by Thesz, mainly because he transcribes Ed "Strangler" Lewis' stories about him, which has been proven to be very biased and unreliable. So, in effect, you should take the opinions on certain workers with a grain of salt, though some of the characteristics given to them are true, such as Buddy Rogers cocky attitude outside of the ring that got him in trouble or injured on several occasions.

All in all, an excellent book that I would easily recommend, as well as "Fall Guys: The Barnums of Bounce", which details the earlier part of the Professional Wrestling history very well also.

Like the man himself, Lou Thesz's autobiography is a treasure.
It's rare that someone has such a long respected career in the
sport of professional wrestling, and Mr. Thesz shares with
us all of the good and bad and dirt of his multi-decade
career. Newer fans will be scratching their heads saying
"who" and then moving onto the Rock or Chyna books- I pray
they pause a moment and read these reviews and decide
to get this book. It's worth every penny and more. If you
don't know who Lou Thesz is, he was the Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan,
Steve Austin, Rock of the 1930's, 1940's, 1950's, and even
into the 60's and 70's. A true wrestler, when such a term
wasn't to be scoffed at. This book is a must read for any
serious wrestling fan, and I hope you get it.

For years I've been hearing about this book and now I know that it was all true. I encourage anyone who is a fan of Pro- Wrestling, past, present, or future, to get this book now. I throughly enjoyed Mr. Thesz's road stories about the legendary wrestlers like Ed 'The Strangler' Lewis, Ray Steele, Rikidozan et al (Not to mention the promoters) and how he was instrumental in the formation of NWA and in turn the creation of the AWA & WWWF.

In this book, Thesz gives an honest, open and interesting view of professional wrestling from an old timer's view point. Thesz was a reknowned "hooker", being that he was capable enough in the ring to actually destroy an opponent if need be, and has no qualms with giving the truth behind many figures in history. Ironically, you'd think he hated those deemed "performers," or those who were simply acters instead of accomplished amateurs or hookers, yet he seems to have been open-minded enough to realize that for the big money to occur, things had to change.

Thesz is a very open and honest person and I'd suggest this book to any wrestling fan who truly wants a good insight to the roots of professional wrestling through the 20th century.

Lou Thesz's "Hooker" is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of sports entertainment, er, professional wrestling. It provides a good overview of the career of an indisputably great figure in this strange business. My only reservation is that the book isn't long enough. Anyone who read Thesz's letters to the Wrestling Observer knows the man had a wealth of anecdotes and insights about the wrestling business. It's a pity Thesz hadn't been more free with the anecdotes. It's also a shame Thesz didn't talk about life after wrestling - perhaps he didn't think anyone would be interested in Lou Thesz, the man? Oh, and by the way, am I the only one who found that anecdote about George Tragos to be seriously unsettling? Tragos might have been a great wrestler, but he sounded like a monster to me. Again, a great contribution to the under-recorded history of this business. It's like history itself talking.

"Hooker: An Authentic Wrestler's Adventures Inside the Bizarre World of Professional Wrestling - The Biography of Lou Thesz" arrived late yesterday. Really impressed by the absolute honesty & integrity. The comparisons to other professional sports were perfect, as were descriptions of amateur wrestling, athleticism required -especially that Joe Louis couldn't handle it- and Red Smith's shocked reaction to fixed boxing match and his apology to Lou - Wow this is great stuff about a one in a hundred million athlete, his extraordinary career and times, a misunderstood sport and America-a great story well written-- perhaps best sports story I've ever read - you really must respect and appreciate the man and it was all done in sincere humility and with thanks and recognition to all who are part of the story. This will become a benchmark for quality sports tales and certainly help bring a more positive attitude toward wrestling.