I Was a Teenage Professional Wrestler [Hardcover]

Ted Lewin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1993 | Age Level: 9 and up

The author and his brothers Don and Mark were all pro wrestlers in their teens. Their story, spanning the years 1952 to 1967, is a fascinating word-and-picture montage of the ring and the characters who are drawn to it.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6 Up-- A surprisingly funny and affectionate memoir. As a teenager in the 1950s, Lewin earned money for art school by working as a professional wrestler. His involvement with the sport, however, has lasted a lifetime. Through his vivid paintings and his prose, he captures the human side of these flamboyant and often eccentric entertainers. The book is filled with quirky incidents, friendly and warm-hearted characters, and, at times, poignant recollections. Engaging black-and-white photographs of family, friends, and professional foes capture the action inside and outside of the ring and convey a wonderful sense of a not-so-long-past era. The artist's sensibility and eye for detail are always in evidence. His talent in this realm is truly formidable. The result is a sensitive, personal look at a subject that usually does not receive this type of treatment. Wrestling lingo and the terms for the various holds are appended. However, this unique book will hold a wide range of readers, including those whose think they don't like wrestling. --Todd Morning, Schaumburg Township Public Library, IL
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

The title says it all: Lewin--one of the best illustrators working in children's books--got his start as a wrestler. Sid Lewin, his short father, had three tall sons to whom roughhousing and body building were a way of life. When Ted's older brother Donn came back from WW II, he got into pro wrestling to make a living; when Ted (who'd been going to matches and practicing moves with younger brother Mark) needed money for art school in 1952, Donn helped him get started. Lewin doesn't explain the wrestling world--where the money came from, who was making it; and he doesn't say much about rules of the sport, though his descriptions of moves and matches are graphic. What he does do, in these vivid vignettes, is depict a close-knit world of men who were mixed and matched from makeshift rings to Madison Square Garden, where they assumed roles and played crowds that could be as dangerous as any opponent (he mentions riots and knifings). The telling glimpses of the sport, the men, and their camaraderie are fascinating; comically described family scenes and dozens of photos round out the picture. Grouped in a color insert, Lewin's powerful paintings of wrestlers are more introspective, revealing the compassion he's brought to picture books like Sami and the Time of Troubles (1992) and offering a tantalizing taste of what's not said here. (Are these recent? One would like to know.) A compelling memoir. Glossary of ``Wrestling Lingo'' and ``Holds.'' (Autobiography. 11+) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Orchard Books (NY) (April 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531054772
• ISBN-13: 978-0531054772
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,740,981 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Overlooked Gem about an Overlooked Era, September 5, 2000

By 

Adam Richman - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Was a Teenage Professional Wrestler (Paperback)

I do not enjoy watching wrestling. I admit it. The theatrics and hystrionics of Stone Cold Steve Austin and the other made up steroid thugs bring fear to my heart only in the sense that so many people actually enjoy this WWF drivel. This is not that kind of wrestling. This is a book about art. On the canvas of paints and that of turnbuckles. Ted Lewin evokes an era where even the villain had pride and the wrestlers were showmen, businessmen and family men. The book is even more extraordinary because this is not some chronicle written by a man cloistered away with photos and scrapbooks retracing the steps of others...HE WAS THERE. He pinned and was pinned, felt and doled out elbow smashes and with his family no less. Now Mr.Lewin is an accomplished author and truly remarkable painter (his work appears in the book). Though this book is written for "young adults", the children in us all will be rapt, front row, popcorn in hand waiting for the three count. And the winner - Ted Lewin. Bravo.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The sport of dogs, August 20, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: I Was a Teenage Professional Wrestler (Paperback)

This is another book review from Wolfie and Kansas, the boonie dogs from Toto, Guam. We like wrestling for three reasons. First, we wrestle with each other and with other dogs. Second, our noncanine animals of primate derivation usually let us in the house to watch WWF Raw and Pay-per-views. Third, no other sport has so frequently paid tribute to canines. The ranks of great wrestlers include Dick 'the Bulldog' Brower, Junkyard Dog, Mad Dog Vachon, Bulldog Bob Brown, and tag teams like the Moondogs, the British Bulldogs, and the Pitbulls.

Unfortunately, we have little opportunity to combine our love of pro wrestling with our love of reading, as no one has written a good nonfiction book for adults about pro wrestling. Until someone does, Ted Lewin's "I Was a Teenage Professional Wrestler", which is written for the young adult audience, will fill the gap quite nicely. This book combines anecdotes and the author's paintings to give the reader a sense of what it was like to be a wrestler in the 1950's. This is a superb book for puppies, and a very interesting diversion for adults

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth it for fans of the sport, January 14, 2011

By 

Mike Siroky (Riverton, Wyoming) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: I Was a Teenage Professional Wrestler (Paperback)

This is a great historical piece. It is from the era when strength was enough with a little showmanship. No drugs. Just rough house guys. It tracked the need (like baseball players of that era) to have a real life job because wrestling didn't pay the bills. But if you were in it, you loved it. I think modern-day fans will appreciate the history lesson