Customer Reviews

It's True! It's True!

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

When Kurt Angle made his debut in the WWF he was portrayed as the character of a sports legend who thought the world owed him a living for his winning gold medals in the Olympics. The real Kurt Angle is nothing like that at all, as we see in this eye opening and inspiring autobiography. Over the course of the book we learn that Kurt did not have the perfect family (losing his father to a fatal accident when Kurt was 16) or even the perfect marriage. Nor, despite the glory he's reaped, has his athletic career been on a perfect note. But he's done well, and he chalks it up to one constant in his life: if you really want something, there is no substitute for hard work. Angle overcame both personal disappointments and serious injuries to dominate his sport of wrestling at the college level and the Olympic level through his mantra of dedication and hard work.

Angle is the first American amateur star to turn pro since 1980. Before, it was not unusual for amateur stars to take to the pro ring; such wrestling champions as Mike DiBiase, Dick Hutton, Danny Hodge, the Zebra Kid, Bob Backlund, and Jack Brisco came from the amateur mats. Angle's reasons in joining the WWF, his views of the difference between amateurs and pros and his adjustment to the pro game make for fascinating reading, especially in light of the fact that his signing has caused other amateur stars to take the possibility of a pro career seriously. (Such as NCAA champion Brock Lesnar, who should make his WWF debut shortly.)

But Angle's story is not only of interest to adults or wrestling fans. His message and the fact the book lacks the profanity that has become commonplace in these sort of tomes make it perfect reading for any teenager who has dreams of pursuing a career, athletic or otherwise. There is no substitute for hard work.

Kurt Angle is a legendary, contemporary, amateur championship wrestler who parlayed his mega-successful amateur background into the realm of professional wrestling's "sports entertainment." This is his autobiography. Kurt Angle's "It's True, It's True" is an inspirational story about an extraordinary man who's succeeded and excelled at whatever he's put his mind too.

The book basically takes a chronological look at his life. The book opens by detailing his most triumphant moment, his winning of the Olympic Gold Medal in the 1996 Atlanta Games. From there the book chronicles, in good, honest detail, the story of his life. We begin with a detailed look into his childhood and family where Kurt grew up with his ultra-competitive and ultra-athletic four brothers and "functioning alcoholic father." From there he recounts the story of his father's tragic passing in a construction accident, the turning point in his life and the catalyst for his lifelong desire to be the best at everything in honor of his father's memory.

From there, my favorite part of his story begins, his looooong trek toward becoming the legendary wrestler he became. He recounts his college wrestling career and how he went "professional" competing in the International free-style level. His stories of the intensity of amateur level competition and traveling abroad, particularly in Eastern Europe and Russia, are simply amazing, to me, and are worth the price of admission. From there you take a look into his nearly psychotic training regimen he put himself through as he prepared for the Olympic games. Rocky Balboa's got NOTHING on Kurt Angle...

Following the Olympics the recounts the (ever so fleeting) celebrity status he received and the jobs he took on afterward including motivational speaking and sportscasting, not to mention meeting his future wife.

The second half of the book recounts his career in the World Wrestling Federation to date (Summer of 2001). Unlike other wrestler biographies of recent years, Kurt's recounting of his career doesn't really come across as "sports-entertainment/personal hype" (as like say, the Rock's autobiography...). Kurt's assessment is actually rather very honest and provides a deeper look into the psychology of the business. Kurt offers a deeper look into how the matches are set-up. His contrasting of the amateur style versus the "sports-entertainment" style is a very refreshing and enlightening look. Kurt also does a great job of relating just how demanding the lifestyle of a traveling performer is. He cites early difficulties in his marriage, the often scary nature of encountering ignorant fans with a grudge and the horrendous travel schedule. This should be of particular interest to any who are interested in becoming a professional wrestler. This is definitely a good "behind the scenes look" at the business.

Overall, you'll love this book. You'll gain a ton of respect for Kurt Angle. He's definitely a great guy and you're bound to identify with his story. He's an everyman. It's honest, it's compelling and it's just a great story. I read it in one day, total read time about 9 hours. Whether you're a fan of athletics, professional wrestling, or just a person who likes you to read, you're bound to love this book. Oh It's True, It's True!!!

Highly Recommended

Ever wonder what made Kurt Angle the mega-superstar that he is today? Ever wonder what would have made a man jump from Olympic Gold Medalist to the World Wrestling Federation? Well, look no further. This book will answer those questions and much, much more. It's true. It's true.

Unlike many other WWF wrestlers, Kurt Angle was a star before he ever stepped into the realm of sports entertainment. The first section of his book mainly deals with his amateur career and his jump from college to Olympic competition. He reveals a very personal side when talking about his father's untimely death, and it gives a nice look at the man behind the wrestling persona.

Although Angle gives a little too much insight to the technical aspect of wrestling, his backstage stories and personal feelings toward some of the other wrestlers is quite entertaining reading. His straightforward language makes the book a fairly quick read, and the photographs that pepper the book are extraordinary. The entire book is put together quite nicely.

IT'S TRUE! IT'S TRUE! is another successful book put out by the WWF. It is not a tell-all book, but it is quite interesting and hard to put down. This book will not dissappoint.

This book teaches you and it shows you through the eyes of Kurt Angle his life and his hardships to overcome adversity and to achieve success. Kurt Angle is an American success story that had to live with his dad's freak accident on construction site to the tears of joy streaming down his face as he captured the Olympic gold medal in one of the most sensational matches in Olympic history.

I would recommend this book to absolutely everyone from ages 10-100 because it just goes to show that if u ever had a dream in your life and you are willing to capture it you just have to be able to reach out and grab it, but like in this life and just like in Kurt angles life nothing comes easy.

This book is a rollercoaster of ups and downs it will make you laugh and it will make you cry. When it's all over you will fill like you were right beside Kurt's side through it all living his dream with him. From winning the gold medal to be hated by the WWE fans all the way to being the WWE champion and being loved by millions. It goes to show that hard work and Kurt's 3 I's Intensity, Intelligence, and Integrity all pays off in the end if you want it bad enough you will achieve it. Kurt lived it. Read this book =)

This book I would say is smack dab in the middle as far
as wrestling books go. Not the best (Foley, Dynamite Kid,
Thesz, Meltzer) and not the worst (Rock, Chyna, DDP.
The stories of Kurt Angle's olympic and college wrestling
career and all the training he went thru make you appreciate
those sports in relationship to the professional ranks.
The problem comes when Kurt turns to his pro career.
To be honest, he hasnt been around long enough to have
a true book about it....but the other stories raise
it to so-so range as a whole

The best WWF book except for the Foley books. Rock and Chyna should really had better books, it could be done after reading this one.

The first part about Kurt Angle amateur wrestler is great and very informative about the sport and especially the trainning.

The second part about is WWF career is also very informative as he discover the world of sport entertainment and he is very insightfull on the developpment of his television character. A good way to see how you create a superstar.

He finish the book strong with a really good Vince McMahon story and reveal his final dream as one of the greatest wrestler of medern time. A must read for the real die hard fan of the business.

This is an awesome book about the fast rising star in the WWF. Kurt has won many amatuer wrestling titles including 1996 Olympics but his short WWF wrestling career European title and Intercontinental titles witin 5-7 months in the business is unheard of.Kurt is a fast rising star that has come through a lot of injuries to be one of the Top Stars in the business.If you love biographies about wrestlers this one is for you. This book is filled with stories about life behind the curtian (acceptence of other wrestlers). Not to mention a lot of good pictures in the book. I reccomend this book to ALL Wrestling fans.God Bless America

This book is a great autobiography from the Olympic gold-medalist and WWF Superstar Kurt Angle. It tells of all the obstacles he had to overcome to get to where he is today. He is a true role model, who proves once and for all that with hard work, determination, and with his three "I"s: intensity, integrity, and intelligence, you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.

And that... is true.

Kurt Angle's biography is a great read. The first 200 pages or so describe Kurt's childhood and how he progressed through amateur wrestling to win a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. I know nothing about amateur wrestling and yet I found the descriptions of the training and matches to be fascinating. Reading about the training Kurt put himself through for 2 years before the Olympics is enough to bring tears to your eyes. It is inspiring to hear about how Kurt focussed on his goal and then did everything he could to achieve it. The second part of the book, about 150 pages, describes how he got into WWE and gives a run down of the storylines he was involved with in his first couple of years. I was very interested in this as it's always nice to get the behind-the-scenes details on WWE programmes. He doesn't reveal anything particularly controversial or shocking, but it's interesting just the same.

Parts of the book surprised me. From watching Kurt when he joined WWE I had assumed he came from a fairly priveliged background, but that isn't actually the case. His family are working class and his father died when Kurt was still young. It was an event that, of course, had a huge impact on his life and was a driving factor in him wanting to win a gold medal in his father's memory. After Kurt won the gold he found himself at a loss for what to do next. The book goes into detail about how he eventually decided to join WWE after initially turning down a lucrative offer from them after the Olympics.

The book is sometimes inadvertantly funny because Kurt can come across as quite egotistical - which is very similar to the character he played in WWE. Many, many times in the book, Kurt uses these kind of phrases: 'It showed a lot of character to come back the way I did' or 'I'm a sports icon' or 'I did that quicker and better than anybody else'. On the other hand though, Kurt also describes times when he failed in doing something, such as when he was a sportscaster for Fox and he didn't get much training so he kept on messing up on air.

Overall, I recommend this book to people who enjoyed Kurt's character in WWE and want to find out more about the man behind the gold medal. It is also a story that is very inspiring because it shows that if you are completely focussed on your goal, and work hard at it, it is likely that you will succeed.

This book was very emotional. Kurt really brings you into his life. With the loss of his father and his grandmother, he shows you how hard it was to grow up not having a role model. When ever he did get a role model they always ended up dieing. kurt had used his famous three "I"s Intensity, Integrity, and Intelligence. He show you all of them through his life as a wrestler. This book shows how you can have the drive to do what ever you want to do in life.