Customer Reviews

The Rock Says...

5 star:		(222)
4 star:		(66)
3 star:		(34)
2 star:		(24)
1 star:		(33)

 

 

The Rock Says is not just about wrestling and that is a very pleasant surprise, I enjoyed gaining insight to the man behind the character. I especially appreciated the honesty in which he share expierences that were not only extremely personal but also very revealing, allowing the reader to share and understand his triumphs and his weakness and mistakes. The book reads quickly allowing the reader to move through the authors life to the moments that were most influential (and embarassing)to the individual we see on TV today. I enjoyed the second half of the book were we were given perspective from not only Dwayne Johnson but The Rock as well. (You can't help but laugh out loud at the characters outrageous comments) I have to honestly say that everytime I look at the character on Television I will have a greater appreciation of who he is, it will bring the reader much closer to the character and I imagine, can only increase the his popularity and visibility.

After reading Mick Foley's excellent "Have a Nice Day," I didn't expect much from The Rock's bio because I thought it would be a rush job. Not so. "The Rock Says" is a solid, thoughtful read that encompasses a love story (Rock and wife Dany), his tough days in Canada trying to make a football career, the prejudice his future wife's parents felt towards him, and his appreciation of the wrestling stars who helped him during his meteoric rise. Although written with a co-author, the book exudes the spirituality, competitive athleticism and great humor of The Rock (aka Dwayne Johnson.) His descriptions of the long, lonely nights on the road, the needed isolation from fans who intrude on his private life, and the unfailing devotion of his wife and parents are really inspiring. There are a number of chapters in which The Rock assumes his in-ring personna and they're just as funny and entertaining as he is on WWF. Women will love the story about how he backed out of a threesome (Dwayne and two women) in college the night he met the woman who would become his wife. Men will enjoy his detailed descriptions of matches as well as his candid handling of his father's battle with alcoholism. This book is a must for any fan of professional wrestling, packed with photos and overflowing with an insider's view of the sport.

As a ring announcer & commentator for professional wrestling matches, I have first hand experience of what transpires "behind the scenes". Dwayne Johnson aka "The Rock" does a fine job of taking fans into this once highly secretive and restricted area.

One complaint would be that the book is written in the Rock character at times. That aspect took from what could have been a captivating book.

I, as well as millions of other people, find the Rock to be an incredibly entertaining personality, but the most interesting parts of this book are clearly when the author speaks freely as Dwayne Johnson. The Rock is all over TV, magazines, cds, and nearly everywhere we look. The man behind The Rock is what makes a biography intriguing.

Dwayne Johnson surfaces on the pages for approximately 75% of this wrestling literary buffet. And he provides some great insight into his character and family history.

Some great highlights are when Johnson tells how he prepares his fantastic promos (promos are when wrestlers talk on the microphone). He also provides a few of his favorites while giving in depth insight as to what the situation was that led to the promo and what state of mind he was in at the time.

Dwayne Johnson shares his unique entry into the world of professional wrestling while explaining exactly how he constantly worked and improved in the WWF's farm wrestling league. Yes, the Rock literally wrestled in barns!

The Rock comes from a bloodline that is undoubtedly legendary in wrestling, yet he has eclipsed all of their fame. This book will provide fans and outsiders to wrestling with enough of this electrifying entertainer's life story and family history to make it a very worthwhile read.

I would have liked it to have been longer. It took me only 18 hours to read it from cover to cover, though I'm a quick read.

Maybe when the Rock's schedule lightens, he will pen another book entirely on his own. I look forward to it.

I picked up "The Rock Says" expecting to be disappointed after reading Mick Foley's outstanding book. I wouldn't say I was disappointed, but I wasn't thrilled either.

The Rock covers all the bases on his career, including his football days at the University of Miami and up in Calgary. He tells some decent stories - like picking through the trash in Canada - but seems preoccupied with sex and using profanity in places. There's also the occasional factual error - Rocky Johnson never won the Intercontinental title, despite what the Rock says.

The book then moves into coverage of the Rock's wrestling career and does a fine job of doing that, for the most part. Especially good is a full explanation of the Rock/Austin match from Wrestlemania 15 that provides a nice look behind the curtain.

Unfortunately, what ends up holding this book back is that there simply isn't enough there. The book is only 280 pages to begin with (compared to 500 for Mick Foley's), but when you subtract the 100+ pages of photographs, you're left with not nearly enough writing to justify the cover price. More detail would have been appreciated in all aspects - more stories about Memphis, more DETAILED coverage of the Rock's big matches, more discussion about his fellow wrestlers, more stories about his youth, just more of everything.

So to summarize, the book is good, it's well written, but ends up being too short to be fully satisfying.

Too many Rock fans seem to be prejudiced by their loyalty to the Rock in their reviews. Don't get me wrong I love the Rock, but after reading Mankind's book first, Rock's book was pretty awdul in comparison.

1) He did not write the thing, instead he got a freelance writer to "put his thoughts into writing". Folks-This is just not enjoyable to read, half of the time he is in his Rock character, the other half as Dwayne Johnson.

2) This book is way to short with way to many photos. After reading it I went back and judged that if you took out the pics and made the spacing and font the same size as Mick Foley's book you would have a 50 page autpbiography. Now I know that Dwayne Johnson is young, but I can write an autobiography longer than 50 pages, and my life has been boring!

3) The beauty of Mankind's book was that it was about other wrestler's as well. The Rock's book is a joke by comparision. Wait for the paperback to save the $, and then you'll agree with me on this.

After Mankind's book met with success, the WWF will be pushing other books. I just hope that fans can be better judges before they write reviews that lead to people wasting $20 on jibberish.

The Rock, the most electrifying man in sports entertainment tells his life story in his book, The Rock Says. Starting when the great One, Dwayne Johnson was born on May 3, 1972 all the way up to his professional wrestling career. Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a. The Rock tells all his secrets. Learn about his football career, his wife Dany, and how he came up with all of his best promos, like "Hey Jabroni," and "Know Your Role." In this book the Rock recalls his injury prone football career that fell down the drain, and how living that kind of life is not so glamorous at all. Read about how he got into the WWF after he lived off of spaghetti and slept on putrid stained mattresses. Learn about how he became The Rock. Read and find out about his "fake" rivals with Stone Cold, The Undertaker and Triple H. The Rock tells about his best friend Owen, and how his death affected the WWF. This is a great book about a person's life. So take a stroll down Jabroni drive, hook a left at the corner of Know Your Role boulevard, check yourself into the smack down hotel, and pick up a copy of The Rock Says like the millions and millions of The Rock's fans and enjoy the book. "If ya Smell What The Rock Is Cooking".

Dwayne Johnson is not Mick Foley. He's not Arn Anderson. His life story is his own, and The Rock is his own character. So...why are most of these reviewers angry with Johnson (and his book) for not being "Have a Nice Day" or "4 Ever"? I guess they wanted to spend 18 bucks on exactly the same thing they spent to read in Foley's (great) book, or whatever they spent to read in Anderson's book.

Don't get me wrong -- this book is *not* a masterpiece, like Foley's book. But it doesn't s#$k. In fact, it's a pretty good read. Dwayne Johnson has not done what Mick has, either in his life or in his book. What he has done is tell his own experience, his own life. And I think it's worth it to read it.

Yes, there is a big section in the middle in which he calls his own matches as The Rock speaking in the third person. But why are you all surprised? Did you think The Rock wouldn't show up?

Johnson refers to The Rock as a separate person throughout the book (as he should) because Dwayne Johnson *is not* The Rock. It's a character he plays, a skin he walks into when he works. I think that it is appropriate to give The Rock his own section because of his importance in Johnson's life. However, I do think it could have been cut in half without hurting a thing.

So here it is: The Rock starts on page 163 (Chapter 11) and Dwayne Johnson takes over again on page 227 (Chapter 14) and pretty much stays in control from there. I stuck with it and was not disappointed.

If you didn't stick, you missed Johnson's really cool rememberance of how he worked with Steve Austin to make the Wrestlemania XV match as good as they could get it and how they celebrated afterward. You missed the tribute to Owen Hart. You also missed what Dwayne Johnson thinks of The Rock as a character and a lot of his thoughts on the role of fans in his work.

Judge this book on its own merits. Johnson and his ghostwriter make a pretty good team, and the book is quite entertaining. If you can't handle as much of The Rock as Johnson dishes, skip that section. No one's twisting your arm to suffer through it, and it's very plain where it ends and where it begins.

-Last Satuarday (January 8th, 2000) was probably the biggest day of my life. The Rock was signing autographs for his new book, "The Rock Says..." at the world's biggest mall, the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. The setting was perfect. Being that the mall was only 4 miles from my house, I knew it was the place to be. I waited from 6:30am until 2:00 when he started signing and was #8 in line out of approx. 7,400 people in line. Overall, the newspaper reported 16,000 fans in the area he was signing, a record. Just to get a glimpse of the People's Champ. -So during 7 1/2 hrs. in line, I got my copy early at the mall, and read the whole book in about 4 hrs. I think it's really great. What's everyone's problem? I read Foley's book too and I admit, they are a world apart, but I judge a book by how much the reader enjoys it in general. If you are concerned about what he actually wrote in it and his wording wasn't right and the details are scattered, then that's different. In one of these reviews posted below, there is great anger from a reviewer that his career was more handed to him than Foley. It's true, but is that the problem w/ the book? Give me a break.....Also, The Rock did work hard. He wasn't popular until after nearly 3 long years and he created his character, which must have been difficult. The Rock has the best expressions, the best moves, and he is the best talker. In this book, a lot of these traits are talked about and there are a lot of interesting facts and information. Before I met The Great One, there was an announcement that The Rock will allow people to get up to 3 books signed each person. of course I got 3. They made it clear not to get upset at mall officials because it was The Rock's decision. He works hard to make people happy. When I met him, here's what happened: He greated me and HE gave me a handshake. He tole me thanks for coming out and take care of yourself. He was all smiles and always looked up. He spent over 1/2 a minute on me and that's with 7,400 people to go through in 2 hrs. (The next day, the newspaper reported 1,600 people got autographs) He knew that he needed to move fast, yet he took time to greet the fans and be REALLY friendly. He also gave a little speech before signing. This is his true character, and he is really a great person. The book shows that, and gives the inside scoop. If you are a Rock fan, believe me, you will like it. It wont meet Mick Foley's standards, but hey, this is a different style we are dealing with here. People shouldnt get so upset. It's a great book and easy to follow. I found flaws and ways I think could have made it better, but everyone finds flaws and there was NEVER a dull moment in the book. Its really exciting, and also full of bw and full color pictures.

I recommend "The Rock Says..." very highly.

This was GREAT. It was better than i thought it would be. If anybody thought Mandkind's book was good they should read this one. It is truly "THE MOST ELECTRIFYING BOOK IN THE WORLD TODAY" IF YA SMELL WHAT THE ROCK IS COOKING

I bought the Rocks book yesterday and let me tell you i finished it in about 5 hours, i could not put it down, from the tails of him as dwayne johnson, flex kavana and none other that the rock this book is very well written and has many stories you will remember for a very long time, i suggest anyone that watches profensional wrestling to buy this book as soon as possible, if you smelllllll what i am cooking!