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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing,
This review is from: Tonight in This Very Ring: A Fan's History of Professional Wrestling (Paperback)
Todd Martin just wrote a comprehensive review on wrestlingobserver.com that absolutely destroys this book. That review is particularly informative as to the plethora of factual errors and unfounded rumors one finds in the book. I am a big fan of Scott Keith's work, but after two books, it has become immensely clear the former "Netcop" should confine himself to the net. The title itself is misleading, as several reviewers have pointed out. The book is not a "history" of pro wrestling, but a chronicle of the last five years. The "history" of the previous 30 years is little more than a rushed introduction. Arguably, Scott Keith isn't a "fan" either. He admitted that after Owen Hart's tragic death, it's immensely difficult for him to be entertained by the WWF/E anymore. I had two major problems with the book. Firstly, much of it is composed of material that can be obtained online for free .... While it may have made sense for Keith to include his "King Lear" and "Lazarus" rants, it was a huge mistake for him to include his match reviews of pay-per-view events, written when they had occurred. Since Keith simply pasted the reviews without editing them to fit the context of the book, they often seem out of place, confusing and at times, even contradictory to what he just wrote. They would refer to storylines and characters not mentioned in the book, and often Keith would speculate in a review about what would happen the next night on Raw (without informing the reader of what actually did occur). This was a double-edged sword. Readers who'd never read the reviews before would be confused, fans who did read the reviews when they were originally written would justifiably feel ripped off. The other major problem is that despite the title advertising this as a "history" book, not one of Keith's assertions is backed up by a citation. This is particularly troubling given the rather gruesome drug (and sex)-related allegations Keith makes about people such as Missy Hyatt, Tammy Sytch, Jimmy Snuka and a whole host others. It is virtually impossible for the reader to distinguish between documented fact and unfounded internet rumor. The really sad aspect of all this is that Shaun Assael (a writer for ESPN) came out with a book a year before this one detailing virtually the same time period in wrestling, Sex, Lies and Headlocks. Despite the fact that Keith has probably seen more wrestling in the past year than Assael has in his lifetime, the latter's book is clearly superior in terms of accuracy, writing style and research. I strongly recommend that book, especially if you want to learn about past WWF scandals such as the 1994 steroid trial. Tonight . . . In This Very Ring is not worth your money.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Fun, but not very professional,
By A Customer
This review is from: Tonight in This Very Ring: A Fan's History of Professional Wrestling (Paperback)
Keith's book is one of many that have come out within the past year that purports to be an accurate history of wrestling (or, at least, that of the history of WWE). And as with many of the others, it turns out to be mainly sour grapes by a writer who has a vendetta against many of the people he is writing about.Saying that, Keith is at least a bit more upfront of his biases, stating quite clearly that the work is his perspective of wrestling in the past few years and not an indepth, balanced study. However, that is part of the problem with the book as well: the book reads as if talking with a drunk, angry - but knowledable - fan who hates watching, but is too compulsive (and likes arguing too much) to stop. Like being stuck in an elevator with a Star Trek geek who no longer likes Star Trek, only with the occasional laugh line. Keith covers a lot of material in the book, but none of it on a level that seems to say anything beyond whether he personally liked it or not. To some, that may be the fun part about reading the book; to others, it may be like some type of Chinese water torture, especially as Keith's inability to review without sticking in personal, sometimes nearly libelous, comments gets a bit predictable early on. The best suggestion I can give for anyone curious about the book is to read several of Keith's reviews on-line. If you like his style there, then you'll probably like the book. But, beware - most of the material on-line is nearly word-for-word what you'll read in the book. Overall, a bit bland, repetitious, and inaccurate in a few places due to the "rant" nature of the writing. It is also a bit short, with mediocre layouts and a rather weak photo section. Probably would make for a better buy used than new. Meanwhile, a more definitive book about the ups and downs of professional wrestling in the U.S. is still out of the reach of readers everywhere.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good for casual wrestling fans, weak for the hardcore ones,
By
This review is from: Tonight in This Very Ring: A Fan's History of Professional Wrestling (Paperback)
Normally, I like Scott Keith's writing fairly well, but that's usually in short doses when he recaps various shows and videos. The problem is, his schtick kinda wears really thin over the course of a full-length book. There's only so many times in a book someone can write about how they don't like this person or they don't like this idea without it getting pretty repetitive. And what makes it worse is that Ketih is pretty unoriginal with his jabs at Triple H, Vince McMahon, etc. often repeating the same things several times. Not that he doesn't have valid points, but they lose their impact when he spends the majority of the pages saying some combination of the same things. There are moments of real insight and you tell Keith is really interested when he talks about some angles in such detail that he spends two or three pages on one or two months worth of shows. But, in contrast, sometimes he sums up half a year in the same amount of space as well.Like I said, I normally like Scott Keith and his rant-style, but it just kinda gets old after a hundred or so pages. I guess that's why I'm dissapointed with the book, because I'm a wrestling fan, but Keith, whether he meant to or not, geared this book to the "marks" and the less knowledgeable of wrestling's history and backstage politics. I'll keep reading his Smark rants, but when I want long form wrestling writing, I'll stick with Chris Hyatte.
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