Wrestling Books

Perhaps all authors are contradictory in their own ways. That can be an endearing quality, an infuriating one, or both, sometimes simultaneously. Ever since Richard Marius read the philosopher W. T. Stace in Freshman Composition, he never again rested easy with faith. In looking at his life from the long perspective, though, he was perhaps the better for it, since his struggle with the concept of faith seemed to have made him -- in his own way, at least -- all the more profoundly religious. In a sense, this small volume marks a series of milestones for Richard Marius, because it is a collection of sermons and meditations over the entire course of his adult life from his young days as a Baptist preacher through his tenure as university professor to his final days as a simple seeker of truth, goodness, beauty, and meaning. Just as the title of this volume indicates, through all of the pieces we can see Marius wrestling with God, almost as vividly as the account in Genesis wherein the patriarch Jacob does the same thing. No matter whether the reader is a fundamentalist, a nonbeliever, or at any point on the spectrum between; these homilies, meditations, sermons, whatever you wish to call them, will force you to stop and think. If I could pick one or two meditations over any other (and that's no easy task), I would say that anyone who dares mouth the name of "Jesus" and "God" should read and ponder over the fourth and fifth meditations, "What Shall We Do With Jesus?" and "The God Beyond God."

Wrestling with God is a trilogy of mystical dramas, each dealing in its own way with the themes of life and death, love and loss, God and pain. The dramas are brilliantly imaginative and display excellent authorial creativity. Additionally, the dramas maintain a high degree of complexity as they integrate settigns from one world to the next, and as they draw upon characters and beliefs from different times and places. Perhaps the finest example of this is in the second drama, in which the biblical charachter Lazarus converses with both Zeus and Jesus. These qualities demonstrate remarkable creative acumen in the author.

Above and beyond that, however, what makes these dramas truly brilliant is the author's clear grasp of fundamental human questions: What comes next? Why does pain abound? What brings fulfillment? What is our relationship with God? His words show a remarkable ability to expose the human mindset. In my opinion, Lass' talen in this regard rivals Dostoyevsky's. If you have enjoyed the latter, and if you appreciate the exploration of the human mind and soul, then I highly recommend this book to you.

The book is a study of men, written from a man's perspective. Did you ever wonder why men are so complicated? This book will not "fix" your relationship, but it will reveal to you the legitimate reasons why the man in your life is so weird, at the same time needy and aloof. The book is not hypothetical, it's about Sam Osherson's observations of real men in his life and practice. These are not "damaged men," but the way men just happen to be. Osherson shows that it's not easy to be a man: there are major tensions in the meaning of manhood, and every man has to find his own way to play them out. I came away from this book overwhelmed by a strange empathy for men. Men are far more sensitive creatures than we had ever imagined, and Osherson has shown us that studying them with compassion--whether it's in your home, your office, or even your long-ago memories--can be an immensely satisfying experience.

For the first time in my life after reading this book, I think I finally have the vaguest understanding of men. Having been married for almost ten years, my husband is no longer a huge enigma. I can't say that I completely understand him, but at least I have a general idea of his motivations and fears. I don't completely grasp everything about his psyche, but then where would the fun be.

Wrestling With The Angel showcased the verse of poet, writer and filmmaker Armando P. Ibanez when it was first published in softcover in 1997. Now in a new hardcover edition that has been expanded to include twenty-three additional poems (including a trilogy and an epilogue on the senseless attack on the World Trade Center Towers), Wrestling With The Angel will introduce a whole new readership to the poetic stylings of a polished and accomplished poet who writes with an undeniable and spiritual passion about the human condition. Mi Angel: An angel lazily floated in the sky,/his gray veil/moist with rain drops/gently fell on the thirsty grass below.//He scratched his head/and playfully tossed his silver gray hair/that captivated the sun's smile,/while teasing the trees/with his cool breath/he knelt on the hill to pray to the havens.//Spreading his wings/he kissed the earth/and gracefully flew towards the west/where he met the others/and quietly left.

Not since THE ARTIST'S WAY and INTO THE DEEP: A WRITER'S LOOK AT CREATIVITY have I read a book as attuned to the writer's psyche as WRESTLING WITH YOUR ANGELS. Through stories of her personal experiences and those of her students and colleagues, Ms. Hagberg not only teaches practical methods, such as recognizing learning styles and integrating them into writing life, but she encourages writers to take insight and experience to a deeper level, using journal work, writing exercises, visualization and dreams. If you've reached a plateau in your writing and want to reach that next step, or if you have a particularly nasty self-editor who harps at you while you write, I recommend this book. It's fairly short, 180 pages including the bibliography, but you won't be sorry. Dynamite comes in small pacages

Well if you are and you love wrestling toys this book is a must have it. It has all the WWF, WCW and ECW action figures in side. For Hasbro to Jakk this book has it all

Listen up all you geekish book readers.Who cares about reading the book just look at the pictures.Thats a good way to learn.The book looks interesting to look at when the Deadman was with the Ministry of Darkness and the Corporate Ministry.But who the heck cares about reading something when you can look at the pictures in the book.After all.They say a picture is worth a thousand words.Or maybe a million.

Mick Foley is truely a gifted individual.Ive watched him professionally for many many years,his in ring talents never faltered.His have a nice day book was a fabulous,and Foley is good is right on its tale.I look for ward to reading more by this author.This book is certainly something id recomend for any Mankind or Mick Foley fan.As well as westling fans alike.Even those just curious about the sport.

I read Mick's first book when it first came out and enjoyed it immensely. His writing style is so personal, it's almost like we became friends. I've been to Santa's Village with my kids many times, and Mick seems to be the type of guy that wouldn't mind having a quick picture taken with him. He's just a regular down-to-earth guy, and I admire his ability to write his own material without the use of a ghostwriter.

Over the years, and as I age (I'm now 36), I admit I've lost touch with most of the wrestling world. I was a HUGE fan in the 80's and 90's. Mick's first book brought back memories. This book was very informative as well, particulary the epilogue. It's loaded with Al Snow and Test jokes, as well as going behind-the-scenes with great information about certain matches over the years. I read this book (about 475 pages) in a few days, and had trouble putting it down. His writing style and approach just clicks with me.

Why then, only four stars? Simple. It's nearly impossible to follow up a classic with a classic. It's like when AC/DC's "For Those About to Rock" album was released in 1981. Did it go to number one on the charts? Sure it did. Did it sell over four million copies? Sure it did. Did it measure up to it's 1980 predessesor "Back in Black" (Twenty-two million copies sold)...no way.

Unfortunately for Mick, his first book was so good, one could say he peaked too early. Once you hit the peak of the mountain, it's impossible to go any higher, and there's only one way left to go...down. Still a great read. If this were his first book, I'd give it five, but when compared to Have a Nice Day, just comes up a bit short...(but still great...do you know what I mean?)

Foley is a good writer, has a great sense of humour intermingled with some insights into the world of professional wrestling.

Very much not the stereotypical wrestling thug but a man with an opinion and the ability to voice it.

This book is not as good as his first book but it is still an entertaining read. Just wish he hadn't toed the WWE line and said that he hadn't seen anyone use steroids there. Bit fanciful.

Mick Foley's sequel to "Have a Nice Day" is good, but not great. Of the three he has written, it is not the best of the three.

However, it is still a very good book and an entertaining read. The part where his words were spileced to make the point NBC was trying to make about professional wrestling is a great example of media manipulation, and it couldn't have happened to a nicer, more sincere person as Mick Foley.

True fans of the work inside and outside of the ring still need to have this book.

With the massive success of "Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks" it seemed unlikely that a wrestler/entertainer would put out another autobiography only a year after the first. Having told all in the last 800 pages or so, what new could he possibly tell us in another 500?

With the pace pro wrestling moves, an assload, and not only that, but with his personal life as well. Much of the book focuses on his fun and spellbinding journey through 1999 in the WWF, with the main subject being his pain from years of hard wrestling. There's also a lot of focus on his Royal Rumble 1999 match with The Rock, and the documentary Beyond the Mat, which featured footage of his wife and children crying as Mick was hit about 9 times more than originally agreed upon by The Rock with a steel chair.

It becomes obvious by at least Wrestlemania XV that Foley is close to retiring, and his in-ring wrestling quality notably deteriorates. He more than makes up for this with great charisma, and truly humorous promos, interviews, and just random things he did in his career then.

Some of the book is simply repeated in the documentary portion of the video/DVD "Hard Knocks and Cheap Pops", but a lot of the book is also dedicated to things outside of wrestling, from Foley's book writing, his interviews with prime time news programs, and the experience of having his interview manipulated to make him look like an uncaring asshole, and defending the WWF against such reports as the Indiana University one which, as Foley discovered after calling the professor heading the research, was grossly exaggerated and mis-represented, with absolutely no fact-checking occurring afterwards. Foley then takes the opportunity to conduct a similar study with watching hours worth of soap operas and sitcoms---and the results are astounding, as going by the standards set by the study, he finds the amount of reported "sex acts" to vastly outnumber those in the WWF, and simulated "drug use" (which included alcohol) to far outnumber those in the WWF.

The latter part of Foley's book is very sharply devoted to defending the WWF against the usual gauntlet of highly intolerant, narrow-minded conservative groups and people who used the WWF as the scapegoat for acts of violence among children, TV violence and sex, and other issues of "morality" and the like.

Brent Bozell is especially harsh on the WWF, and thus Foley is especially harsh on him, exposing him for the cold, harsh, hypocrite he is (if Foley's facts are accurate), to the amount of acts of children killing children blamed on wrestling, when in fact out of the many cases used by the likes of Bozell, virtually none of them could be directly attributed to pro wrestling, and the few that did being largely the result of parental incompetence and anti-social and sociopathic behavior of the children carrying out the crimes.

His first book is definitely better, but this one is not in the same category, as it explores beyond his wrestling career of the past and focuses more on that of 1999-2000, and his career and life outside of wrestling, including humorous tales of his fandom of Britney Spears, and coming out to his friends with this, to discover The Blue Meanie, Edge, Stevie Richards, and others are also Spears fans, as well as finally explaining the legend of the Penis Suplex, and its origin.

Highlight: An audition for a commercial with Jerry Seinfeld in New York which many wrestlers attend, including ECW stars. When asking Taz (Peter Senerchia) if he could guarantee Jerry's safety during the shoot, Taz, acting on their fears of wrestling being real, replies "I can't guarantee nothin'. If Jerry gets in there with me, he's kind of taking his chances."