The Book Challenge: An Introduction to Wrestling Autobiographies (Have a Nice Day!: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks - Mick Foley)

Member Name: triplecthegame

Product:	Have a Nice Day!: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks - Mick Foley
Date:	15/12/03 (185 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Realistic, Easy to Read, Gives an insight into the history of Wrestling

Disadvantages: a Bit gruesome at times

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I&#
39;ve got one word for you right now: Wrestling........................... Now what comes into your mind when you hear that word? Men in Lycra?, Face-Paint?, Fake moves? - if you're not a fan of the product then its more than likely one of the above, yet for Calypte n Mauri's challenge I'm aiming to change your mind on Wrestling Autobiographies, which are by and large an untapped resource of good literature, but people shy away because of their subject matter, and I personally couldn't think of a better way of getting into Wrestling Autobiographies than reading 'Have a Nice Day' by Mick Foley.

You look around at other autobiographies in general, i.e. not just wrestling ones a lot of the time they're dull, they talk about how a certain style of celebrity grew up (be it writer, actor, footballer or any other kind) and then how they got noticed, did a little bit of training then hit it big - almost every Wrestling Autobiography I've read have had different stories than that, The Hardy Boyz actually set up their own federation, Dynamite Kid started off by wrestling in UK towns like Cleethorpes, Brighton and Walsall, Jerry Lawler started off wrestling in front of crowds of no more than 30 people and Mick Foley got spotted by someone seeing a video which showed him jumping off his Parents Garage Roof. What all of these stories seem to have is realism - even more so than those of the other type of celebrity, and because of this I'd recommend that one day you pick one up, you may get openly surprised.

Now for people like myself the words Mick Foley instantly bring the picture of a wrestling legend into my mind (when I say people like me I mean long-term wrestling fans, I've been 'into it' since just before WrestleMania 8 - they're going to do Wrestlemania 20 in March of next year, and its an annual event so you get the picture yeah?). But to give the non-wrestling fan an idea of who he is, well I'll d
o my best - over the years hes wrestled as Cactus Jack, Mankind, Dude Love and on the odd occasion just stuck to his old Moniker of Mick Foley. Now Mick isn't an athletic wrestler, in his own words he has a huge ass, he weighs over 300 pounds and as a 'proper wrestler' (doing high-flying moves and tying peoples bodies up in knots) well he just plain sucks, but he was a huge hit with the crowd - mainly due to his kamikaze style of wrestling, putting his body on the line just so he could entertain the crowd and if possible the people back home watching on TV.

But back to the book - it opens with one of if not the most gruesome night of Micks career - the night most of his ear got ripped off in the ring (still want to say that wrestlings fake and it doesn't hurt?), and it opens with the German for 'Please don't forget to bring my ear in the plastic bag' (For those of you who must know it is: Vergessen Sie nicht, bitte, mein ohr in der Plastik Tasche zu bringen) and to think Mick continued fighting that night - all because he just adores the business, go into the book further and you'll find just how much Mick really does adore the business, as a kid he disobeyed his parents and hitch-hiked across country to see his hero Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka wrestle in a steel cage (little did Mick know that he was actually going to be shown on WWE Television nearly 2 decades later actually stood in that crowd), all he cared about not only on that night but in general is wrestling, and for a long time he actually wasn't making any money - but he didn't care, so long as he was wrestling.

But what I would say is don?t worry if you think all of the book is going to be as horrifying as that first chapter so obviously is - as you get to see an insight into 'the man behind it all' You do get some other stories that sound a bit gross to the casual reader, however this is someone who was once crowned 'the king of t
he death-match', has also wrestled on thumb tacks, been thrown off a 15 foot cage straight through a wooden announce position, taken countless shots to the head with 'Steel Chairs' (Yes they are steel - just very weak steel) and many other things that I daren't even describe for fear of ruining the book.

As an actual read the main stories you're going to get to hear of here are Mick's experience of wrestling the indy's (slang for the independent wrestling organisations - the ones who are lucky to get over 100 people in the crowd), to being invited to wrestle in WCW (World Championship Wrestling), to then going to ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling - and in there the emphasis was on Extreme!), achieving his first dream of joing the WWE (Formerly the WWF) and then his greatest moment - winning the Heavyweight Championship in the WWE.

The thing that draws you to this book is that Mick wrote it all himself, he was assigned a ghost-writer but didn't like the way that ghost-writer wanted to take the book, so convinced his bosses at WWE to let him write the book himself, they eventually agreed and asked him for 6000 words - Mick set to work, then came back to those self-same bosses with a 20000 sample for them to read - and this was down to 2 things, first Mick has a lot of stories to tell - and second once he put pen to paper, he'd found another passion in his life - writing. But the book itself doesn't feel like its so long, as its a book that you can just open and instantly start reading - its by no means small - 748 pages long (if you go for Paperback) yet it took me 3 days to read it, as it doesn't seem like a book - its more like Mick's decided to write a long letter to all his fans, and he's talking to you and no-one else, add in that he doesn't fawn away from making fun of himself or his long time friend Al Snow in the book either, and its just a fun book to read.

Its no surprise t
o me that Mick has gone on to write a second book about wrestling, before moving into fiction starting on Childrens Christmas Stories and then moving onto his first 'Adult Novel' - a very gruesome tale entitled 'Tietam Brown' which is definitely not for the weak of heart, he has a talent here that was untapped for a long time, and has only just been noticed, but everyone should be glad that it has been noticed - because to me Mick is one of the greatest authors of a long time - its just a shame he's got that stigma of being a wrestler - specially as he?s such a nice guy in real life too (Yes I've met him, he did a book-signing in Leeds and anyone wants proof? talk to me on MSN - my profile picture is me and Mick at that book-signing), so go out, buy this book - then get into reading Wrestling Autobiographies too, in total I've read 9, and I've only found one bad one - but in order of favouritism - well here have a list:

1. Mick Foley: Have a Nice Day: You've just read the review!

2. Mick Foley: Foley is God: Just as good as Have a Nice Day, but its more concentrated on the present day

3. Freddie Blassie: Listen You Pencil Neck Geeks: A book by a wrestling legend, and shows what wrestling was like back when it WAS real.

4. Dynamite Kid: Pure Dynamite: How a Brit can become a huge star in Japan and America in one easy book.

5. Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan: Self-Titled: Pure Humour all the way through

6. The Hardy Boyz: Live to Inspire: And inspire it does, read it and read how 2 kids were never determined to quit.

7. Jerry 'The King' Lawler: Its good to be King: An interesting look in to when wrestling was all about 'territories' and WWE was a long way away, also an interesting look into his 'feud' with Andy Kauffman.

8. Chyna: If Only they knew: A bit upsetting at times, and a very good story to show that rags to riches can happen <
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9. Hulk Hogan: Hollywood Hulk Hogan: Sorry but this one is pure pants, Hogan lies all the way through the book!

"THIS OPINION IS PART OF THE BOOK CHALLENGE-AN INTRODUCTION TO....If you had to persuade someone how good an author can be which book of theirs would you recommend as a first time read? Alternatively if you had to encourage a friend to read a particular genre (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Crime fiction etc.) or style (e.g. poetry) that they had always avoided which book would you recommend.

If you decide to take part please include Book Challenge- AN INTRODUCTION TO...in your title and include this explanation paragraph either at the beginning or end on the text if you want more information contact the Book category guides Mauri or Calypte"

Summary: