Book Review: Mankind Have a Nice Day!

It is no secret that I love the world of professional wrestling. I don't just like to watch it, I enjoy learning about it. From the history to the psychology to the real-life stories. In fact, I enjoy learning about professional wrestling than I do watching it.

I finally finished my book for the quarter and as you can guess, I read a book about professional wrestling and about one wrestler in particular, Mick Foley.

Now I have known about this wrestler (known as Cactus Jack back then) when I first started to watch wrestling back in '89-'90. He was a strange man. He didn't have the physique of a wrestler and he seemed to be a bit unbalanced. But I kinda liked him because he was different (and because he was a heel; and in the professional wrestling world, a heel means a bad guy) and really gave it is all.

This book chronicles his life as a professional wrestler and it was quite entertaining and full of interesting stories and facts. If you still think that professional wrestling is fake, you need to read just one chapter out of this book and it will convince you otherwise. Sure, the results are predetermined, but the match is not and actual fight is much more brutal and real than you think.

Mick Foley (as Mankind) is most famous in the professional wrestling world for this match.



One of his teeth split in half and it might have came through his nose because of the impact. And he talks about this match in depth in the book.

See that white thing below his nose? That was a partial tooth. And yes, those are thumb tacks.

But what made this book engaging is that you get to see the man behind the violent and strange characters he plays. Didja know he married a model? You got to see how he grow up and became a father and strove his hardest to take care of his family.

I do recommend this book. It is not like  the Bret Hart book I read last year, which while still entertaining, I think it appealed more to the hardcore fan of wrestling. This book was more for the casual reader which is why I think anyone would like reading this book. But I will warn you, it is not for the faint of heart. It can get pretty graphic about the brutality of his matches and lifestyle. But it will also make you laugh and you might come away with a little respect to the business of professional wrestling.

Up Next: Belinda Carlisle's Lips Unsealed.