I encountered a Chapters and Pages Bookstore last Sunday. Now, you may be thinking "encountered" is a strange word to use when talking about a store, but that's only because Chapters and Pages (while having a few fixed location) is big on the travelling band of gypsy approach of selling books. They'd move from one mall to another, so it's basically several rows of bookshelves and a cash register machine doing the rounds.
They have pro-wrestler/color commentator Jerry "the King" Lawler's autobiography; "It's Good to Be the King... Sometimes" (hardcover too, not the paperback! though it's missing the wraparound cover.) in their 99 pesos Buy 1, Take 1 bin, which means buying it will only cost me a little less than 50 pesos. Which is great, except I already have it, bought it for roughly 250 pesos a year or so back. Thinking of what other books I could have bought with the 200 pesos I could have saved if I saw this sale back then...ugh! Now some people might say the extra money I spent is the price I pay to read them earlier, but since I actually frequent these places to save money and then I see the missed savings... well, forgive me for being irrational.
Now, pro-wrestling! I was a big fan of the sport (and yes i'm using the term loosely) when I was younger. Not so much now, especially since we decided to drop cable T.V. (In fact, I hardly recognize half of the current wreslers nowadays.) Still I try to buy wrestling books when I get the chance, it's actually a running joke during my college (of law) days, where my interest in the subject was well-known, one of my classmates quipped that I relax before exams by reading wrestlers' autobiographies (not particularly true, it could be any book,) still... I must have brought enough of them to school to elicit such comment.
Let's see... I own the following wrestler autobiographies:
Have a Nice Day! by Mick Foley
Foley is Good by Mick Foley
The Hardcore Diaries by Mick Foley
It's Good to Be the King... Sometimes by Jerry "the King" Lawler with Douge Asheville
TERRY FUNK More Than Just Hardcore by Terry Funk with Scott E. Williams
CHYNA If They Only Knew by Joanie Laurer with Michael Angeli
The Stone Cold Truth by Stone Cold Steve Austin with Jim "J.R." Ross as told to Dennis Brent
Hollywood Hulk Hogan by Hollywood Hulk Hogan with Michael Jan Friedman
To Be The Man by Ric Flair with Keith Elliot Greenberg
The Hardy Boyz by Matt and Jeff Hardy with Michael Krugman
Cheating Death, Stealing Life by Eddie Guerrero with Michael Krugman
The Rock Says... by Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson with Joe Layden
Adam Copeland on Edge by Adam Copeland
Heartbreak & Triumph by Shawn Michaels with Aaron Feigenbaum
It's True, It's True by Kurt Angle with John Harper
LITA A Less Traveled R.O.A.D. by Amy Dumas with Michael Krugman
The Fabulous Moolah by Lillian Ellison with Larry Platt
Listen, You Pencil Neck Geeks by "Classy" Freddie Blassie with Keith Elliot Greenberg
In the Pit wit Piper by "Rowdy" Roddy Piper with Robert Picarello
Bret "Hitman" Hart by Bret Hart with Perry Lefko
I'm Next by Bill Goldberg with Steve Goldberg
I Ain't Got Time to Bleed by Jesse Ventura
Other wrestling books I have:
WWE Legends by Brian Solomon
WWE Unscripted
Can You Take the Heat? by Jim "J.R." Ross (WWE Cookbook)
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pro Wrestling by Captain Lou Albano, Bert Randolph Sugar, and Roger Woodson (1st and 2nd edition...sigh< I could have saved money if I saw the 2nd edition first)
Sex, Lies and Headlocks by Shaun Assael and Mike Mooneyham
Hardcore History by Scott E. Williams
Drawing Heat by Jim Freedman
Slaphappy by Thomas Hackett
Wrestling's One-ring Circus by Scott Keith
Championship Wrestling by George Napolitano
Wrestling Madness by Matt Hunter
Some of them are a great reads (Mick Foley's in Particlular, but we'll talk about him later,) for the story behind the stories, as insights to (American) pop culture and tales of making it and the price for doing so. The only problem I have with some of them is that I don't think some of them deserves an autobiography. While I don't have a problem with say, Mick Foley or Steve Austin writing a book, because while relatively young, they've accomplished a lot in their carreer. On the other hand, with some of the other books, it seems the only reason for the book is to cash in on the popularity of the wrestler. Edge, for example hadn't even won the World Title yet when he wrote his book. Team Extreme (the Hardy Boyz and Lita) were too young to be releasing a book. Heck, I heard David Batista just released a book of his own, and I think I'm older then him. ('course if i ever see it, I'll be snapping it up as fast as could...sigh.) In fact, it seems that performers are getting younger and younger, as if the industry is using them up and discarding them faster and faster. Maybe that's another reason I stopped watching the thing, too many changes in too short a time and I couldn't relate to the sport anymore.
They have pro-wrestler/color commentator Jerry "the King" Lawler's autobiography; "It's Good to Be the King... Sometimes" (hardcover too, not the paperback! though it's missing the wraparound cover.) in their 99 pesos Buy 1, Take 1 bin, which means buying it will only cost me a little less than 50 pesos. Which is great, except I already have it, bought it for roughly 250 pesos a year or so back. Thinking of what other books I could have bought with the 200 pesos I could have saved if I saw this sale back then...ugh! Now some people might say the extra money I spent is the price I pay to read them earlier, but since I actually frequent these places to save money and then I see the missed savings... well, forgive me for being irrational.
Now, pro-wrestling! I was a big fan of the sport (and yes i'm using the term loosely) when I was younger. Not so much now, especially since we decided to drop cable T.V. (In fact, I hardly recognize half of the current wreslers nowadays.) Still I try to buy wrestling books when I get the chance, it's actually a running joke during my college (of law) days, where my interest in the subject was well-known, one of my classmates quipped that I relax before exams by reading wrestlers' autobiographies (not particularly true, it could be any book,) still... I must have brought enough of them to school to elicit such comment.
Let's see... I own the following wrestler autobiographies:
Have a Nice Day! by Mick Foley
Foley is Good by Mick Foley
The Hardcore Diaries by Mick Foley
It's Good to Be the King... Sometimes by Jerry "the King" Lawler with Douge Asheville
TERRY FUNK More Than Just Hardcore by Terry Funk with Scott E. Williams
CHYNA If They Only Knew by Joanie Laurer with Michael Angeli
The Stone Cold Truth by Stone Cold Steve Austin with Jim "J.R." Ross as told to Dennis Brent
Hollywood Hulk Hogan by Hollywood Hulk Hogan with Michael Jan Friedman
To Be The Man by Ric Flair with Keith Elliot Greenberg
The Hardy Boyz by Matt and Jeff Hardy with Michael Krugman
Cheating Death, Stealing Life by Eddie Guerrero with Michael Krugman
The Rock Says... by Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson with Joe Layden
Adam Copeland on Edge by Adam Copeland
Heartbreak & Triumph by Shawn Michaels with Aaron Feigenbaum
It's True, It's True by Kurt Angle with John Harper
LITA A Less Traveled R.O.A.D. by Amy Dumas with Michael Krugman
The Fabulous Moolah by Lillian Ellison with Larry Platt
Listen, You Pencil Neck Geeks by "Classy" Freddie Blassie with Keith Elliot Greenberg
In the Pit wit Piper by "Rowdy" Roddy Piper with Robert Picarello
Bret "Hitman" Hart by Bret Hart with Perry Lefko
I'm Next by Bill Goldberg with Steve Goldberg
I Ain't Got Time to Bleed by Jesse Ventura
Other wrestling books I have:
WWE Legends by Brian Solomon
WWE Unscripted
Can You Take the Heat? by Jim "J.R." Ross (WWE Cookbook)
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pro Wrestling by Captain Lou Albano, Bert Randolph Sugar, and Roger Woodson (1st and 2nd edition...sigh< I could have saved money if I saw the 2nd edition first)
Sex, Lies and Headlocks by Shaun Assael and Mike Mooneyham
Hardcore History by Scott E. Williams
Drawing Heat by Jim Freedman
Slaphappy by Thomas Hackett
Wrestling's One-ring Circus by Scott Keith
Championship Wrestling by George Napolitano
Wrestling Madness by Matt Hunter
Some of them are a great reads (Mick Foley's in Particlular, but we'll talk about him later,) for the story behind the stories, as insights to (American) pop culture and tales of making it and the price for doing so. The only problem I have with some of them is that I don't think some of them deserves an autobiography. While I don't have a problem with say, Mick Foley or Steve Austin writing a book, because while relatively young, they've accomplished a lot in their carreer. On the other hand, with some of the other books, it seems the only reason for the book is to cash in on the popularity of the wrestler. Edge, for example hadn't even won the World Title yet when he wrote his book. Team Extreme (the Hardy Boyz and Lita) were too young to be releasing a book. Heck, I heard David Batista just released a book of his own, and I think I'm older then him. ('course if i ever see it, I'll be snapping it up as fast as could...sigh.) In fact, it seems that performers are getting younger and younger, as if the industry is using them up and discarding them faster and faster. Maybe that's another reason I stopped watching the thing, too many changes in too short a time and I couldn't relate to the sport anymore.
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