Jones shows that the best professional wrestling is a kind of primal theater, and a far cry from the much more brutal mixed...
A tight yet thorough history of wrestling as "sports entertainment"—read that as meaning staged—from Jones.
This is not the story of the sport or of two Olympians or high schoolers going at it for pin or points, but of the art of making the blows and throws look like the real thing while the outcome has been predetermined. Sometimes that is a little difficult to understand from Jones’ text—“Fans understand. They know what wrestling is all about: Two men, one ring. The main event,” doesn’t exactly chime with “the fix is in.” Similarly, the notion of staged fighting is at odds with the very real damage that can be done, as when Killer Kowlaski ripped off Yukon Eric’s ear during a turnbuckle slam. Indeed, it is a tribute to Jones that he acknowledges the increasing thuggishness of professional wrestling in the 1990s that turned many away, a trend that was gradually averted. But Jones is also a fan, one who can see the fun and appreciate the personalities and the drama. He gets fairly involved in tracking the evolution of the various professional circuits and the shenanigans of the promoter Vince McMahon, but he hits an enjoyable stride when telling the stories of ring heroes—Gorgeous George, Strangler Lewis, Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker, The Rock—their famous bouts and their signature moves.
Jones shows that the best professional wrestling is a kind of primal theater, and a far cry from the much more brutal mixed martial arts, which is sadly eclipsing its fan base. (Nonfiction. 10-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7613-8635-3
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012
In no particular order and using no set criteria for his selections, veteran sportscaster Berman pays tribute to an arbitrary gallery of baseball stars—all familiar names and, except for the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez, retired from play for decades. Repeatedly taking the stance that statistics are just numbers but then reeling off batting averages, home-run totals, wins (for pitchers) and other data as evidence of greatness, he offers career highlights in a folksy narrative surrounded by photos, side comments and baseball-card–style notes in side boxes. Readers had best come to this with some prior knowledge, since he casually drops terms like “slugging percentage,” “dead ball era” and “barnstorming” without explanation and also presents a notably superficial picture of baseball’s history—placing the sport’s “first half-century” almost entirely in the 1900s, for instance, and condescendingly noting that Jackie Robinson’s skill led Branch Rickey to decide that he “was worthy of becoming the first black player to play in the majors.” The awesome feats of Ruth, Mantle, the Gibsons Bob and Josh, Hank Aaron, Ty Cobb and the rest are always worth a recap—but this one’s strictly minor league. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4022-3886-4
Page Count: 138
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
Hockey was born in Canada, so it comes as a shock to learn that the first Inuit to play in the National Hockey League was Jordin Tootoo, who made it to the Nashville Predators in 2003. This profile comes as a salubrious corrective. Florence tracks Tootoo’s life from its start up near the Arctic Circle—he grew up in a remote community that still lives by hunting and fishing (“For us, fast food is when you shoot an animal and eat it right there”) and where you could skate on the frozen land for half of the year—and then through the years of league play in preparation for a professional career. Readers get a clear idea of how difficult it can be to be groomed for the NHL: Tootoo left home at 14 to pursue his dream—especially difficult on this tight-knit family—and had to contend with racism and the suicide of his much-loved older brother at a brutally young age. His story unfolds in darting, often concussive sentences that mimic the tempo of a hockey game as well as Tootoo’s agitational, bang-’em-up style. Like her subject, the author doesn’t pull many punches in Tootoo’s rousing, rather hard-bitten tale, which, thankfully, has a storybook ending aimed directly at teenage-boy reluctant readers. (Biography. 11-15)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-55277-529-5
Page Count: 112
Publisher: James Lorimer
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2011
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