OK, so I completely mark out for wrestling biographies and have read them all. That’s not completely true, I didn’t read Bill Goldberg’s book because he doesn’t interest me at all (the business is better off without him) and I didn’t read the Hardy Boyz book because they were so young when they wrote it, I didn’t think they could have life stories to tell, but apart from those exceptions, I have pretty much read them all.
I preordered a copy of Chris Jericho’s “A Lion’s Tale” months ago, it arrived a week ago, I finished it last night. Jericho’s book was a brilliant read, this is not true of all wrestler biographies, I read them to get a balanced view of things, but some of them suck. There were a lot of genuine laugh-out-loud moments in this book, and Y2J’s candidness was a stark contrast to some of the ego trips that have been other wrestlers books (and actually served to get him over). The decision to include the Benoit family in the book was a plus, I don’t understand why people seem intent on forgetting the Wolverines legacy, instead of forgetting his moment of madness. I guess including Benoit wouldn’t have been possible had it been a WWE book (they seem to be the chief proponents of the Benoit censorship campaign).
So, the big question is this: who better, Foley or Jericho? Well, I would suggest that people not familiar with the wrestling industry (people who can’t help but use the words “wrestling” and “fake” in the same sentence) read Mick’s first two books (which my friend Nige promised to read, if I remember correctly). However, if you know your fujiwara armbars from your figure four leg locks, then Jericho’s book should be your choice. In summary, best book goes to Foley, whilst best wrestling book goes to Jericho.