evilclown Posted June 5, 2012 Report Posted June 5, 2012 This is a blatant shill from a regular lurker, infrequent poster. My new book is out this week, all about wrestling's real life tough guys. I hope you'll consider buying it, telling your friends about it, etc. http://www.amazon.com/Shooters-The-Toughes...=zg_bs_16594_38 Quote
Dylan Waco Posted June 5, 2012 Report Posted June 5, 2012 Strangely I ordered this at work about an hour before I saw this... Quote
khawk20 Posted June 5, 2012 Report Posted June 5, 2012 One positive for it is that it came up on an Amazon search for Billy Robinson's book last night. That bodes well for those interested in the topic to notice it and perhaps buy it. Quote
Dylan Waco Posted July 16, 2012 Report Posted July 16, 2012 I'm too lazy to do a huge write up of this now and may never get around to it, but this was a really good book. There were things I didn't necessarily agree with and certain verbiage that I thought was slightly misleading despite being basically accurate. But over all this is probably one of my favorite wrestling books ever just for the first third alone which focuses on the origins and early history of the wrestling business. Really enjoyed a lot of the stuff on Japan as well. Quote
puropotsy Posted July 18, 2012 Report Posted July 18, 2012 Just started this today, fantastic stuff. It was actually a gift from my student the day she finished her placement, this is what stood out to her when she went to look for a recent wrestling book. Quote
jdw Posted July 23, 2012 Report Posted July 23, 2012 This was a page turner, which isn't a phrase I would use for any pro wrestling book. Very solid, Jon. Quote
evilclown Posted July 24, 2012 Author Report Posted July 24, 2012 Thanks all for the kind words. Dylan, I'm interested in which areas felt "off." If we do well enough, I can have them fixed for a second printing. Also, an Amazon review would really mean a lot. I know it takes a few minutes, but it makes a huge difference for online sales if you can add one. Thanks. Jonathan Quote
Dylan Waco Posted July 24, 2012 Report Posted July 24, 2012 I don't want to nitpick the book, because overall I think it was excellent and includes the most readable account of the early history of wrestling that I've seen so far. Some of it is just stuff I disagreed with. For example I don't agree with your take that PWFG didn't take off because Fujiwara wasn't charismatic enough..or rather I don't think Fujiwara lacks charisma. Others were minor things where I thought the language could have been slightly different. For example when discussing Dr. Death and Gordy there was a reference to AJPW being an ultra violent, stunt heavy promotion or something very close to that. I get that the head dropping was going on then, but when people see something talking about super violent wrestling from Japan involving stunts they are thinking of guys rolling in barbed wire, not guys taking a bunch of backdrop suplexes. But overall this is a great book. Again the early history was incredibly well put together and I think did a good job balancing accounts. It's actually currently one of my staff recommendations at work. Quote
jdw Posted July 24, 2012 Report Posted July 24, 2012 Dylan, I'm interested in which areas felt "off." If we do well enough, I can have them fixed for a second printing. How much time do you have on that? There were a few things that I think could have been emphasized a little, such as elements of the Gotch-Jenkins series that fit into the gambling-booked view. It's been a long time since I read Yohe's piece on those matches, which you cited in the biblio... and lord knows it's been a decade or more since Steve and I talked about the matches and hashed out our thoughts (which are pretty close). It's less of a nit than playing a bit into some of the things you wrote, and also not paragraphs of content but sentences in a couple of places. John Quote
evilclown Posted July 25, 2012 Author Report Posted July 25, 2012 Dylan, I'm interested in which areas felt "off." If we do well enough, I can have them fixed for a second printing. How much time do you have on that? John Actually, I don't know it will ever happen. Total MMA had a second and third printing, but the MMA Encyclopedia didn't thrive and never will. I'd be happy to hear your thoughts though, and can change things when the rights come back to me eventually. Quote
Childs Posted August 17, 2012 Report Posted August 17, 2012 Got this and read it at the beach last week. It's very well done and something I will refer back to over the years. Quote
evilclown Posted August 17, 2012 Author Report Posted August 17, 2012 Got this and read it at the beach last week. It's very well done and something I will refer back to over the years. Thanks Quote
rovert Posted November 4, 2012 Report Posted November 4, 2012 FINALLY got round to finishing this off. John did a great job in making it as cohesive as it is given all the disparate strands the history of Shooters has. Also enjoyed the final few chapters - the Brock chapter in particular being a quasi update on the Total MMA book. Quote
JerryvonKramer Posted December 18, 2012 Report Posted December 18, 2012 I bought this book the other day and did not realise that the poster known as evilclown, with whom I had quite a tiff and accused of "absurd levels of pomposity" during the Sting mega-debate, wrote it. I would like to apologise once again for my decorum during that spat, and it is obvious I didn't realise who I was talking to (an actual wrestling historian!). Quote
WingedEagle Posted March 6, 2013 Report Posted March 6, 2013 Just got back from vacation and planned on plowing through this at the end but got caught up in an 800 page bio that's just about done. I may have to return to work tomorrow but I've got a week's worth of material on here to catch up on before then and absolutely looking forward to it. Quote
evilclown Posted March 6, 2013 Author Report Posted March 6, 2013 I bought this book the other day and did not realise that the poster known as evilclown, with whom I had quite a tiff and accused of "absurd levels of pomposity" during the Sting mega-debate, wrote it. I would like to apologise once again for my decorum during that spat, and it is obvious I didn't realise who I was talking to (an actual wrestling historian!). No problem. If you'd seen some of the things jdw and I have written about each other over the years it would make you blush. That Sting thread was long forgotten. Thanks for your support. Just got back from vacation and planned on plowing through this at the end but got caught up in an 800 page bio that's just about done. I may have to return to work tomorrow but I've got a week's worth of material on here to catch up on before then and absolutely looking forward to it. I hope you enjoy. Quote
Kevin Ridge Posted April 12, 2013 Report Posted April 12, 2013 Got to read this on my travels to WrestleMania. I was a bit weary due to the author's previous books being on MMA but thought was really good book. Favorite part was the first sections on the history of the earlier shooters. I've seen names from title histories but many of those guys I don't know much about so it was cool to get more info about them. Early Japan was good and I liked the chapter on Brawl for All. Some of the UFC/Pride stuff was interesting but the Sakurabu chapter did feel like it went on for a while. Lesnar chapter too. That does speak to my lack of interest in MMA though. Quote
jdw Posted April 12, 2013 Report Posted April 12, 2013 No problem. If you'd seen some of the things jdw and I have written about each other over the years it would make you blush. We were young and dumb. Now we're old and... er... something. John Quote
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