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`Illuminating... [Trower] does write extremely well.'
--Wanderlust, February 2007
--Wanderlust, February 2007
Arena magazine, January 2007
'Fascinating, funny, tragic and inspiring - it might even get you
back into the gym.'
back into the gym.'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Wrestling is not one of my favourite sports and at first glance I didn't think that The Last Wrestlers would be my kind of book. From the opening sentences, however, my interest was captured. I found the author's dogged singlemindedness, his tenacity and his determination to prove that wrestling and the cultural life of a country were closely linked, remarkable. Throughout, Trower involves his reader in the sights, sounds and characters of the countries he visits and in the frustrations he feels. His dry sense of humour and excellent style of writing place this book well above the average. There has never been a book about wrestling remotely like this before, and it is doubtful if there will ever be another. It is unique.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
"The Last Wrestlers" is one man's highly personal account of sporting obsession. Marcus Trower, rather like the characters in "Fight Club", despised his office job and lives for submssion wrestling. When a bout of ill health forces him to give up this physical outlet he embarks on a world tour to investigate the place of wrestling in other cultures where it is more highly valued than in Britain, where it's very much a minority pursuit.
Trower's interest and expertise in wrestling acts as a kind of visa enabling him to connect with people from a variety of different countries. In India, Mongolia, Brazil, Nigeria and Portsmouth pier, the author is able to gain access to people whose experience of life is very different to our own. I particularly enjoyed his skirmishes with interpreters, from an extrovert Nigerian academic to a former beauty queen who is possibly the worst person to choose to gain access to the celebrities which wrestlers are in Mongolian society.
I love Trower's turn of phrase. Modern gyms are, "a cross between an office, a show kitchen and a nightclub where everyone dances alone", in contrast to the feeling of fraternity he encounters in wrestling clubs.
There is also a kind of haplessness as he faces a bizarre range of replies to a Time Out ad for training partners, is forced to bathe in the Ganges out of an English sense of politeness and has to decide how many bottles of vodka to give as bribes to his interviewees.
At times the book is so detailed it may fail to hold the interest of non-wrestlers. But I found it immensely enjoyable and unexpectedly touching. Trower is a good writer and his mission is so obviously heartfelt that I was genuinely sad when it came to an end.
Trower's interest and expertise in wrestling acts as a kind of visa enabling him to connect with people from a variety of different countries. In India, Mongolia, Brazil, Nigeria and Portsmouth pier, the author is able to gain access to people whose experience of life is very different to our own. I particularly enjoyed his skirmishes with interpreters, from an extrovert Nigerian academic to a former beauty queen who is possibly the worst person to choose to gain access to the celebrities which wrestlers are in Mongolian society.
I love Trower's turn of phrase. Modern gyms are, "a cross between an office, a show kitchen and a nightclub where everyone dances alone", in contrast to the feeling of fraternity he encounters in wrestling clubs.
There is also a kind of haplessness as he faces a bizarre range of replies to a Time Out ad for training partners, is forced to bathe in the Ganges out of an English sense of politeness and has to decide how many bottles of vodka to give as bribes to his interviewees.
At times the book is so detailed it may fail to hold the interest of non-wrestlers. But I found it immensely enjoyable and unexpectedly touching. Trower is a good writer and his mission is so obviously heartfelt that I was genuinely sad when it came to an end.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Just finished reading this wonderful book. Its much more than a book about the ancient craft of wrestling. Its funny, its sad and it is beautifully crafted. This is a very honest book, that is clearly a very personal journey for Mr Trower. You get a real feel for the people and places that he travels to, and at no point do you get the sense that he has missed an opportunity to get to the bottom of his quest. The images that he provides in the countries he travels to are so vivid, I felt I was there with him, and indeed, I wish I had been. I have read a number of books in the last year. This is the best.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Perfect stocking filler for Christmas
I am very happily not a wrestling fan but I've become a fan of the author Marcus Trower whose personal journey in the Last Wrestlers unfolds with an evocative style that transports... Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2009 by H. Fazal
Excellent
I can't say that I had particularly high hopes for this when I bought it. I thought wrestling was 1970s World of Sport, or WWF/WWE. I realise now that I was so out of touch. Read more
Published on 27 Oct 2007 by Oscar The Hound
Fantastic travelogue-cum-sports book
Evocative and interesting throughout, this book suprised me in that I am a fan of certain aspects of its content but by no means an afficionado of the areas covered. Read more
Published on 14 Feb 2007 by Hywel
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