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The Wrestling
 
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The Wrestling (Paperback)

by Simon Garfield (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 208 pages
  • Publisher: Faber and Faber; New edition edition (7 Jul 1997)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0571190669
  • ISBN-13: 978-0571190669
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.4 x 1.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 335,202 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review
If you grew up watching television wrestling on Saturday afternoons and attended bouts at the local town hall in the evenings, this book stirs up all kinds of memories. There is more to The Wrestling than that, however, as Simon Garfield resisted the temptation to plug straight into nostalgia and instead allows the wrestlers to tell their own stories. The result is the sad tale of the irrevocable decline of a once great entertainment, brightened by flashes of earthy and at times surreal humour. The image of the red woollen masks of Brian Glover's wrestler father hanging on the washing line outside his home in Barnsley to the bafflement of the neighbours is one of great pathos and humour. Review by Harry Pearson, whose books include 'A Tall Man in a Low Land' (Kirkus UK)

Product Description
A humorous exploration of the strange world of British professional wrestling, which was watched on television by millions in the 1970s and 1980s. It tells the story of Kendo Nagasaki, Mick McManus, Les Kellet, Klondyke Kate and Dr Death - men and women who "fought" each other every night.

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A very British "sport"......, 14 Jan 2000
By RJ Grove (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
Whilst wrestling thrives in the rest of the world its British cousin seems in terminal decline. This is the background against which Simon Garfield stirs the meomories of the "glory days" of wrestling in Britain. He tells the tale through the words of others and has produced not a definitive history but an entertaining parable of egotistical "characters" and rivalries that last to the present day. The book is never completely open about the realities of a professional wrestling match but instead allows the reader to feel like an outsider hearing careless wispers from behind the curtain. The vow of silence these men took seems to remain with most of them today. This is to some extent misguided, as anyone who is a fan of America's WWF knows. There the big names to not "insult" the fans intelligence by insisting it is real at all costs. In interviews and books outside the WWF's world (and sometimes in it) they make no secret of the way things are. And that is why so many people find it a form of entertainment that appeals to them. The wrestlers for the most part make up history to suit there own ends and thus presented together on the page form a hilarious patchwork of stories. Sometimes all the contributers are pulling in the same direction and a heart warming (or horrifying) story presents itself. Other times it desends into funny or meloncoly slanging matches about who "f***ed it all up". This is a slightly frustrating book if you already are aware of some of the behind the scenes bust ups and stories but to others it will delight at every turn. The last 2 chapters are the most depressing with two young(ish) talents from the current scene are quietly wallowing in the poverty of British wrestling as they compete with insulting rip-offs of WWF characters (usually the ones they ripped off were rubbish in their first incarnation). The underground scene has picked up slightly since the book was written with talented foreigners visiting occasionally and some "new-age" talent popping through. However the only thing that drives these youngsters on is getting out to America or Japan. At the base end of the market promoters are still presenting the outdated style of many mentioned in the book and the product is slowly dying. This book leaves us with lovely memories of a very British "sport".......one which is gone, best forgotten.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Tragi-Comedy, 6 Oct 2000
When I think of the (few!) books I've read in the past 5 years, this one keeps coming back to me. Simon Garfields style of quotation over narration (as per his Radio One book - almost as great as this) works well here with an obviously (inadvertantly in some cases) hillarious cast of heros, daredevils and madmen who loved the sport and reaped very few benefits. It's a sad story of the decline of a great 'spectacle' I loved in my youth on World Of Sport. Listening to the stories of being paid 15 quid a fight and squashing the puss out of pig-bitten fingers pre-fight only makes you love this era more and wonder quite where it all went wrong with American Wrestling! Gloriously entertaining stuff.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars the best of uk wrestling, 31 Mar 2003
By geoff turner (west yorkshire,england) - See all my reviews
Simon Garfield gives a timely reminder of the days before the World Wrestling Federation,a time when World of Sport was supreme and Saturday afternoon was taken up with an old friend Big Daddy beating the shhhh out of the masked man Kendo.A totally different world to todays superstars but to those of us in the UK who remember the times a worthy publication.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars the definative book
This has to be the definative book about British wrestling,written at just the right moment in time before the likes of Giant haystackand Les Kellett had gone to the big ring in... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mb Davis

5.0 out of 5 stars A walk down memory lane......
It is all here in this lovely book by Simon Garfield. For those of us who remember "Good Afternoon Grappling Fans!" by Kent Walton, this book is a must. Read more
Published on 26 Jun 2007 by L. Hay

5.0 out of 5 stars The Wrestling has never been told with such love
What can I say about this book it is truly an outstanding piece of literature on the beloved spectacle that is known as Wrestling, it will make you laugh and cry and share the... Read more
Published on 9 Dec 1998

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