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srossi
| Joined: | Sun Oct 14th, 2007 |
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Posted: Thu Oct 18th, 2007 11:05 pm |
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I'm about halfway through Larry Matysik's book on Bruiser Brody and I'm very disappointed.
First, there's an extremely long and rambling foreward by Dave Meltzer that's poorly written (what else is new) and not at all focused. OK Dave, you got an MMA reference in there, good for you. It's all over the place.
Then after all that there's an "Introduction" by Jim Ross where he calls Brody "The Original Cerebral Assassin" and plugs WWE 24/7 by saying thank God we can watch Brody matches on that fine station (call your cable company and order today!).
Then the book FINALLY begins and instead of a real narrative we get Matysick editoralizing about how evil Jose Gonzalez is and how he got away with murder. Now I think everyone reading would agree but it needs to be presented in some type of professional way that resembles what an author would actually write, not the ravings of someone who claims to be a close friend and wasn't even there. The quotes used by eyewitnesses were overshadowed by Matysick's melodramatic writing. And the funny thing is that I went into the book hating Gonzalez and after reading about the horrible way that Brody treated him for years, I started thinking, "Eh, it doesn't make it right but I can kinda see why he finally snapped." So that backfired on Matysick.
Then as you read deeper you realize that this book really is about Matysick and how great St. Louis was, not about Brody. I could deal with that shit in "Wrestling at the Chase" because it was a book about St. Louis and I enjoyed it and took it for what it was (heavily biased) but I don't need entire chapters in a book about Brody to be dedicated to St. Louis wrestling. And there should not be quotes around comments that Brody supposedly made saying things like "The NWA World title hasn't meant anything since Sam Muchnick stopped booking it" and "Sam Muchnick is the only promoter who doesn't rip off the talent". Brody's been dead for 20 years, don't quote him unless you actually recorded him saying that stuff and can prove it. And I sincerely doubt he said anything of the sort based on what others said about him.
There's a brief backstory on Brody's past before wrestling (not extensive enough) and a chronoligically jumpy look at his career. Maybe I just expect more after reading amazingly well-researched books like Tim Hornbaker's book on the history of the NWA and Greg Oliver's and Steve Johnson's awesome books "The Heels", "The Tag Teams" and "The Canadians". But Matysick is your typical wrestling "insider", short on research and long on hyperbole.
Saving graces include the short chapters interspersed throughout written by Brody's widow which offer unique insight into him personally and some decent (though not well-presented or well-edited) quotes by some of the wrestlers who knew him.
All in all, not up to snuff with other recent wrestling books. The bar has been raised and I expect real research and insight. I at the very least expect the author to come across like an author and not a mark.
Thoughts?
Last edited on Thu Oct 18th, 2007 11:14 pm by srossi
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beejmi
| Joined: | Sat Oct 13th, 2007 |
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Posted: Thu Oct 18th, 2007 11:18 pm |
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There's a "Book Review Forum" joke that I will have to tell you one day off the board.
Well, if the thing focuses primarily on St Louis, for the most part, what years of his career are covered in this thing?
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srossi
| Joined: | Sun Oct 14th, 2007 |
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Posted: Thu Oct 18th, 2007 11:24 pm |
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Well then PM me fucker! Preferably on OSW's PM. 
So far, halfway through, nothing other than St. Louis is covered in detail because Matysick wasn't anywhere BUT St. Louis and didn't research. Obviously other territories and incidents in those territories are mentioned, but nothing substantial. Compare that to his time in St. Louis where Matysick talks in detail (at least for him) about all of Brody's NWA title matches and the 3 times he did clean jobs in the territory (twice to Race in 2/3 falls matches, once to DiBiase). He even mentions what the finisher was in each fall. Everything else is vague like "And then he went to Australia for a little while, then to Japan...".
Last edited on Thu Oct 18th, 2007 11:26 pm by srossi
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khawk
The Poster Of The Year
| Joined: | Sun Oct 14th, 2007 |
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Posted: Fri Oct 19th, 2007 01:02 am |
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I agree with pretty much everything rossi has said about this book. It's mostly another collection of Matysik kissing the ass of Sam Muchnick, Brody, and St. Louis wrestling. I got enough of that in the Chase book.
We also get told time and again that brody refused to put people over for the good of the sport and all this other shit. But he was Brody, so it was ok.
I found the writings of his wife interspersed with Matysik's chapters made it all read very disjointed. Telling two stories at once can work very well if done properly. Here, it killed whatever flow the book even began to have.
Very disappointing effort.
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sportatorium roach
| Joined: | Tue Oct 16th, 2007 |
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Posted: Sat Oct 20th, 2007 06:20 am |
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I agree with srossi, it could of been much better...
We have a book on Bruiser Brody, who has been gone for 20 years now, yet Meltzer manages to write about MMA in the very unfocused forward. I thought Meltzer finally had an editor/spellchecker following him around.
I live in a suburb of St. Louis, so it was interesting to read about Belleville, Interstate 255, the airport (I work about two miles from that)... but there should of been more about other places Brody worked.
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The Ultimate Sin
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Posted: Sat Oct 20th, 2007 03:32 pm |
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I haven't read the book, but you guys missed a lot of the key points because you weren't there.
Did I also point out that I am a Chiropractor. And no matter what people say, that is a real doctor damn it!
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srossi
| Joined: | Sun Oct 14th, 2007 |
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Posted: Sun Oct 21st, 2007 08:22 pm |
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Be careful. The chiropractor might shoot you.
Come on down to Texas. I have been stopped 4 times going over 20mph better than the speed limit. You know what got me off? I have a concealed handgun license. The cops know that we are solid citizens. To get that license in Texas, you have to be MORE qualified than a cop. No class b misdemeanors for a CHG. Cops can have them. True story. Its a work. Sorry Rudy. You just aint good enough. But it IS a work. Let me know if you get in trouble. I will do a job for you.
Last edited on Sun Oct 21st, 2007 08:22 pm by srossi
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The Ultimate Sin
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Posted: Mon Oct 22nd, 2007 03:42 am |
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| Fuck him. Like I believe any of the bullshit he tries to sell.
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loadedglove
| Joined: | Tue Oct 23rd, 2007 |
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Posted: Wed Oct 24th, 2007 04:00 am |
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sportatorium roach wrote: I thought Meltzer finally had an editor/spellchecker following him around.
You thought wrong, so go piss up a rope. I spend some time each week on the newsletter, which is one of about 8 things Meltzer does weekly.
I was also somewhat disappointed in the Brody book, although when the guy's widow is a major participant in that kind of project, anyone expecting a "warts and all" treatment is being naive, at best. The packaging was nicely done and they had some great photos, though.
Finally, not that this has anything to do with much of anything, but "Dr." Jeff is not 100% right about Texas cops. According to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education, the entity that licenses peace officers here in the Lone Star State, a Class B misdemeanor conviction or above is grounds for immediate revocation of a license.
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srossi
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Posted: Wed Oct 24th, 2007 05:45 pm |
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Dr. Jeff not being right? You must be joking.
I wasn't expecting an "expose" on Brody, I was just hoping for a well-written and informative piece, not page after page of St. Louis and Sam Muchnick worship. I know St. Louis is Matysick's whole life but it was a very small part of Brody's. That just exposed his poor research, poor writing skills, and ridiculous bias towards the territory that he happened to work for. Even that Scott Williams guy is better than him.
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loadedglove
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Posted: Wed Oct 24th, 2007 07:23 pm |
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srossi wrote:
Even that Scott Williams guy is better than him.
That dude's a hack.
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