To Be The Man. . .

Last night, I finished reading the autobiography by professional wrestler Ric Flair entitled 'To Be The Man.' After my Christmas shopping, I decided to get myself a present and picked up this book. I completed it in less than two days. That alone would be a sign of how much I enoyed the book. Or maybe a sign of how much time I have on my hands?

I enjoy professional wrestling. My all time favourite wrestlers is none other than the 'Nature Boy' Ric Flair. For most of his career he has played the bad guy but despite that, I've always found myself rooting for him. He is ultra charismatic and has an unrivalled ring presence. Arguable, the greatest professional wrestler ever. Of course, this is coming from someone who just admitted to being a major fan.

The book obviously chronicles the life and career of Ric Flair. Flair has had quite the eventful life which makes for a very interesting read. Flair has been in the wrestling business for over 30 years. For a good portion of that has been seen as one of the top guys. Flair was also a big party animal. Flair talks often in the book about his battle from being the wrestler Ric Flair and being the good father/husband Richard Fliehr. Flair did a good job about talking about his many exploits but at no time saying that he was necessarily proud of them. He regrets not being the father or husband he should have. It's encouraging to hear how hard he works now to be a family man.

The book pulls no punches. Flair says exactly how he feels. Thus quite a few guys get a good bashing in the book. At the same time, he does speak very highly of other people. I'd definitely not say it's a book full of bitterness. I would say it lacks the humour that another classic wreslting autobiography which was written by Mick Foley. Mick Foley's two books are also my all time favourite wrestling related books. The Flair book has itself some stiff competition.

I felt the Ric Flair booked lacked some detail as well. Flair seems to really skim over his life. It felt like a few years were completely skipped. There were some events that I was interested in getting his view point on but he either skipped or skimmed them. Flair is also 55 years old and thus that is a lot of life to cram into 300 pages.

I really enjoyed the book. Can't really recommmend it to any non wreslting fans considering a lot of it is about Flair's career. I think many wrestling fans will appreciate the book. Maybe even gain a new respect for Ric Flair. He has lived quite the impressive life. Even myself being a big fan, learned a lot of new things about Ric Flair.

A definite thumbs up from this reader. It gets a big giant 'WOOO' from me. Of course, if you're a non wreslting fan than I lost you on that last reference.

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