Hardcore Diaries

Supposedly, at the tender age of around 20, Wayne Rooney signed a deal to provide his autobiography in three volumes. Quite how interesting the next one is going to be given that he's spent most of the following year getting injured is anyone's guess. By contrast, Mick Foley has published a third volume of his autobiography, after reaching his forties. Admittedly, he has also spent quite a long time in his career being injured, but he's managed to get a far wider range of injuries.I've followed Mick Foley's career as both wrestler and writer, seeing both the highs and the lows. He has won titles, lost titles and produced an autobiography I found impossible to put down, as well as a second part which wasn't nearly as good and felt a little forced. How would he manage the third time around; both in terms of autobiographies and in wrestling comebacks?"The Hardcore Diaries" is more a biography of a wrestling storyline than it is of the wrestler himself. After a little while out of wrestling, Foley approaches his boss with an idea, both for a wrestling storyline and for another book. Foley is sure that his idea for the wrestling will work, but wonders how people will approach yet another book, especially as it's not the first time he has done something like this?As it turns out, the basic idea for the book is actually fresher than the idea for the wrestling. The wrestling angle pitches him back into the hardcore style of wrestling - hence the title - an area where he made his name. It also pits him up against Terry Funk, an old friend and opponent of Foley's and a man whose name featured prominently in many sections of Foley's first autobiography, "Have a Nice Day".The idea for the book, however, is based around a diary - hence the rest of the title - so that some of the entries can be phrased as if they were diary entries. As Foley was already writing a fairly regular column for the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) website at the time, these diary entries could then be interspersed with reprints of these columns. After all, even when he wasn't wrestling, Mick Foley tended to be heavily involved in WWE activities outside the ring. So he could write about himself and WWE at the same time and it would, he thought, make for a decent book.I thought so as well and I was proved correct, although not in the way I thought. Over the last few years I have spent a lot of time without access to Sky Sports and so have very much lost touch with what has been going on in WWE. This meant that for the first time in a Foley autobiography, he was talking about wrestling matches and angles that I wasn't already familiar with, although many of the names seem to have remained the same since I was last watching regularly. I did find that this left me feeling further removed and less involved in that part of things than I have done before with Foley's books.The rest of the book does make up for this, however. There is more to the life of the average wrestler than just travelling around the US and occasionally to other countries and throwing yourself around a ring for the amusement of others. Foley is involved with sponsoring orphans and visiting sick children and soldiers and the whole of the WWE are very supportive of American troops and various charities both in the US and overseas. Thanks to Foley being on the spot during all these activities, we get a behind the scenes look at them and thanks to Foley's simple writing style I found myself constantly wanting to read all about the next one, even knowing that there was a chance I wouldn't be as involved as with his previous works.Despite not being as gripping, this is certainly better than the second autobiography, "Foley Is Good". There is a slight preoccupation with his new (at the time of writing the book) novel "Scooter", which gets mentioned frequently enough for it to seem like a little sneaky advertising, but as that book is already on my "to read" pile, that didn't bother me too much. This time around Foley's writing is more fluid and he doesn't descend into lists of things like he did last time out and there isn't the feeling that he's straining to fit the diary concept he's using like he seemed to be squeezing things into the "real world is faker than wrestling" theory last time around.I did enjoy the book, but more for the insight into the wrestlers as people and celebrities rather than them all as wrestlers, which came as a bit of a surprise. But Foley is always readable and isn't afraid to criticise his WWE bosses when he disagrees with them, which is refreshing as well as unusual for a company that size.If you've followed wrestling for the last few years and remember Foley's recent battles with Terry Funk, then you'll almost certainly enjoy this book as Foley puts a human face on the in ring bloodshed and describes it as if it's his passion; which to be fair, it probably is. If you've been a wrestling fan in the past and like Foley, you'll find you enjoy this in the same way as I did; slightly detached from parts of it, but still able to enjoy Foley's warmth of character and writing. If you're not a wrestling fan, I really wouldn't bother as no matter how much they talk about the work they do outside the ring and outside the arena, they're still wrestlers and I suspect that would be enough of a turn off to prevent you enjoying the book.This review may also appear, in whole or in part, under my name at any or all of www.ciao.co.uk, www.thebookbag.co.uk, www.goodreads.com, www.amazon.co.uk and www.dooyoo.co.uk

A fantastic read for any wrestling fan. This book is extremely well written and is as eloquent as it is entertaining.

Proved to be a great gift.

A good read. Not as good as his earlier books but those where excellent. Foley is a great story teller.

The book is amazing and Mick Foley never ceases to amaze me in his talents.Thats all that needs to be said.Fact!!!!