Booker T. Huffman w/ Andrew William Wright
Medallion Press, 2012
Hardcover, Ebook
Booker T's From Prison To Promise chronicles the tumultuous early life of one of professional wrestling's most decorated competitors. Booker T rose to prominence in the mid 1990s as one half of Harlem Heat. While the pair were celebrated as a tag team, few were surprised when Booker T. eclipsed his tag team success and became one of the top performers in the industry. From Prison To Promise chronicles Booker T's life from childhood through to his run in the Global Wrestling Federation. From Prison To Promise: Life Before The Squared Circle is Booker T's first book. My Rise To Wrestling Royalty was released in 2015. Both books were co-written with Andrew William Wright co-author of The Road Warriors: Danger, Death and The Rush of Wrestling.
There are few, if any, wrestling books that are as candid about the subject's formative years as this book. Booker T. vividly describes the life of a young man who, having lost both parents before the age of 14, found himself being shuffled from one home to another. Most of these were far less than ideal settings for a kid. While Huffman undoubtedly omits some details, he paints a very complete portrait of the life of an orphan who is forced to cling to a parade of pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers to survive. Eventually, Huffman is incarcerated due to his connection with a string of armed robberies. It is apparent that Huffman's early life was filled with two types of people: those who could provide a stable home and opted not to (valid or otherwise) and those who chose to help despite the being able to do so under less than ideal circumstances. Though it would be easy (and justified?), to harbour anger at so many of the events of his youth, Huffman does not write in a bitter or jaded manner. While success and/or time may have changed his perspective or he did not want to use his book to air grievances, Huffman's is a very positive, often times humorous, and delivers a well presented message. The book almost has a modern day Dickensian feeling to it. Unlike Dickens, however, the book never ventures into melodrama. Also, unlike Dickens, the book is not a work of fiction.
At 211 pages (hard cover) the book is a very easy read. Some readers may be disappointed with the lack of wrestling content in the book, however, the subtitle (Life Before The Squared Circle) should be a clue as to the book's content. That being said, Huffman's training and working the Texas independent scene and Global Wrestling Federation are well detailed. Overall, however, we don't get much from Huffman about any early memories of professional wrestling (as a fan) and/or his thoughts on the wrestling industry as a young performer. Many fans would like the book to have continued into his WCW years, but he alludes to his second book to be released in the future (2015) which will cover the period.
 |
 |
 |
 |
No comments:
Post a Comment