Rating: 
Summary: real reality check
Review: In this book you will find out wrestling is very REAL and so is Roddy Piper
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing with a few good stories
Review: Let me start off by saying that I was HUGE fan of Rowdy Roddy Piper in the 1980s. He truly is one of the greatest characters in the history of wrestling.That being said, I was pretty disappointed in this book. Wrestling is obviously not "real". I've always looked at wrestling as a performance art, where the actors and the stunt-men are the same people. When wrestlers perform for audiences they're "in character", just like a movie actor would be when the camera's rolling. When this Autobiography came out, I assummed it would be a Non-Fiction piece, like other wrestling biographies. However, this wasn't really the case. In this book, I believe Piper mixes reality with Fiction. I'm sure many of the stories written in this book really did happen, but Piper throws his own "wrestling character" into the mix often. The reader can't help but think that many of the stories were embellished to make them more interesting, and to make Piper, himself, seem more rebellious. A couple of examples: One of Piper's most memorable wrestling moments was when he hit wrestler Jimmy Snuka in the head with an actual coconut, splitting it (the coconut) wide-open. I was expecting to read about how the idea arose. Instead, I was fed the story that the incident wasn't planned and that Piper just happenned to see a coconut next to his chair. He decided, in impromptu fashion, to hit Snuka in the head with it. Come on! I also didn't care for Piper's account of his meeting with "They Live" directory John Carpenter. It was obviously fabricated and was designed to make Piper look cooler than Fonzy from Happy Days. There were a lot of contradictions in the book as well. Piper often referred to his fellow wrestlers as "frat brothers", and that he would do anything for them. Then, he would talk about how he only looked out for himself, refusing to lose matches, even to his friends. I don't think Piper was lying here. I just think he's a hypocrite, and many of the stories he tells convey this. On the plus side, there were some stories I found entertaining, including his thoughts on Rick Martel and a few others. Again, I felt there was a lot of embellishment in the book, which really shouldn't be the case in a Biography. Unfortunately, I don't think die-hard Piper fans will even enjoy this book as much as they're probably hoping.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun ride through history with Piper
Review: Not the Most accurate or humble view of Piper's years in the business...but a fun read overall.. DEFINATELY go to a Piper book signing.. 1 of the Best experiences meeting a wrestler in my life..
Rating:
Summary: sounds like a bunch of bs to me!
Review: now heres a guy who kod superfly snuka with a coconut,beat adrian adonis with a ball bat,headlined wrestlemania 1,boxed mr t,chucked cyndi lauper,was one of the all time best announcers on wrestling,came back to the ring after a very very long absence to fight hulk hogan and kod him.he even had his own talk show.he had a big mouth.he was funny.WHY THE HECK DOES THIS BOOK SUCK THEN?its full of very hard to belive bs about being attacked by bears in a port a jon on numerous occasions,wrestling a bear and being mauled for 5 minutes,and doing 100 shots of kamikazes with ric flair every night round after round after round.100 each time!YEAH RIGHT!thats not even close to belivable.theres a game where you have to take 100 shots of beer .a new one every minute to a hundred.no one has ever done it that i know of.now how are you gonna tellme old ric flair nailed 100 shots of whiskey hundreds of times every night?can you say cirrohis?liver damage?betty ford clinic?bleeding ulcer?or alcohol overdose??and a sanctioned match with a bear?come on!i guess hes had extensive plastic surgery to cover all the teeth marks from the bear mauling him.maybe hes got superman like steel for skin.once again heres a story of a really cool wrestler who cant write a book[see my foley review].so im daring a wrestler to write a good book!heres the key.tell the good stuff.drop the bs and enter-damn-tain already!
Rating: 
Summary: Good with the Bad
Review: On the whole, I've been enjoying the wrestling profession biographies ranging from Foley to Flair to Edge to Dynamite Kid and, yes, even Chyna's books. Roddy Piper's is certain easily readable and you can tell his flavoring in it but it's simply not as great as he thinks it is. Now admitting I have read Lawler's book and enjoyed it to some small extent, I also enjoyed Piper's many anecdotes and straight forwardness in regards to his life.
My problem with this book is that the sheer magnitude of Piper's egotism shreds the book on nearly every page. Piper seems to think that everything was/is as good as it is because of him, wrestling territories suceeded or failed depending on whether he was wrestling for them or not. Piper makes it out to look like everything in the modern wrestling era (1980s to present) revolved around him. Hogan's popularity - Piper's doing, Flair's legend status - Piper's doing, wrestling becoming mainstream - Piper's doing, McMahon's success - Piper's doing, WCW's fall - a result from not listening to Piper's ideas, wrestler's great mic skills - Piper's doing, Wrestlemania - Piper's doing, the Steroid Grand Jury case results - Piper's doing. Basically, everything he talks about in his book is a direct result of something he did and nothing would be as popular or successful if he didn't touch it. Just the sheer volume of his egotism makes me think less of him as a person. He is so caught up in himself that he doesn't seem to be able to distinguish that persona of Rowdy Roddy Piper from his actual Roderick Toombs self. He is so absorbed into this creation of Piper that he stays 'in character' throughout the book (although he claims that's who he really is).
Overall, this book is certainly likeable and enjoyable, but Piper just can't help going over the top and cramming himself down your throat with his self-proclaimed greatness and influences.
Rating:
Summary: Straightforward tale of the Hot Rod
Review: Piper always fascinated me as a wrestler and a person growing up so I decided to pick this book up. I was pleasantly surprised of how smooth the book read coming from a former wrestler. Piper was extremely honest on his book telling various stories that no one has heard even when he is the bad guy. However, I wish he had been slightly more honest and mention that he is banned from the town of Fresno, CA due to a CRAZY drunken fight that stun-guns were used on him. Perhaps that was a bit too personal to put in the book. My only criticism of this book s Piper's belief of that he is a talented and gifted actor. I think it goes without saying that his film career is lackluster and he is delegated to F-movie status. But, in his book, he talks as if he is an Oscar winning actor. Other than his blindness of truth, this book is well worth a read for a biography.
Rating:
Summary: From Wrestling to Sport entertainment
Review: Piper's book make for a fast read and educating insight into the wrestling world. It helps seeing the emergence of WWF through the wrestler's eyes rather than through the promoter's as was mostly the case in Shaun Assael's book. Some affirmations by Piper sounded presumptuous but I will leave to the Meltzers of this world the task of critizing the accuracy of the book since I don't have the knowledge to do so. I enjoyed reading it for that frank and honest look at the world of wrestling and at the changes that happened with the rise of WWF. It is also nice to learn about all the other wrestlers through Piper's account of his interaction with them. Chapter 12 is particularly interesting since Piper takes head-on what he calls "the sickness": the overwhelming bearing on the life of wrestlers that wrestling has, mainly because of the promoters manipulations and the lifestyle according to him. It is definatly worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: The funniest book I've read in a while
Review: Piper's conversational style makes this book a quick read. The many behind-the-scenes anecdotes (and his colorful way with words) carry the book. Most will enjoy the second half, which covers his WWF days, back when the Roman numerals after the "Wrestlemania" were I and II, and "Piper's Pit" was the hottest thing going in the sport. But I enjoyed the first half, which focused on his days in the much smaller federations. The "Mexican national anthem on the bagpipes" story alone is worth the price of the book! It wasn't until after I read this book that I realized that my interest in pro wrestling waned at about the same time that Piper faded away.
Rating:
Summary: A true wrestling rag to riches story
Review: Reading this book, I felt as if Mr Piper was actually talking to me. The story is a quick read, fun and entertaining. At the same time, you could clearly see that Piper is marked by the old timer's Antics, thus his reputation as a distrusting soul... there is a lot of Piper anger about WWF lockerroom politics in these pages... A little self centered portrayal of events, but hey! we all know the wrestlers are the best at putting themselves over... Great reading, family conscious book... Highly recomended
Rating:
Summary: A TRULY GREAT READ
Review: RODDY GIVES US A VERY HONEST, DETAILED, HUMOROUS, AND TOTALLY INTERESTIMG LOOK INTO THE WEIRD AND MYSTERIOUS WORLD OF PRO WRESTLING. I THINK RODDY IS ONE OF THE BEST PERFORMERS OF ALL TIME. HIS PIPER'S PIT AND BATTLE WITH GREG VALENTINE IS LEGEND. RODDY HAS GIVEN ALOT TO PRO WRESTLING AND DESERVES A LOT OF CREDIT. HIS TELLING OF THE BEAR IN THE WOODS, THE CIGAR AND KILLER BROOKS, AND ANDRE IN ELEVATORS ARE TOTALLY HILARIOUS. I LOVED THIS BOOK AND HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS TO ALL WRESTLING FANS. A MUST READ.
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