A few weeks ago I wrote about a trip to my local Poundland shop, where I managed to get a copy of Mick Foley’s “Hardcore Diaries” for the paltry sum of…well….a pound. That very same day I also purchased a copy of a biography I’d heard a great deal about, “A Lion’s Tale” by Chris Jericho.
In case you don’t know what it’s about, “A Lion’s Tale” tells the story of Jericho’s life and wrestling career up until 1999. From the proverbial humble beginnings as the son of NHL star Ted Irvine, to his initial training at the Hart Brothers Camp in Calgary (there was actually only one Hart brother there for just one day) through his tenures in Mexico, Japan, ECW and WCW, right up to the moment where he’s about to walk through the curtains on Monday Night Raw to confront the Rock on his WWF debut.
As far as wrestling biographies go this is pretty damn good. Jericho literally talks about everything here, and it certainly made for interesting and exciting reading as we learned of his struggles and triumphs not just in his wrestling career but in his personal life as well, the most interesting stories coming from his time in WCW, when he felt like pulling his hair out when the company did nothing with him then stalled on the angles that were getting him over. (Mr. Goldberg, I’m looking at you.)
This book compares pretty favourably with others that I’ve read over the past few years, and, dare I say it, it comes close to eclipsing the almost biblical tome that is Mick Foley’s “Have a Nice Day”. There, I said it.
Was this worth the money? Well, it only cost £1, so it definitely was. In fact I could go as far as saying that pound for pound this is one of the best books I’ve ever brought.
So if you haven’t read this yet and you see it lying around in a bargain shop somewhere then put your hand in your pocket and slam your loose change down in front of the rather startled middle-women that seem to work in these places. You won’t be disappointed, but you may get a ticking off for intimidating the staff.
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