A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex

Great read, funny book like as if Jericho was actually talking to me right in front of my face. This book was all Chris, Peter Thomas Fornatale said himself on the co-authors note that all he did was brain-storm and give some ideas to Chris. Any Wrestling fan should get this book, one of the, if not the best Wrestling Biography eeevvverrr.

Chris Jericho is one of the most charismatic and talented wrestling superstars of the recent era. During his recent two year hiatus from the ring, he took the time to put down in his memoirs and story down in book form for the world to follow. For a shocking change of pace, there is actually a contender to Mick Foley's first two autobiographies(Have a Nice Day & Foley is Good) for king of the professional wrestling autobiography, the book that spawned dozens upon dozens of other autobiographies in a genre previously empty, primarily due to the existence of Kayfabe(Professional Wrestling's code of Secrecy). A Lion's Tale: Around The World In Spandex, written by Jericho himself with Peter Thomas Fornatale credited as a collaborator, is one of the few books of any genre to make me read it from beginning to end and become annoyed when I was interrupted from my reading time, a rare breed of book indeed with good pacing and few spots that drag on and on. Jericho keeps you reading with much of the flair of his microphone work in the ring- good solid content with a witty one liner here and there to catch you off guard. A Lion's Tale follows Jericho from the less than humble beginnings of being a Sports star's son in the form of New York Ranger Ted Irvine all the way to to Jericho's WWE debut in August of 1999 where the Lionheart moniker ended and the Y2J moniker began. Along the way, Jericho gives you entertaining insights into the road of the international wrestler, all while showing that he's quite possibly a bigger nerd than us all, drawing pictures of himself as tag team champions with Owen Hart in high school. His story goes from being in a Training Camp with the Legendary Hart family. Well one Hart who shows up once then hands it off to some other guy. The fun of trying to get started in the pro wrestling industry, which consists of a lot of low paying jobs where you work with sleazy people who may or may not pay you depending on the alignment of the planets on that day - proving pro wrestling has much more in common with the other jobs in entertainment than most people would believe. First breaks where he screws up his first impression in Japan royally, starting a curse that dooms his first match to suck wherever he goes, but getting his first major break in Mexico where he goes from being some pretty boy gringo to El Corazon De Leon, who stars in comic books alongside magical talking frogs and has to buy his own bootleg merchandise. Traveling to Germany, he then has to adapt to the strange, and apparently exclusively German pro wrestling practice of wrestling the same man every night in front of the the same crowd every night, thusly being forced to come up with a new match every night or not get payed. His time in SMW, Smokey Mountain Wrestling is worth reading if only for his description of an insane fan tape titled 'Strange Kentucky People'. While that may be strange, it goes to just plain sad when you get to see the mess that WCW was f

There's no denying that I've almost always been a fan of Chris Jericho. When I first saw him in WCW, I thought he was an annoying crybaby, but then reality set in. Jericho was a heel who was actually funny and a talented wrestler. It takes skill to make a wrestling audience hate you and Jericho was doing that each and every week. Once I realized that, I enjoyed the comedy that was buried within every promo and I've been a fan ever since. A Lion's Tale is Chris Irvine's autobiography that focuses around how he became Chris Jericho and how he got into the wrestling business. It begins with an eight-year-old's dream of becoming a professional wrestler and ends right when Jericho is about to walk through the curtain and make his first promo in the WWF. It chronicles everything from Jericho training at the Hart Brothers Training Camp, his time in Mexico, Germany, and Japan, his entire run in WCW, him meeting Vince McMahon, and everything else in between. If you've ever wanted to know more about Chris Jericho, then look no further. The book isn't just filled with Jericho's past though. He is extremely funny and that fact shines throughout every page in this book. It's the way he tells these stories that'll keep you entertained and make you not want to put it down until you read the last word on the last page. I'd even go out on a limb and say that the humor in this book could even appeal to people outside of wrestling fans. It's definitely a great read for wrestling fans and Jerichoholics, don't get me wrong, but it's also a story about how dreams can come true and is often laugh out loud funny. The one flaw this book has is the amount of typos scattered throughout the book. I may be nitpicking, but that irritated me a bit. I realize that every book has a few typos, but this was the worst I've ever come across. If my story was professionally published, I'd make sure this wouldn't happen. Where are the proofreaders when you need them? All in all, A Lion's Tale: Around the World In Spandex is without a doubt the best wrestling book I've ever read. Keep in mind, I haven't read all of them, but none of the others had me laughing or hanging on every word. It is a book that'll be enjoyed to its full extent if you're a wrestling fan or are at least familiar with the names and maneuvers mentioned throughout the book, but anyone can pick it up and find something to enjoy.

I became a fan of Jericho when he started showing flashes of turning into a heel with his post-match tantrum following a loss. I could see he had the charisma and talent to make it into a big time superstar. Then he came out with the Monday Night Jericho t-shirt (which I was unable to afford back in the day) and the Ralphus angle, I totally started to love the guy. For the life of me, I could never figure out why WCW never gave him the chance to be the guy. Jericho's "A Lion's Tale" explains the backstage politics of WCW and how WCW almost killed his passion for wrestling. Jericho should have known that WCW was bad news when Bischoff called him to fly to Atlanta to sign a contract, while only a few hours later, booker Kevin Sullivan called Jericho to tell him he needs to come in for a try-out, not knowing he was already on his way to sign a contract! But this book is not all about WCW, in fact, WCW doesn't even come until page 320ish, and there is 410 pages in the book. The last 20 pages or so of the book is about him joining the WWF (he calls it the WWF, not WWE, so I will be referring it as WWF too). The book starts brilliantly with the countdown to the new millennium.... actually, sort of. The book ends the same way, but on a higher note. The whole idea of Jericho's book is how he developed a dream to be one of the best wrestlers ever in Vince McMahon's WWF. The book starts us with how Jericho developed a passion for wrestling at his grandmother's house on Sundays, how his father took him to the matches in Winnipeg on Sundays, how he was angry when none of the famed Hart Brothers were actually training wrestlers at the Hart Brothers Wrestling Camp (upon arrival, he was about to quit when he saw all the other wrestlers who were not wrestling-material until he met Lance Storm), his stints in Mexico, Knoxville, Japan, ECW and WCW. Jericho had a dream, he paid his dues, and he accomplished his dream. That's why I loved this book, it was truly A Lion's Tale.

OK, there's now a new book wrestling fans can honestly recommend to non-wrestling fans about wrestling. That makes 2, you know what the other one is. I'm not generally a laugh-out-loud kind of guy (my hero, Lance Storm, is in this a lot since he was in the same variation of the dungeon class with CJ. There's a few good stories there alone). I was laughing constantly. This is very much Jericho. There's another guy who gets credit for something, but it seems strictly organizational. This is also a good example of a religous person being able to acknowledge their faith without being preachy (and while swearing like a mo-fo about living the rockstar lifestyle). The book also has some great flow, it doesn't come across as just a series of anecdotes (this was probably that other guys job). Al Snow fans will be glad to know that somebody finally gets a couple of good shots in at Foley in a book people will actually read.