| Wrestling Babylon: Piledriving Tales of Drugs, Sex, Death, and Scandal Contributor(s): Muchnick, Irvin (Author) |
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ISBN: 1550227610 ISBN-13: 9781550227611 Publisher: ECW Press OUR PRICE: $19.76 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: April 2007 Annotation: Professional wrestling's most notorious scandals and drug-fueled spectacles are laid out using insider details and investigative journalism in this powerful expose of the sport. Featuring pieces previously published in magazines such as "Penthouse" and "People," this book examines the demise of the old Mafia-like territories, whose wake, with the help of cable television and deregulation, helped fuel the astonishing growth of professional wrestling. These solemn and thoroughly investigated accounts--of Hulk Hogan's drug use, the untimely death of Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka's girlfriend, the ill-fated Von Erich clan, and various scandals associated with World Wrestling Entertainment's Vince McMahon--go beyond the theatrics to illustrate what really goes on behind the curtain and where the sport now stands. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Sports & Recreation | Wrestling |
| Dewey: 338.74 |
| Physical Information: 0.43" H x 6.1" W x 8.92" (0.63 lbs) 176 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Irvin Muchnick -- a widely published writer and nephew of the late, legendary St. Louis wrestling promoter Sam Muchnick -- has produced a book unlike any other on the astonishing growth of professional wrestling and its profound impact on mainstream sports and society. In Wrestling Babylon, he traces the demise of wrestling's old Mafia-like territories and the rise of a national marketing base thanks to cable television, deregulation and a culture-wide nervous breakdown. Naturally, the figure of WWE's Vince McMahon lurks throughout, but equally evident is the public's late-empire lust for bread, circuses, and blood. As this book demonstrates, the more cartoonishly unreal wrestling got, the more chillingly real it became.What truly distinguishes Wrestling Babylon, however, is Muchnick's ability to show how professional wrestling has become the ur-carnival for a culture that feeds on escapist displays of humiliation, revenge, fantasy characters, and sex. His People magazine article on Hulk Hogan blew the lid off the drug abuse of the sport's signature superstar. His award-winning Penthouse profile of the ill-starred Von Erich clan was the first to connect the dots between wrestling, televangelism, and MTV-style production values. His never-before-published investigation of the death of Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka's girlfriend suggests the cover-up of a murder. The book's appendix -- a comprehensive listing of the dozens of wrestlers who died prematurely over the last generation, with little or no attention -- is both a valuable resource for wrestling historians and a shocking document of the ruthless way sports entertainment eats its own. |