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Ringmaster: Vince McMahon And The Unmaking Of America By Abraham Josephine Riesman Book Review
Ringmaster: Vince McMahon And The Unmaking Of America was first released in 2023 (revised in 2024, I have the 2023 version) by Abraham (now Josephine) Riesman.
Ringmaster is a unauthorized biography of wrestling promoter Vince McMahon.
I personally think this may be as close as we will get to an official biography about Mr. McMahon, but who knows.
Either way, it is a very well done book, talking about Mr. McMahon’s early history, which many do not know about. Talks about how he ultimately bought his Dad’s company and made it into the biggest wrestling/sports entertainment company we will ever see. Talks about various wrestlers that worked for and with Mr. McMahon, his relationship with his family, various wrestling story line angles, and his relationship with President Donald Trump and many comparisons there.
This book is quite detailed, and I really need to check out the updated version too.
The author Abraham (now Josephine) Riesman did a great job with it.
If you are a wrestling fan, then this is a must read. Some stuff is already quite known by fans, and a lot is not.
Either way, I recommend reading this book.
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Lay It On The Line: A Backstage Pass To Rock Star Adventure, Conflict And Triumph By Rik Emmett Book Review
Singer/songwriter/guitarist Rik Emmett (Triumph/solo artist) released his autobiography Lay It On The Line: A Backstage Pass To Rock Star Adventure, Conflict And Triumph on October 10th of 2023.
Rik has a lot to say in this book.
He talks about growing up, early bands he was in, some Triumph talk, a lot of talk about his solo career and solo albums, family life, family tragedy, philosophies, you name it.
I wish he would have spoken more about Triumph, and clearly, he was in a different place in his life when he wrote this book.
I say that because when he wrote this book, he was retired from touring, and as I type this in April of 2026, he is back on tour with Triumph for their first tour in over 30 years, which is great.
It is a good book, but again, I wish there was more Triumph talk, even though he did cover a lot about them, and I wish the book was being released now or next year in 2027 because he would have even more to say.
Maybe there will be a revised version or follow-up. Who knows.
Either way, it’s worth reading if you are a fan of this tremendously talented guy.
Rock on Rik!! See you May 30th.
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“The Last Outlaw: My 50 Years In Southern Rock & Country” By Henry Paul w/Gary Hertz Book Review
“The Last Outlaw: My 50 Years In Southern Rock & Country” by Henry Paul (The Outlaws, The Henry Paul Band, Blackhawk) w/Gary Hertz, was released in 2025.
This is a fantastic book.
Henry talks about growing up, ultimately forming The Outlaws, and later The Henry Paul Band and Blackhawk, and many stories involving those bands.
My only complaint is that I wish it was longer.
Again, a fantastic book and I cannot recommend this enough, especially for fans of Henry and his music.
This book ROCKS!!
And thanks Henry for signing it (courtesy of TalkShopLive)!!
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“Shirtless In Hollywood”, “Shadow Affairs” and “Hit Hard-Die Last When Action Was Real” by Matthias Hues Book Reviews
Action movie star Matthias Hues (I Come In Peace/Dark Angel, No Retreat No Surrender 2, Cage, Kickboxer 2: The Road Back, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, TC 2000, Digital Man, The Last Kumite, just to name a few) has written three books as of this typing.
The first is his autobiography called “Shirtless In Hollywood”. It traces the steps of how he ultimately ended up in the movie business and many adventures and relationships he has had over the decades.
His book “Shadow Affairs” could easily be an action movie, in which a military and CIA sniper is left for dead, but ultimately survives and ends up being hunted because he knows something that he shouldn’t. If he ever does this movie, I would definitely like to see it.
And his book “Hit Hard-Die Last: When Action Was Real” is a little more in-depth on his acting career and many stories about certain movies and shows he has done over the decades.
If you are a fan of action and/or of Matthias, or even just a fan of the underdog or of someone who chased a dream and is still chasing and living it, then you should check out Matthias Hues’ books.
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The Justice Riders/A Threat To Justice by Chuck Norris, Ken Abraham, Aaron Norris, & Tim Grayem Book Reviews
One of my favorite actors Chuck Norris, along with his brother Aaron, Ken Abraham, and Tim Grayem wrote two western books and released them in 2006 and 2007.
The first is called The Justice Riders. It tells the story of Ezra Justice and his group of six men who have been assigned by General William T. Sherman to do special assignments during The Civil War and other adventures they were involved in right after the war.
The second book, A Threat To Justice, picks up where The Justice Riders left off, in which the group go their separate ways but ultimately come back together when one of them is in trouble.
Both of these books are really good western books, with some religious overtones to them.
Both are really good stories and both should be movies, in my opinion.
My girlfriend and website partner Mariah bought both of these books for me for Christmas.
Great gifts for sure.
I love both books and I highly recommend them.
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Heroes And Friends: Pro Wrestling Remembrances By Jim Cornette Book Review
Wrestling manager/booker/author/podcaster/historian Jim Cornette released his book Heroes And Friends: Pro Wrestling Remembrances in 2025.
I bought it on his website jimcornette.com.
It features stories and background about some of Jim’s favorite wrestlers, managers, and announcers.
Some include Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, Bruno Sammartino, Lance Russell, The Original Sheik, Vader, Paul Bearer (Percy Pringle), Ray Stevens, and more.
If you are a fan of wrestling, this book is for you.
And thanks Jim for signing it for me.
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Ozzy Osbourne Last Rites Book Review
Ozzy Osbourne (1948-2025) released his final book, Last Rites, posthumously on October 7th.
I received it on October 10th and read it all by October 11th.
Last Rites chronicles Ozzy’s last 7 years on the planet. Starting off being on what ended up being his last tour.
Everything was going well, until one night at home, he fell, breaking his neck.
From that point on, his health was never the same.
It was one thing after another. Multiple surgeries (some of which made him worse, others to try to undo the bad ones), blood clots, sepsis, pneumonia, constant pain, heart valve blockage (which I think ultimately killed him) and more.
It really is a miracle he lived to be 76.
But as he said a few times, he had a great run up to 70. And he did.
The book is not all doom and gloom.
He talks about getting back together with Black Sabbath again, his final solo tour, and many other stories from throughout his life.
Some of the stories he reiterated from his first book I Am Ozzy (2009), but they were worth mentioning again.
Ozzy completed this book reportedly days before his passing.
He leaves no stone unturned.
Like many, I will always love and miss you Ozzy.
Thank you for all the great music and joy you brought us.
All the best to his family, friends, and fans all over the world.
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Skipping Christmas Book Review
My girlfriend showed me the movie “Christmas With The Kranks” a few years ago (it was released in 2004) and I loved it.
Last year, I received the book the movie was adapted from.
Called “Skipping Christmas”, it was released in 2001 and written by John Grisham, known for many lawyer/crime thrillers.
Both the book and the movie are about this couple who always celebrate Christmas, but this particular year, the husband (played by Tim Allen in the movie) decides to convince his wife (played by Jamie Lee Curtis in the movie) to skip Christmas this time and go on a cruise.
This is because their daughter is working out of the country for awhile and frankly, to save money and because the husband is tired of all the traditional Christmas stuff.
The wife takes a bit of convincing, but ultimately, she agrees with her husband to do this.
Well, everyone they know (neighbors, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, police, firemen, everyone in their community) is up in irons about this couple skipping Christmas this year.
They’re all in on doing this, until their daughter calls and says she’s coming home for Christmas with her new fiance, who she barely knows.
So, after not preparing for Christmas at all (decorating, cooking, shopping, etc.) they only have a few hours to put everything together.
Both the book and the movie are very fun, entertaining stories.
I actually enjoyed it better than my girlfriend, who loves many Christmas movies/stories.
Like any book adapted into a movie, there are a few differences, but not much.
I could easily visualize the movie while reading the book.
Kind of a departure story for John Grisham, but he did a great job writing it, as usual.
Seek both the book and movie out and enjoy.
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Leonard Nimoy I Am Not Spock Book Review
I have been a Leonard Nimoy fan since I was little.
However, I had never read his book, I Am Not Spock.
I had read his I Am Spock, though, which is quite good.
But I Am Not Spock has for the most part been out of print or not as available for many years.
Luckily, I found it at a $1 book sale.
My book copy has definitely been well loved, let’s say, but it is complete and the ruggedness of it does not bother me.
Leonard released this book in 1975.
He talks about some aspects of his life and of working on various projects, including Star Trek.
Many people apparently took the book title the wrong way and thought Leonard hated the Spock character and hated Star Trek.
Quite the contrary.
Leonard loved Spock and Star Trek and the opportunities that character and show awarded him. Not only on the show, but of what he did later also.
Leonard has lots of Star Trek stories and even has some memos he wrote to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and others in regards his thoughts and suggestions on various Star Trek episodes, and even mentions some of his favorite episodes.
This is not a very long book, but it is very good, if you can find it.
As Leonard and Spock would say, “Live long and prosper”.
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Duff McKagan How To Be A Man (and other illusions) Book Review
Duff McKagan released his second book, How To Be A Man (and other illusions) in 2015.
Duff is known as the bassist of Guns N Roses and Velvet Revolver, but is also the lead singer/co-guitarist of the band Loaded, and was in the bands Neurotic Outsiders and The Walking Papers, and is a solo artist also.
But outside of being a singer/songwriter/musician, he is also a writer. And a very good one at that.
He has written for The Seattle Weekly (where he is from), Playboy.com, and ESPN.com, and released his first book/autobiography It’s So Easy (and other lies) in 2011.
Duff is very smart, well spoken, and well read.
In his second book, he talks about being a father, a husband, a musician, a writer, being sober, being a sports fan, stories of being in his bands, going back to school after getting sober, book recommendations (as I said he’s well read) and so much more.
I found this book to be an excellent follow-up to this first.
You don’t have to be a fan or even know who he is to enjoy this and his other book.
This is a very entertaining, enlightening, and even inspiring book.
Seek it out and his other book too.
