Customer Reviews

Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bret Hart gets to set the story straight and say the proper goodbye to friends, foes, and fans alike with this excellent book. Some of the stories are shocking, some quite touching, and all interesting and informative. While so many of his friends and family were destroyed by the business, he managed to get out with dignity and financial stability. An excellent read from the "excellence of execution", and right up there with Foley's first book as the best wrestling book of all time.

This book is superb! I live in Illinois, and got my hands on a copy of his book. It was excellent! I've been following Bret's career since I was 13, I'm now 29. This book I believe gives an real honest account of the wrestling business. Great job Bret!

Tina F.

Bret Hart promised a great book and boy did he deliver with his masterpiece. This is simply the best book there is,was and ever will be. You will laugh, cry and be inspired by the journey of the best wrestler of all time. Most of all you get a sense of what he sacrificed to get to where he is today (even the Montreal Screwjob will be seen in a new light given what we read about his journey and how he gave everything for Vince and the WWE only to be betrayed in the end)and how he is a true survivor. You'll finish this apreciating even more this man and thanking the opportunity of having seen him perform and that he managed to come out of the business alive and with his dignity. A true hero, a true class act and role model. He is the Rocky Balboa of the wrestling business.
Thanks Bret for giving me someone I could look up to in my life !

Bret's book is a great, great read. It goes through all the details from his growing up, Stampede Days, Japan, WWF, WCW, his stroke and a bit more. He doesn't pull any punches and the entire book is a shoot. The book praises people who he thought were good workers or good people, and tells the truth about people that weren't and why. This especially includes his own brothers and sisters. Some of which I'm sure will never speak to him again, but I get the impression Bret would rather not have anything to do with them any way.

He also talks about a lot of funny/interesting stories about the various characters he knew. Plenty of stuff about other people too, you'll learn surprising backstage stuff about a variety of wrestlers in here. Bret is also honest about his own flaws. Sex, Drugs, Steroids and Pain Killers. I'm a pretty knowledgeable Bret fan and there was lots of stuff in here that I didn't know. There was some tiny bits of information he wrote about in various columns and revealed in shoot interviews he left out, but none of it is really that important. Still, it's damn near 600 pages so you won't be disappointed.

This book is the most honest, open and sometimes surprising wrestling bio of them all. Hart's gut wrenching, no holds barred story is one that you will not be able to put down once you pick it up. Bret's journey is a 5 star match from start to finish. This is a must have book, especially for those who grew up with the WWF before the internet age.

Bret had an incredible life, so playing out his life in your head is a great ride. By far the most detailed, passionate and interesting wrestling book I've ever read. Absolutely fantastic.

I loved this excerpt from the book: Keep walking, I told myself, for Davey, Pillman, Curt, Rick, Liz . . . so many of us are gone, so young, and directly on account of the wrestling life. Hell, even Hawk. People told me he had wept like a baby when he heard Stu had died of pneumonia at eighty­three . . . and then Hawk died that very night. One more for the list. And surely not the last.

I reached into my breast pocket and took out my notes, carefully unfolding them on the slippery, polished surface of the oak podium. I surveyed the crowd, my gaze stopping at the young apprentices, Chris Benoit, Edge and Storm, who looked back at me with respectful anticipation. Next I glanced at a company of stalwart ring veterans-The Cuban, Leo, Hito, even Bad ­News-­all more ruminative and melancholy than I'd ever seen them. I read it in their faces, the unspoken truth that burying a man like Stu Hart was truly the end of what we had lived ­for-­and too many had died for.

And then the sight of old Killer Kowalski, in his good suit, transported me back four decades, to before Owen was even born.

I am a survivor with a story to tell. There's never been an accurate account of the history of pro wrestling. All the public knows is what is packaged and sold to them by the industry. Since I'm no longer in the business, I'm in a decent position to tell the truth, without fear of recrimination. With this book, which is based on the audio diary I kept through all my years in wrestling, starting in my early twenties, I want to put you in my shoes so you can experience what pro wrestling was like in my era, through my eyes. It's not my intention to take needless jabs at those who made the journey with me, but I'll pull no punches either. Not here.

With so many professional atheletes come out about steroids and the games that are played behind the scenes, this book is a must.

I highly recommmend this book, along with the novel if you want something totally different

I read on average 3 books per week. Many non-fiction and biographies, memoirs, true accounts, etc. This book is extremely well written and told by someone who has been in the business for many years and travelled worldwide as wrestlers have to do to build their popularity and make a living. Many of the Hart kids went to the same schools I went to although I was never close with any of them but I sure got to know them through this book and have a renewed respect for the Hart family and the popularity they brought to the wrestling world. I remember the Hart kids as kind people who had compassion for others. The Hart family was and will always be known as the foundation of wrestling and I always remember with great fondness sitting around our tv on Saturdays watching Stampede wrestling. Bret has sure lived an interesting life and I have no doubt he will continue to do so. All the wrestlers that I used to watch because my son was obsessed with wrestling as he grew up are named in this book and it was enjoyable hearing their stories, triumphs and unfortunately, with sadness, their losses, early deaths and family tragedies.
Thankyou Bret for one of the best books I've read this year and quite frankly in a long time and I am happy to hear some of Stu's grandchildren have chosen a career in wrestling, I am sure they will carry on the tradition of Stu, Bret and Owen performing their sport with integrity based on skill and talent.

I got my copy roughly a week ago, and I found it very hard to put down. It comes across as a very honest account of Bret Hart's family life, and mostly his wrestling career. He doesn't take any cheap shots at anyone but doesn't pull any punches either, including about himself.

At times he comes off as possibly being a bit braggadocios, but considering how highly regarded by others considered icons in wrestling, it's hard to dispute his claims.

Much like Mick Foley's first book, if you follow professional wrestling you will absolutely love this book, but even if you don't it's still interesting and well-written enough to be enjoyable.

One thing some readers might be disappointed about is that there isn't anything mentioned about Chris Benoit regarding the murder-suicide, although his death at a young age is lumped in with some other wrestlers that died young as well at roughly the same time. I think that can be forgiven as he likely isn't the right person to give much insight into that situation. While they did know each other personally, Bret didn't know Chris Benoit as well as others and their careers didn't cross paths often, although Bret definitely regarded Chris highly as a wrestler.

If you are a wrestling fan, reading this book should be an absolute no-brainer.

a terrific and fun read from a fellow calgarian. i also grew up in the time and place bret hart writes about and found myself laughing out loud at some of the situations. EUGENE as a star in one of bret's movies???!! most long time calgarians will understand the humour in this.
great book!!!