by Ric Flair
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Product Description
"Woooooo! ™"With that triumphant cry, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair surpassed his predecessors and his peers to become one of the greatest professional wrestlers in history. To wrestling fans, the Nature Boy is a platinum-blond deity. A sixteen-time World Champion, "Slick Ric" could convince television viewers that a momentous life experience would pass them by if they missed an upcoming match. His opponents were challenged with this simple taunt: "To be the man, you have to beat the man." From the moment he was born, Richard Morgan Fliehr was enmeshed in controversy. Like many of the other children adopted through the Tennessee Children's Home Society, he had apparently been stolen from his birth parents. Raised just outside Minneapolis, Ric was a distracted student, a brilliant athlete, and a wild party boy. Then, a chance meeting with Olympic weightlifter Ken Patera, directed Flair to the world of professional wrestling. In 1974, Flair relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina, igniting the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling promotion. He was almost forced to retire a year later when his back was broken in a plane crash. Flair recuperated, and in 1981 he would win his first National Wrestling Alliance championship. As the most traveled champion ever, he once wrestled eighteen hour-long cards during a fourteen-day stretch. Before purchasing World Championship Wrestling in 1988, Ted Turner was given assurance that the Nature Boy would come with the package. But Flair's clashes with WCW management would drive him to World Wrestling Entertainment. When he later returned to WCW, Flair collided in and out of the ring with Hulk Hogan and -- as the company disintegrated -- began losing his self-esteem. Arriving back at WWE in 2001, Flair was a broken man. What he didn't realize was that wrestlers who'd grown up idolizing him now inhabited the locker room. With their support, he was finally able to claim his legacy and receive the credit he so richly deserved. To Be the Man traces the rise of one of wrestling's most enduring superstars to the pinnacle of the sports entertainment universe, and is a must-read for every wrestling fan.
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Average Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 A Disappointing Page Turner, 2008-06-01
This book did a great job at keeping me glued to the pages. The stories were interesting, especially those about his time on the road, breaking into the business. However, it felt like a meal where there is too many potatoes and not enough meat. The stories were nice, but they felt furnishings or sides to something that didn't have a compelling arch. The arch, Ric's realization of how he impacted the latest generation of wrestlers, came across with bitterness and an uber-sense of self-importance.
In the book, Flair is in a constant state of competition with his contemporaries and manages even those he compliments. In one of the most puzzling portions of the book, he says Bruno Sammartino drew lots of money for the WWWF but was never a top wrestler compared to a few pages earlier where he defined a top guy as someone who draws a lot of money. Flair's opinion on Hulk Hogan also varies depending on the chapter, but not with the natural flow of his life. There are many instances of these weird happenings within the pages of the novel.
My final complaint is one that draws on voice. The book is very obviously ghost-written, which is very unfortunate, especially because this book comes from one of the best, most entertaining interviewees ever. The toughest parts to swallow are the instances in the book where Keith Elliot Greenberg, his ghost writer, overdoes the pro-wrestler aspect of the biography. It reads too much like an old WWF Magazine written in Kayfabe in parts where you really would like to know inside information about what happened in certain wrestling situations.
Out of five, I would give this book Two Stars. I'd put it slightly above the Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper books but right behind Dynamite Kid's book, which, in turn is behind Foley's first two and the new Chris Jericho book. It wasn't disappointing at all, though. This is definitely a book recommended to smarter wrestling fans who know how things work but don't know all of the history that goes with it. Those who know quite a bit may find the book tedious and repetitive.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Ric Flair to be the man you have to beat the man, 2008-04-16
I finished reading this book in 2 days I couldn't put it down either. I didn't know that dusty was a booker back then. But I never understood why dusty didn't have the belt longer, I hated that Ric was always champion to me that didn't make sense when I was a kid and it still don't make sense now. The champ was suppose to be the good guy. Well anyway Ric is a legend and ranks No 1. amongst diehard wrestling fans over Hogan, Rock, and Stone Cold I guarantee it. I liked the book but was disspointed at its laziness of time events. IT skipped a lot of details and seemed to just summarize over peroids of his life. For example he never said how he met any of the horsemen, He didn't let us in on him and David talking about him becoming a wrestler. I will tell you the good points and the bad points.
1. His Birth, childhood, and teenage yrs good
2. His training to become a wrestler good
3. His breaking into the wrestling business good
4. His coming up in the ranks in wrestling and guys who were there good
5. His affiliation with the Four horsmen Bad No details at all
6. His affiliation with the popular baby faces and popular heels Bad no insight or detail especially through 84-88 guys like Nakita Koloff, Lugar, Sting, Rock n roll express, Magnum T.A.
At that dissapointment everything else was ok....I do recommed it it's still good. He does talk about wrestlers who I didn't know he had an affiliation with with detail like Rowdy Piper, and others who I'm not that familiar with.
Like I said the book has a sense of urgency like Ric was saying let's hurry up and finish this thing let's keep it kinda short, because if Ric told it all it would probably be around 500-600 pages.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 WOOOOOOOOOO ! ! , 2008-03-29
One great roller-coster of an autobiography with the man himself "SLICK RIC". This book is great and really goes into details about Ric's life. BOTH personally and professionally.
I must have read this book over 5 times cause thats good it is. Much better than Hogans book which reads like a childrens book compared to this.
BUY IT ! YOU WONT REGRET IT !
CAUSE TO KNOW THE MAN ......YOU GOTTA READ THE MAN .........WOOOOooooooooooooooooo !
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Comparing or stand alone?, 2008-03-10
I think reviews on this book will greatly vary depending on if the reader is going to compare it to other wrestling autobiographies or as a book about arguably the greatest performer in pro-wrestling. I reread this book with Ric Flair's imminent retirement coming up in mind. What we have here is Ric Flair (Richard Fleihr) relating his life in brief antecdotes and releasing some frustrations. This covers his life from birth to the formation of Evolution in 2004 (thus pre-road rage and Beth-divorce).
His controversial birth was very surprising and claims to have not even known his birth name (Fred Philips) until he started writing this book. His high school life and brief college experience began him on his life of debauchery and partying. He breaks into wrestling by training under Verne Gange and spends most of his early career with Mid South Wrestling, later going to Georgia Championship Wrestling, NWA, WCW, and WWF/E. He hides little in how he overspent and did everything to live the 'Ric Flair lifestyle' that he's known for - expensive clothes, all-night partying, and womanizer. There are countless anecdotes about his fellow wrestlers and the things they did.
Flair covers both fond and bitter memories. His respect for Ricky Steamboat and Sting abound. His rebuttal of Mick Foley is bitter and his personal friendship with Hulk Hogan dramatically changed once he helped get Hogan into WCW. He hides little in what he thinks of some of the other wrestlers (Bret Hart, Sid Viscious, pro & con of Dusty Rhodes, etc). His dispisal of Bischoff is great and takes up much of the latter part of the book. This treatment with Bischoff and the downfall of WCW affects Flair personally, causing him such great self doubt that he nearly quit the business and it took many years to regain his confidence to return to in-ring performing.
If you're a Flair fan, you will love this book. Comparing it to other similar books, you'll think it's good enough. It's a bit sporadic in the flow because it seems as though he throws in anecdotes as he remembers them. It could have been better organized and there's still topics I wanted more on. I would love to see a Top 10 style list of his favorite matches, opponents, and worst big matches. There's areas I'd like to have seen more on but there's plenty left for Flair to do a follow up book on after he retires. Unfortunately, this is a WWE published book so the praise he lays on McMahon, Triple H, HBK, and a few others seems tainted but there is a lot of respect shown to guys like Steamboat, Piper, Arn Anderson, Sting, Dusty Rhodes, and Undertaker.
Definitely worth reading and it's certainly among the better wrestling autobiographies out there. Lots of memories in this long career by feasibly the best in-ring worker & interviewer in the business.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Love, love this book!, 2007-12-18
When I first checked out this book at a local library, I was courious about all of the earlier days of Ric Flair's career (not old enough to remember all of the early years). So once I started reading, I was hooked! I loved it, looking back to the "old school" wrestling years on up to now, I just really got into it! I admit that I didn't want to give up this book when it came time to turn it back in to the library. *chuckle* I also loved the pictures too.;) If you are a fan of wrestling, or a fan of Ric Flair, this is a must read! *cheers!*
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