Up Against the Ropes

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!
I am sorry I haven't posted the last few days but I have been celebrating the Christmas holidays with my family. But, I'm back now and ready to go!

Now, I must admit that this next book is not typically the type of book I read, because I am not the sportiest of people, but one lazy Sunday afternoon I was watching WWE Wrestling on the television and on came Edge, a gorgeous wrestler full of attitude. Later the following week, while browsing at the bookstore, I came across Edges autobiography and couldn't help but pick it up!

Adam Copeland on Edge
by Adam Copeland

Genre; Autobiography
Publisher; Pocket Books/ New York/ 2004
Pages; 254

Plot; Adam Copeland was born in Ontario, Canada in 1973. Being the only child of Judy, a single Mother, Copeland was brought up to follow his dreams no matter how hard the struggle.

Through his younger years Copeland filled his time with toys, friends and the music of KISS but it was after a family tragedy that he found his ultimate passion. After the death of his uncle in 1982 Copeland found himself in a dark stage of his life until one day a "platinum blonde, yellow-and-red-clad behemoth with a definite fire burning in his eyes" flashed across his screen. It was the love of Hulk Hogan that drove Copeland towards wrestling and he has never looked back.

Adam Copeland on Edge follows Copeland through the building blocks of his career, from the days of lounge room wrestling, to being crammed into a van with half-a-dozen other wrestling hopefuls driving across the country with the aim of finding and making a name for themselves to the successful career he has now. Copeland also sheds some light onto his personal life, whether those be laughable experiences, such as sneaking through bushes with the hope of getting lucky with the girls on the other side, or the tearful times, such as his failed marriage or his various injuries.

My Thoughts; I had a great time with this book! Adam Copeland is not the man I had previously expected him to be. On WWE, Edge is depicted as a womanising, arrogant, self-centred goose, but what I came to learn is that he isn't at all arrogant or self-centred.

When I started reading this book I was a little worried as to how well the writing would be, considering he is a sportsman and not a writer, but Copeland has done a really good job. What surprised me the most about this book was Copeland's sense of humour. I got to laugh at least once at every page. However, while the book is full of laughs, Copeland has also opened a welcoming door into the more difficult times of his life and when I wasn't laughing I was able to cry with him.

I know a little bit about wrestling from my occasional flick over to WWE however I can not go so far as to name dozens of wrestlers, but you don't need to be a wrestling fanatic to read this book. There was the occasional wrestling reference for which I pulled a blank, but for most of the book Copeland introduces you to everyone and everything you need to know.

This is a good book for anyone wanting a quick read that is going to make them laugh at every turn.