Chris Jericho’s autobiography “A Lion’s Tale,” co-written with Peter Thomas Fornatale misses the mark at times not because of what is said during the course of the book, but what it doesn’t.
Leaving a “lion’s” share of pivotal emotional details out, Jericho aka Chris Irvine, doesn’t take us as far into his world as we would have liked. Sure, it’s full of great stories from his travels and life, but considering the book ends in 1999 upon his arrival in the WWF, you can’t help want more and feel a little jipped.
The main instances of Irvine holding back are when he mentions the regrets he has that are due to a life in wrestling, such as spending time with his family. A little more of an inside look at the man would have been great here and made the book something special. Irvine also does an excellent job of bypassing through his childhood, mentioning only the love of wrestling he had and his parents’ rocky relationship. Again, a bit more here could have gone a long way in showing us the person behind the yellow and black tights and awesome hair.
In spite of that, the insight Irvine provides to the business is a must-read, even if you’re not a fan of professional wrestling. Traveling all over the world in your 20s with barely a dime in your pocket is no easy task, but Irvine does it. Feeling like a pro wrasslin’ tribute to the road stories of Jack Kerouac, Irvine is charming, inspiring and fun throughout.
If you are a fan of Jericho’s work however, this book is a fast and fun read. One of the last superstars to experience the old territories, Jericho has been all over the world, wrestling for a myriad of personalities and sharing ring time with dozens of legends. Listening to him discuss his time in every company is hilarious and intriguing, as here we get the kind of details the fans deserve. While you’ve without a doubt heard stories about people the likes of Eric Bischoff and Scott Hall, hearing Jericho tell stories about them is classic. For these parts of the book alone, this book is a must have.
There’s more here however than Jericho just talking about people in the sport. His story is about fighting tooth and nail, with possibly a small dose of self-preservation, to make your dreams come true. Making mistakes along the way, Jericho admits he isn’t perfect and does a great job of making himself comfortable and relatable to the reader. For that, the book is an undeniably success.
The reason why he omitted 99.9 percent of his tenure from the WWE is more political than anything and while it hurts the flow of the book, it’s understandable. You can’t burn your bridges in that business and by writing this book, Jericho tries to satisfy his urge to tell his story without pissing off the people he needs in order to make a living.
The popular cliche says you can’t have your cake and eat it too, but in the end, Irvine gets pretty damn close.
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