Ric Flair: To Be the Man


Author, Ghost Writer, Editor: Ric Flair, Keith Elliot Greenberg, Mark Madden
Publisher: WWE Publishing
Released: 7/04


The Good
A fascinating book about one of pro-wrestling's greatest personalities. The insight into Richard Fleihr's personal life is really the breakthrough here, but the stories and opinions are fun to hear. A few are new and interesting, but for the most part it's what you'd expect. I question Flair's honesty from time-to-time, but I think on the whole he's very candid with his readers. The best WWE book thusfar and one that will be hard to top.


The Bad
Obviously I can knock this book in a bunch of different ways. How can a 350 page book really capture the lengthy and fascinating career of such a colorful character? Well, it can't. That fact alone tempts me to knock this down to a 4, but I hate to punish it on potential. There are probably hundreds of edited out stories and tangents that would have made this one of the greatest wrestling books ever, but there is an obvious absence. Flair's opinions on Bret Hart, Randy Savage and Mick Foley have caused notable backlash, but they're his opinions and I'd rather have them in there than unnecessarilly censored. Considering he went hard on them and light on people like Kevin Nash, Lex Luger and even Hulk Hogan to an extent is strange.

The Rating: ****1/2