In the Pit with Piper: Roddy Gets Rowdy


Author, Ghost Writer, Editor: Roddy Piper, Robert Picarelli
Publisher: Berkley Boulevard
Released: 11/02

The Good
Really fun stuff. Similiar to all wrestling books in that it has some priceless retelling of funny road stories. Piper might not explain psychology perfectly, but I think he does a better job than most. I guess it's just a matter of fact thing for him.

The Bad
This book is like a montage of Piper interviews. When you know what he's trying to say it's easy to follow and has funny bits thrown in. But when he's just talking...he's just talking. The rambling gets tedious at times with funny jokes having no real purpose. While chronology is good, he bounces around in his thoughts it seems. The prevalence of contradictions is really bad. One chapter he's saying his morals took over when something immoral happened then in the next chapter he says he was totally devoid of moral character. The faulty reaccounts are obvious in points like that, but I don't think he was malicious in his fallacies. My one complaint is that Piper's delivery isn't as good as Heenan's because Piper's might sound better on tape, but doesn't read as well. His voices and facials are 75% of his interviews and you can't have it here. You hafta want to read this to read, otherwise it can be slow going.


The Rating: ***