I never have an issue writing reviews based on things that are new to me, but old books such as this that have been with me for years prove to be a bit difficult. Expressing how you feel about something that has moved you, made you laugh, cry, and utterly disgusted is a difficult feat. The boundless criticism by the so called "Cultured" does not help, as it compels you to respond with defense and praise, which can be just as bad as never reviewing the book in the first place. A book must be taken with all of it's flaws and positives.What the cultured fail to grasp about this book is that it is not simply a tale of wrestling. Nor is a tale of a man with one ear and missing teeth who listens to too much Christmas music and mocks his buddies. It's just the story of a life, in language accessible to anyone, that was transferred from the pages of notebook paper to become a New York Times Bestseller. It's Foley's honesty, not just to the reader, but to himself that makes this book a compelling read. The simple truth is, some of us are born story tellers. This book could have been the story of one man's rise to glory starting a hot-dog stand, and it would carry the same weight and impact. It is not the life that we pursue page after page, but the writing, in all of it's crude honesty.There is something to be said when you can make beauty. However, there will always be more substance when it can be made from the unlikely places that life brings us to. Japanese death matches and locker rooms seem to be the place farthest connected from the artistic world most of the time, but somehow Foley manages to teach us just how close these two things can be.The story of struggle is one as old as time itself, and reading about it helps us empower ourselves for the long fight ahead. The only thing we can hope for is that we come out on top, like Mick, with our humor and humility still in tact. If we can, then perhaps one day this world will be filled with books as good as this. Buy it, read it, keep it. Read it again in a couple of years and fall in love with it again. Remove the cover if it scares away people from your library. And most of all, recommend it. Pass it on to others who could use a good laugh that can help them along there road. Thank you Mr. Foley for giving me one of my favorite books of all time.