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The Squared Circle

Life, Death, and Professional Wrestling

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

A breakthrough examination of professional wrestling—its history, its fans, and its wider cultural impact—that does for the sport what Chuck Klosterman did for heavy metal

The Squared Circle grows out of David Shoemaker's writing for both Deadspin, where he started the column "Dead Wrestler of the Week"—a feature on the many wrestling superstars who died too young because of the abuse they subjected their bodies to—and Grantland, where he covers the pro-wrestling world and its place in the pop culture mainstream. Shoemaker's sports writing has since struck a nerve with generations of wrestling fans who, like him, grew up worshiping a sport often derided as "fake" in the wider culture. To them, these professional wrestling superstars are not just heroes but an emotional outlet and the lens through which they learned to see the world.

Starting in the early 1900s and exploring the path of pro wrestling in America through the present day, The Squared Circle is the first book to acknowledge both the sport's broader significance and wrestling fans' keen intellect and sense of irony. Divided into eras, each section offers a snapshot of the wrestling world, profiles some of the period's preeminent wrestlers, and examines the sport's influence on our broader culture. Through the brawling, bombast, and bloodletting, Shoemaker argues that pro wrestling can teach us about the nature of performance, audience, and, yes, art.

Full of unknown history, humor, and self-deprecating reminiscence—but also offering a compelling look at the sport's rightful place in pop culture—The Squared Circle is the book that legions of wrestling fans have been waiting for. In it, Shoemaker teaches us to look past the spandex and body slams to see an art form that can explain the world.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      August 12, 2013
      With the loyalty of a devoted Wrestlemania fan determined to keep the sport respectable, Shoemaker, a book designer at Henry Holt and longtime wrestling scribe, establishes the tie between the amateur grapplers in the old sideshows and carnivals to the muscled studs of the current professional “contests” performing for sell-out crowds. Shoemaker is at his best when telling comic anecdotes about the colorful characters of the sport: “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers, Vince McMahon, Gorgeous George, Sylvester “The Junkyard Dog” Ritter, Ed “The Sheik” Furhat, The Funk Brothers, Kamala the Ugandan Giant, Abdullah the Butcher, the Von Erich clan, the Fabulous Moolah, and the Chiefs Wahoo McDaniels and Jay Strongbow. He explains how the Old School rules worked during the Jim Crow days when black wrestlers could not battle with whites. Fans will recognize some of the biggest names of the staged spectacles in this lively, informed survey: Captain Lou Albano, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan, and the shapely Miss Elizabeth.

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  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

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