Review of The Solie Chronicles by Bob Allyn

One of the problems with the wrestling business is the toll it takes on the private and family lives of those involved in it. However, very few books on the market have delved into this aspect of wrestler's lives. This book chronicles both Gordon Solie's professional and personal lives with equal vigor. Unlike his wrestling career which is held in the highest-esteem, his personal life was a mess and the authors don't shy away from describing his human frailties.

This is a tale of three different stories as this biography chronicles the personal life, wrestling career, and stock car involvement of Gordon Solie. All three of these stories are highly detailed.

The heart of this book is the story of Gordon's personal life. It is a gripping story that is very sad. Despite the success fans saw, his life was filled with estrangement from his family and a problem with alcohol.

His wrestling announcing career details his involvement in the business and many great stories from his friends in the business. If you are looking for behind-the-scenes stories of the reasons certain things were done, you will be disappointed. For many years, Gordon was kept out of the creative loop and didn't know what was going to happen until he saw it unfold on TV.

A chunk of this book is dedicated to his involvement in the stock car industry. The stories of the business were entertaining but the details of many of the races were a little too much. With the exception of people living in Florida that followed the local circuit, most of the names in many of these races are unfamiliar to even die-hard racing fans. Unfortunately, the level of detail given to the action on the track isn't given to the action inside of the ring.

Overall Recommendation: If you were a fan of Gordon, this is a must-read. However, just as with Bret Hart's book, you might not like everything you read.