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List Price: $25.95 | | Publisher: Harper Entertainment
Salesrank: 318153
Released: September 2, 2008 |
| Our Price: $5.43 |
| Used Price: $7.69 |
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| Media: Hardcover |
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Editorial Review:
This is the first-ever biography of the legendary wrestler Gorgeous George, filled with incredible never-before-told stories. George directly influenced the likes of Muhammad Ali, who took his bragging and boasting from George; James Brown, who began to wear sequined capes onstage after seeing George on TV; John Waters, whose films featured the outrageous drag queen Divine as an homage to George; and too many wrestlers to count. Amid these pop culture discoveries are firsthand accounts of the pro wrestling game from the 1930s to the 1960s.
The ideal American male used to be stoic, quiet, and dignified. But for a young couple struggling to make ends meet, in the desperation born of the lingering Depression and wartime rationing, an idea was hatched that changed the face of American popular culture, an idea so bold, so over-the-top and absurd, that it was perfect. That idea transformed journeyman wrestler George Wagner from a dark-haired, clean-cut good guy to a peroxide-blond braggart who blatantly cheated every chance he got. Crowds were stunned—they had never seen anything like this before—and they came from miles around to witness it for themselves.
Suddenly George—guided by Betty, his pistol of a wife—was a draw. With his golden tresses grown long and styled in a marcel, George went from handsome to . . . well . . . gorgeous overnight, the small, dank wrestling venues giving way to major arenas. As if the hair wasn't enough, his robes—unmanly things of silk, lace, and chiffon in pale pinks, sunny yellows, and rich mauves—were but a prelude to the act: the regal entrance, the tailcoat-clad valet spraying the mat with perfume, the haughty looks and sneers for the "peasants" who paid to watch this outrageously prissy hulk prance around the ring. How they loved to see his glorious mane mussed up by his manly opponents. And how they loved that alluringly alliterative name . . . Gorgeous George . . . the self-proclaimed Toast of the Coast, the Sensation of the Nation!
All this was timed to the arrival of that new invention everyone was talking about—television. In its early days, professional wrestling and its larger-than-life characters dominated prime-time broadcasts—none more so than Gorgeous George, who sold as many sets as Uncle Miltie.
Fans came in droves—to boo him, to stick him with hatpins, to ogle his gowns, and to rejoice in his comeuppance. He was the man they loved to hate, and his provocative, gender-bending act took him to the top of the entertainment world. America would never be the same again.
Gorgeous George: The Outrageous Bad-Boy Wrestler Who Created American Pop Culture Reviews:
Excellent sports bio 
2009-11-23 - Entertaining and illuminating sports bio about a fascinating cultural figure. You need not be a wrestling fan to enjoy this book, as the Gorgeous One's influence--as vividly described by Capouya--reached well beyond the scope of that sport.
The book might have been even stronger if Capouya had been able to get better access to Ali and Dylan for his chapters on GG's impact on their careers, but he's able to connect the dots well regardless. And the chapter on Gorgeous George's gender-bending theatrics and their influence make a richly compelling case for GG's impact on pop culture, not to mention his outspoken bravado, which flew in the face of the traditional notion of the stoic, play-by-the-roles hero.
A thoroughly enjoyable read for fans of sports, biographies and pop culture in general.
Gorgeous George and The Cultural Revolution He Helped Start
2009-09-04 - Late one Saturday night when I was a small boy and my parents thought I was safely in bed, and asleep, i crept from my bed into the living room to watch wrestling. This night was different. After weeks of watching macho good guys wrestling macho bad guys, Gorgeous George entered the ring, and my young view of the world was changed forever! Here was a man who seemingly danced right along the edge of sexual identity: feminine hair style, elaborate robe(that my mother might have coveted, a female attendant (probably first wife Betty) and "georgie pins."
When the match actually started george, except for the hair, was as masculine and tough as his macho foil, who, after defending traditional male values, got himself flattened by "The Human Orchid." What did it mean to be male, if George could act "swishy," as my father called it, and win? It meant that a certain view of how the world worked, was obsolete.
George, aided and abetted by wife Betty, who not only sewed his robes--but was a fount of ideas to refine the act, came along at a time when television was becoming a national medium. In addition the unified spirit of the war years was giving way to uneasiness with all kinds of traditions. A desire for individual expression was supplanting long years of group purpose, and putting the team first.
Author Capouya does an excellent job of drawing all these strands together in an entertaining, and enlightening narrative. he also offers convincing evidence for Gorgeous Gorge Wagner's influence on a group as diverse as Muhammad Ali, James Brown, John Waters, and Paris Hilton. I would add Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and jimi Hendrix to that mix.
Like George, and all too many other creative, and talented people, George and the others listed fell victim to getting lost in the gimmick! George's coping mechanisms were alcohol, gambling, and infidelity. In the end they would cost him everything. Including his life. This is a very good book. Those looking for a simplistic, one dimensional view of pro wrestling history may be disappointed, those open to a larger view of wrestling and its social context will find much to ponder.
Entertaining biography that tells the story of the transformation of journeyman George Wagner
2009-04-24 - What did James Brown and Muhammad Ali have in common?
They both took much of their act from GORGEOUS GEORGE, an
entertaining biography by John Capoya . . . it tells the story
of the transformation of journeyman wrestler George Wagner
from a dark-haired clean-cut good guy to a blond braggart
who cheated whenever he got the chance . . .he also drove
crowds wild back in the early 1950s when wresting first
gained widespread popularity.
In reading it, I was also reminded of THE WRESTLER (the
recent film)--particularly this one passage:
* Wrestling was becoming family television fare, but the Romans in
the arenas still went berserk at the sight of gladiatorial blood. The
subset of wrestlers down as "blade men" gave theirs intentionally.
To get heat, a boy would conceal an eighth-of-an-inch razor blade
on a wrist or finger, fixing it there with tape. When his opponent
slammed him face-first into a turnbuckle, he'd put a hand to his
forehead, drawing the cutting tool across it and opening up a slash
that gushed crimson. When the crowd saw the blood, or "juice,"
running down his face and neck and staining the mat below, it let
out a primal roar. A star like George would never have to resort to
blading or "getting color," as it was also known. But quite a few
other did, their foreheads gradually becoming hatch-marked with tiny
whitish scars.
Though the wrestling parts of the book were interesting, I
found his story out of the ring even more fascinating . . . such as
this account of when he met Ali (then Cassius Clay) and told him:
* "You got your good looks, a great body, and you've got a good
mouth on you. Talk about how pretty you are, tell 'em how great you
are. And a lot of people will pay to see somebody shut your big
mouth. So keep on bragging, keep on sassing and always be
outrageous."
And then there was this account of his appearance on Eddie
Cantor's radio show:
* This segment ended with Cantor asking his guest star: "There is
one thing I always wanted to know. What makes you call yourself
Gorgeous?"
To which George answered: "Honesty."
I was moved by Capoya's portrayal of George toward the end
of his career--and particularly the description of the bout he lost
and was forced to have his curls shaved in the ring . . . things went
steadily downhill afterwards, and when he died at 48, he
was both broke and virtually friendless.
Adding greatly to my enjoyment of the book were the pictures
from the various stages of his career . . . they really helped me
understand his popularity and why he had been such a cultural icon
A really good read! 
2009-03-27 - This is a great book that is easy to read and filled in a lot of holes in the life of Gorgeous George.
The writer did a tremendous job of brushing up on his wrestling knowledge before writing this and even did a better job researching.
This covers his early years that he never talked about all the way to his death and just about everything in between.
just okay 
2009-02-25 - Not among the best pro wrestling books I've read. I didn't know much about GG before and learned quite a bit, so it was worth it in that sense. But the writer wears out his welcome quickly with his show off-y/pompous academic style. He literally stretches the quotes from Ali, James Brown and Dylan on the back of the book nearly into full chapters. They're great quotes, but each one is repeated half a dozen times. And by the end, he gives GG credit for influencing everyone from Donald Trump to Dennis Rodman to Madonna to Tupac to Paris Hilton and Little Richard. This stuff goes on forever, especially toward the end, adding what seemed like another 50 pages to a decent story. He also says stuff like 'which is what George was thinking, perhaps' quite a lot; going way beyond speculation. But I enjoyed the actual details of GG's life and career, even though it didn't stand up to the better wrestling books out there (and I've read a few).
