Rating: 
Summary: What is a good person?
Review: First off, let me just say that I've done of lot of reading over the years. I have a BA in history and English literature, an MA in history, and nearly a Ph.D. in history. I'm pretty selective in what I read. I originally bought this book, not because I found the story interesting, but becasue I thought I owed it to Mick Foley. Foley gave so much to all of us as fans of wrestling, that I thought I owed it to him to buy his novel and give it a chance. I finally just now got around to reading it, and once I began I didn't put it down until I was finished. It was, without a doubt, one of the best novels I've ever read, and I've read a lot of them.The story just keeps you glued to the page. It's full of humor, and if you know Foley, it's full of his particular brand of humor. It's also one of the darkest things I've ever read. Knowing that Foley grew up in a loving family and now has one of his own, one wonders where this dark tale comes from. If you've ever seen his old Cactus Jack promos, maybe it comes from that same place. But the horrible things that happen to Andy Brown are not just there to shock. They are central to a story about how a human being can endure so much hell and somehow still emerge in the end as a good person. I think that is the central question Foley is asking: What is a good person? I think his answer is one who comes out undefeated by the terrible things that life can hand to us. Tietam Brown is evil, not because of the things he does, but because of what he has let tradgedy do to him. It's a bit like why Captain Ahab is evil and unredeemable. Mick Foley has really written something special here. The next time he publishes a novel, I'll buy it because of its own merits, not because of my admiration for the author's past acheivements.
Rating: 
Summary: An interesting debut novel
Review: Having finally had the chance to read this book, I have to say that it's not perfect or a classic, like some have suggested. On the other hand, it's not abyssmal, either. In fact, given the fact that Foley is a first time novelist, it's a remarkable read.
Simply put, this book is worth picking up for the character of Tietam Brown, Andy's father, who winds up as one of the most haunting, complex and realistic characters I've enountered in recent memory. I've known people like Tietam, who honestly tried to be decent people, but were overcome by rage. By the end of the book, even though he says he still "can't help but smile" when he thinks of Tietam, Andy also sees how destructive his own rage can be, and I think that's why he's able to make a turn for the better by the end of the book. As for Tietam... someone else compared him to Captain Ahab, and I think that's an apt description. He's a tragic figure, who might be charming at times and you sometimes feel sympathy for him, but he's beyond redemption. [SPOILERS AHEAD, DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO HAVE THINGS RUINED]I tend to think, during Andy and Tietam's final confrontation, I have the feeling Tietam lied about being responsible for the death of Andy's mother, maybe even her 'history', just to rile Andy up... especially since he had the tape recorder ready.[END SPOILERS]
Andy isn't quite as well realized, but what Foley gives us is really interesting. He's a bright kid, not afraid to stand up to "phonies", but still a very tortured soul. I would have liked to see a little bit more of the wit he showed when verbally sparring with the coach and Terri's father. It's a pretty accurate portrayal of a socially inept person who gets a lot of crap in school, even if some of it was over the top.
Other characters play heavily into the book's redemption theme, or exist only to torment Andy, and as a result aren't as fully realized. It would have been nice to see at least some of the supporting cast given a bit more depth, but again, this is a first novel.
Plot-wise, it's not what you might call a classically plotted story, but it does grip you and make you want to read on. There are a few loose ends I would have liked to see tied up a little more(some of the mysteries about Tietam are never clearly explained, for example), but you really are drawn in and want to see how it ends. I intended to only start the book, and actually finished it in a single night... very few books have pulled me in that much.
In terms of style, the book is written with a similar voice to Foley's autobiographies, particularly in the beginning. This created a slight problem for me, as I had trouble seperating Andy from Mick. Compare to Lawrence Block, who writes in the first person and all of his character have a very distinctive "voice". Toward the end of the book, as other reviewers have pointed out, Andy takes on a life of his own, and it made me wish that he had spoken in such a way through the whole book.
The only other problem I had with the book were that a few jokes and anecdotes were lifted straight from his first two books, and the wrestling references at times got a little too heavy. I didn't have a problem when, say, it mentions a promoter named Fuller and his "crazy son Robert", but when, in the middle of a tense fight scene, the owner of J.R.'s comes out wearing a black cowboy hat, I had to groan a little. I hope the upcoming Scooter will remove some of this.
Overall, again, this is a really strong piece of work for a debut novelist. Granted, I get the feeling his success on his previous books meant he didn't get edited as strongly as he should have, and I suspect there were few, if any revisions, due to the marked improvement in the styling. But there's a lot of potential here, and once you get into the book, it's engrossing. I'm giving it such a high rating because I really did find myself enjoying it, but I suspect with four to five novels under his belt, we'll be looking at a very skilled and, more than likely, very popular author.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: I bought this book because I am a big fan of Mick Foley as a wrestler, entertainer and writer. I read his first two books and thought they were good. This book is GREAT!! A little twisted and disturbing but truly great. I hope Mick is working on another book. I read alot of books and was truly entertained by this one. I couldn't put it down and once I was done I went back and re-read alot of it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: I bought this book because I am a big fan of Mick Foley as a wrestler, entertainer and writer. I read his first two books and thought they were good. This book is GREAT!! A little twisted and disturbing but truly great. I hope Mick is working on another book. I read alot of books and was truly entertained by this one. I couldn't put it down and once I was done I went back and re-read alot of it.
Rating:
Summary: Mick Foley a literary genius
Review: I'm a huge fan of Mick Foley's work as a wrestler, and have thought for years that he is a natural for crossing over into the mainstream media, with his curious combination of family-man eloquence and psychotic ultra-showmanship. I was pleasantly surprised when I heard that he was working on a novel, and really excited to pick it up at a signing the day it came out. Foley does indeed put together a decent story and a few interesting characters in TIETAM BROWN, but is a bit too dependent on black-or-white characterization -- the women are, by and large, celestial beings full of good intentions, and the men are scumbags who look out for themselves above all else. Even the narrator, who is a character with real promise, ends up seeming less developed than he should be by the end of the book (this is a complaint which can also be levelled against Dickens, of course). There are a few scenes of violence which are genuinely off-putting, and that's a good thing, as it's certainly Foley's intent (no glorification of violence to be found in here, folks). Part of the problem is that Foley is such a strong and established personality that it is impossible to read this without seeing the similarities in writing style to his previous memoirs; when he describes someone as "wearing a crimson mask" of blood after a fight, it's a direct usage of a pro-wrestling commentary cliche, and for a narrator who has no interest in wrestling to use that term seems a bit farfetched, a bit like Foley is trying to pass it off as poetic description. There are also a few really obvious in-jokes, such as a jab at Foley's friend Dee Snider of Twisted Sister and a section where he places himself (college-aged Foley, right before he became a wrestler) into the background of a scene, then has his main characters talk about him, down to describing his height and weight. *SPOILER* Tietam Brown (the father and, in many ways, the focus of the novel) is an ex-wrestler, but that only shows up in the last quarter of the book, and seems to be mainly an opportunity for Foley to explain the politics of regional pro-wrestling in the days before the WWF's national broadcasting. Learning that he's an ex-fighter doesn't really add anything to the character, or explain why he is how he is, which is strange to me in that I really expected Tietam to be an analysis of the angry-loner persona Foley created with his Cactus Jack character, as whom he wrestled on and off for over a decade. At times, the novel seems 'neither fish nor fowl,' a bit too focused on Foley's history and circle of friends and peers, at times a bit too unwilling to directly relate the characters to Foley's past and present. That said, it's a good, dark story, and an engaging enough read that I'd recommend it to people who like, say, Chuck Palahniuk's novels. First novels are often pretty clumsy, and some of my favorite authors' first books are nowhere near as good as what came later (Richard Price started out as an author of about the same level as this). My hope is that Foley will work with an editor who is a bit more aggressive about saying "no" at times, and that he himself will be willing to have his next book be "by the author of TIETAM BROWN" rather than "by the WWF champion and author of HAVE A NICE DAY!" I think that that will really help him develop as a writer, and I look forward to seeing that development.
Rating:
Summary: Excellence falls short in description...
Review: I've been a fan of Mick Foley through most of my 16 years here on earth. Not just because he was my favorite pro wrestler, but he is in all honesty my idol as a person. The man is so intelligent, and his sense of humor has made me laugh out loud while reading all three of the books he's published. The third of these writings is Tietam Brown. It's his first fictional novel, with his other two books being autobiographies. I must say, I was excited when I got this book as a Christmas gift, and my excitement was satisfied beyond 100%. The way he takes you through Tietam's times of feeling his "rage" actually made me become emotional. Then the happy times he had with his father and Terri made me smile to myself. From the most grotesque scenarios to the most heart warming of moments, Mick describes Tietam's experiences so well, you feel as if you've gone through them yourself. Please, read this book. I know I'm only 16, but as of right now, this book is very high on the list of best books I have ever read. If Mick Foley has conquered his illiteracy of computers (hehe) and ever reads this, I'd like you to know that it was the most exciting moment in my life when I saw you face to face, even if it was for only a few seconds inside a Rochester, NY Wal-Mart. :) You are a hero to me, not only for your sacrifices in the world of wrestling, but as a human.
Rating:
Summary: Foley is a Genius...
Review: Mick Foley is pure genius. Many people will overlook this book simply for the fact that a Pro-Wrestler wrote it, but for that reason I chose to read it.
He mixes in all aspects of teenage life, and relates it to real life experiences. A mix of the teenage pressures, (drinking, drugs, sex, and fighting) is all thrown in and in an amazing harmony.
I am not an avid reader and I honestly could not set this book down. I got in trouble at home and even in school for reading too much. I have never got in trouble for reading before.
I also read one of Mick Foleys other books entitled �Foley is Good: And the Real World is Faker Than Wrestling�. In that book he tells more of his experiences in his life, in this book he creates a character and puts him through experiences we may all go through in our lifetime.
The story follows Tietam Brown, a scrawny, one eared, one working handed kid through his not so easy life. After a childhood full of hardships, deaths, and moving from foster home away and back again, he finally has found his father and is ready to start a new life. Somehow Tietam manages to attract the best looking girl at his high school and automatically he becomes the target for most other male students who are jealous. At this point in the novel it seemed that it would be a fluffy love/sex story about a teenage relationship. I was way off. This story actually is about the battle between Tietam and his father, also named Tietam. It goes through the sexual escapades, the fights, the ups and downs of this relationship.
A likeable character gets put into bad situations and you honestly feel bad for him. He gets put into some ugly positions. Some say this book is too immature, or childish to be seriously considered as a good piece of writing. I disagree; I think that this piece of writing is amazing. A good mixture of sex, teenage life, and the triumphs we all go through. I recommend this for the avid wrestling fan, the avid reader, or someone who just wants a book that you won�t be able to set down.
Rating:
Summary: Foley is...an Author!
Review: Read and finished in a day. I knew the book was going to be good. Throughout the novel's beginning I thought this was going to be the same kind of fare found in his Have a Nice Day. It was pretty funny and self-deprecating (to the main character that is). But as I delved further and further into the story of Tietam Brown I found something far more interesting. The critics have been surprised at the violence found in this novel...but it's really no different than any other young adult novel that I've read (and I've read many as a high school teacher). And as all the events and different character lines meet in a crescendo the reader finds a troubled man on the verge of something greater. I was drawn to Andy's honesty (something that's hard to find in this world) and rooted for him whenever he stood up for himself, something that doesn't happen enough in fiction. The only drawback that I found in the writing was that it seemed everything needed more than one adjective. But Foley has an outstanding knack for pegging what people would really be thinking and how they would speak. I really hope that Foley sees past any poor reviews (probably from fans who only want wrestling) and gives writing another go. This wrestling fan really thinks he'll only get better with each manuscript.
Rating: 
Summary: Gross!
Review: This is a good novel if, and only if, your most profound ideas of the real world have been formed by cartoons from Hustler magazine.
It is, in a word, gross. Its subject is sex and violence, and not believably rendered, either. Plot development is piecemeal, character description is barely enough to form a consistent mental picture, and its themes are a series of clichés alternating with pop-schlock movie images and highly questionable pseudo-psychological insights, such as, if you let a big guy beat the crap out of you, it will make him cry. (I'm sure if the author could track me down, he'd make my head explode, pick my broken teeth out of the flesh of his knee, and end up completely covered with my blood...all except for the whites of his eyes.)
On the other hand, from reading the other reviews here on Amazon it becomes clear that this is a novel written for male adolescents, and that they like it just fine. So who am I to say?
Rating:
Summary: Foley Hits His Finisher
Review: This was an amazing book. It keeps you interested in what will happen next. Foley does a good job of somehow making the reader feel compassion for Andy Brown's scumbag father even after he says some pretty haynous things. As you read, Foley will say something and you just think to yourself, " that's typical Mick. " The first half the book keeps you interested and sets you up for what is to come in the second half. The last 50 pages or so make you feel so much compassion for the characters involved. Mick takes his skill of working the crowd and puts in into literary form.
|
