A SAVAGE BUSINESS : THE COMEBACK AND COMEDOWN OF MIKE TYSON

Rating:
Summary: Boxing Is For Desperate Young Men
Review: Guys pretty desperate-i.e.,poor,hungry,uneducated, and with an abundance of brawn become boxers. This book is an entertaining story of one success story. While Mike Tyson is not always an ideal role model, he has succeeded in a physically dangerous business that takes brawn and smarts.

Rating:
Summary: A clouded affair.
Review: I would like to say that I tore through this book at a rate of knots and left fully satisfied. I hate to discover that halfway through a book it is becoming a chore to read but that is exactly how I found this book. Although it does have moments that will no doubt allow you leave to pause for thought, generally it is a tough read that the author has obviously tried hard to complicate regarding issues where motives were actually very simple. Maybe he was looking to read between the lines for deeper issues but I don't believe that they existed. If this were a school report card it would have "could do better" written all over it. Frustrating.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Book Best Served With Bad Intentions
Review: Interesting Book Best Served With Bad Intentions

Interesting Book - I recommend reading it in addition to reading Bad Intentions: The Mike Tyson Story by Peter Heller - this book picks up pretty much where Heller's book leaves off - it picks up at Tyson's release from the Indiana Prison and ends at the Holyfield ear biting.

The beginning and end are very clear in it's dealing with Tyson and notably charismatic and captivating - I especially liked the perception and analysis of Tyson's career.

The middle came up a bit short, but was readable and mostly dealt with the business side of things - the business side of Las Vegas, hotels, Don King and the business of boxing - Tyson is in there - just not as much as in Heller's book.

A necessary book for the Tyson fan - and it's an interesting read -

On it's own - I'd give A Savage Business: The Comeback and Comedown of Mike Tyson 3.5 stars (out of 5) - however - as a companion to Bad Intentions: The Mike Tyson Story - I'd give it a 4.

Also (just so you know) - Iron Mike: A Mike Tyson Reader (by Daniel O'Conner) is another awesome book!