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Booker T. Huffman

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Booker T: From Prison to Promise: Life Before the Squared Circle (The Soul Archives) Hardcover – August 1, 2012

by Booker T Huffman (Author), Andrew William Wright (Author)

4.4 267 ratings

Part of: The Soul Archives (1 books)

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As a six-time world champion, TV commentator, and holder of more than 35 major titles in WWE, WCW, and TNA, Huffman knows what it means to fight. He learned long before he entered the ring, when daily survival was a fierce battle.

Review

"Booker's story is incredible. You've heard the term 'from rags to riches?' Booker had less than rags." —www.DougCataldo.blogspot.com

"Booker T casts an honest, clear eye on the life of a kid who grows into a criminal, one who learns his lessons from a family and community of hustlers, dealers, pimps, prostitutes, thieves, and killers. He tells it straight, without excuse." —PW Torch (August 2012)

"Booker's T journey is not only a testament to someone's will for a better life, but an inspiring story that shows you can overcome anything with the will to be better than you were." —www.OtakusAndGeeks.com

"There will be times where a shiver runs down your spine, reading how fine a line he walked and lived; you will weep along with him as he recounts how death has affected him, from his parents to a girlfriend who commits suicide; there will also be times when you share in his elation, such as when he is paroled, or when he does his first spinaroonie." —Greg Oliver, www.slam.canoe.ca

"In Booker T: From Prison to Promise . . . you will read the most intimate details of the early life of one of the most famous American wrestlers of this generation. Say this for Booker T: he does not hold anything back." —Robert Weir, www.WrestlingFigs.com

"An uplifting story of setting one's life straight, Booker T: From Prison to Promise is well worth considering for fans of Booker's work and of memoirs about going straight." —Midwest Book Review (October 2012)

"The book is refreshingly honest and a raw tale of how one man overcame quite a bit of adversity, some of which was bad luck and some of which was self-induced, to become a success." —www.VoicesOfWrestling.com

"Highly educational, entertaining, and straight off the cuff. This leaves the reader wanting to know more. I cannot wait to read [Booker T. Huffman and Andrew William Wright's] next book! Booker T is a book with positive life-affirming lessons." —www.NightOwlReviews.com

About the Author

Booker T. Huffman is the WWE Smackdown General Manager and a trainer for the hugely popular reality series, "World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) Tough Enough." He holds 35 major professional titles within "WWE, World Championship Wrestling (WCW)," and "Total Nonstop Action (TNA)." He owns and operates Pro Wrestling Academy, a wrestling school which strives to help students ages 13 and up achieve their dreams. His nonprofit organization, "Booker T Fights for Kids Foundation," has supported many outreach endeavors, including the patient-focused campaign of the "National Marrow Donor Program(R), " overseas visits to U.S. troops, and displaced Hurricane Katrina victims. He lives in Houston, Texas.

Andrew William Wright, a Jersey Shore based producer and award winning author, produced both The Hardy Show (featuring Matt and Jeff Hardy) and RVD TV (with Rob Van Dam) internet and DVD series and has written for several New Jersey newspapers, including specialty features and high school sports for both The Ocean County Observer and the Asbury Park Press.

His first book which began production with Medallion in 2009, The Road Warriors: Danger, Death, and the Rush of Wrestling”, coauthored with WWE Legend and Hall of Famer Joe Animal” Laurinaitis and released in 2011, is one of Medallion’s most popular and best selling titles of all time, reaching number one on Amazon.com three separate times and led to a major publication release in Japan.

Wright’s second autobiography, Booker T: From Prison To Promise”, penned alongside current WWE Superstar and Hall of Famer Booker T. Huffman and released in 2012, not only became an Amazon bestseller as well, but won the bronze Independent Publisher Book Award in 2013. This success prompted an immediate follow up, Booker T: My Rise To Wrestling Royalty”, which will hit all major retail outlets in late 2014.

Part of series

The Soul Archives
Print length

211 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Medallion Press
Publication date

August 1, 2012
Dimensions

5.6 x 0.9 x 8.3 inches
ISBN-10

1605424684
ISBN-13

978-1605424682
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Medallion Press (August 1, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 211 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1605424684
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1605424682
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.6 x 0.9 x 8.3 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #929,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #302 in Wrestler Biographies
- #650 in Wrestling (Books)
- #2,800 in Black & African American Biographies

Customer Reviews:
4.4 267 ratings

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4.4 out of 5

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Mr Revan

From the ashes of despair, came hope

Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2015

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I first got this book since I am a huge Booker T fan and wanted to know about the legend. Mr. Huffman takes you back into his family history and while he is telling you about his parents, you can feel the pride, the honor and the love his family had for one another. He does not hide the fact that his mother is the heart and soul of the family. You can feel the emotion of the ups and downs his family faced while they tried to make end meet but you can also feel the joy on the little things most people take for granted.

Sadly, like so many families back then and now, the Huffman family went through some serious losses and there is a part in the book where you can feel the despair, the hopelessness and fear of having to face harsh realities at such a young age. I felt many times throughout the book as if I was reliving parts of my own. Booker T does not sugar coat his biography like most celebrities do in their books. He owns his mistakes, he makes no excuses and accepts what he did and he tries to let the reader know to avoid his mistakes.

The book is uplifting but you have to stay with him to reach the light at the end of the tunnel. I urge any interested or curious readers who are looking for a good book, this is it. Mr. Huffman takes you inside the mind of a troubled young man who had the deck stacked against him and made some bad decisions but at the end, found redemption and hope.

I had the pleasure of meeting Booker T last year, he is gracious and humble. While it is easy to let fame and fortune go to your head, I can truly understand why he is so grounded. I encourage everyone to walk a mile in his shoes, I promise you, whether you are a wrestling fan, this book will not let you down.

Helpful

Bill Williams

Very in-depth autobiography

Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2013

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In "From Prison to Promise", Booker T Huffman paints a very vivid and honest picture of a troubled life long before becoming the celebrated multiple-time world heavyweight champion in WCW and WWE.

It's a modern version of the classic Horatio Alger rags-to-riches story made famous in the 1930s, only this really happened to Booker T, his brother Lash (aka Stevie Ray), and their siblings. Losing their own father when he was an infant is scarring enough, as he would grow up with no memories of his own. He admits that what he knows of his father was told to him by his older brothers and sisters. But they had their mother, who worked hard and provided stability in the Huffman home. But the story takes a tragic departure when she dies, leaving the children to fend for themselves. At just 13, Booker T was alone without his parents.

Going from place to place, his school work suffered as he descended into a life of drugs, gangs, and crime, eventually landing him a stint in prison. I remember hearing this part of his past mentioned in one of his WWE appearances, if I remember correctly. And yet it would be prison that would finally provide Booker T with the discipline he needed to turn his life around for the better. It is here that I felt a little disappointed with his autobiography. I kept expecting him to talk about a conversion experience to Christianity, but there is none mentioned.

From there Booker T walks the straight and narrow in his life, becoming a young father to his son and building a life for himself. And then the story takes a turn, leading both Booker T and Lash into what would define their lives to come: professional wrestling. From the independent circuits to developing the now-famous Spin-a-Roonie (really!) to getting the call to jump to WCW, the origin of the Booker T we have come to know and love in the ring is defined...

And then the book ends. At least we are given the promise of a second book to come. "From Prison to Promise" is a nice, quick read, giving the reader an unflinching real look into the dark world Booker T endured in his young life. And yet you can't help but root for him to survive and persevere.

I look forward to seeing the second book soon. Now can you dig that... sucka?!?!?!? :)

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Robert B. Lloyd

An intense wrestling biography

Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2017

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So I like how Booker T did his biography and did it in more than one part, because I feel like I got a better introduction to his background which helped me appreciate more of what he went through to get where he is today. I'm a huge wrestling fan, and have always enjoyed wrestling biographies. I have always felt Booker T's WCW title run as world champion was one of the few good things to come out of the final days of WCW. Furthermore his work in the WWE (especially with Goldust) was amazing. So it's great to read about how he got started and where his roots were. Not to diminish the struggles of any other wrestler, but I think after reading his biography that Booker T had the most to overcome out of anyone I've read in the genre. You'll appreciate this amazing wrestler more after reading his biography!

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R-Him

Booker T tells it as it was, warts and all.

Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2015

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Booker T. Huffman tells the unvarnished truth about his life before hitting the big-time in professional wrestling. He himself tells you that his life wasn't sweetness and light. Yet throughout this volume you see how he overcame every difficult circumstance and persevered until he accomplished what really mattered to him the most. When people took advantage of him, Booker T kept himself in check. And with his older brother Lash, whose in-ring name was Stevie Ray, they became one of the most dominant tag teams ever.

Mr. Huffman pulls no punches in telling his story. His story is compelling, in and of itself. And we, the readers of this book, owe him total respect for not hiding where he came from on his way to where he is today. I understand that he has written a sequel picking up where this book left off. I took forward to reading more about this remarkable gentleman.

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ShanaB

Booker T. Huffman has a success story that every young person should read.

Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2020

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I gave this book to my husband for his birthday. We live in Houston which is Booker T's home. He's a fascinating man who went from the mean streets to a legendary wrestler who went to the absolute top of sports entertainment. I've met him when I worked for a sports talk radio station. He's warm, personable, and a genuinely nice person. If I were younger I'd enroll in his wrestling academy here. We plan to go to the arena at his sports complex to see the matches when the pandemic is over. Booker T. Huffman is a true hero.

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Mr. C. K. Hall

Never Give Up!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 26, 2022

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A story of testing times from a young age, wrongs and rights and a great attitude on getting that goal regardless of dark places

Brandon Kern

Humbling

Reviewed in Canada on March 5, 2014

Verified Purchase

If you're looking for Booker's stories about his life in the ring this is not the book for you. If you want to learn about how Booker T.'s (not even booker knows what the T stands for) life before the ring definitely pick this book up. It's quite small and will be a quick read but its quite a humbling experience *spoiler* learning about how his life went from not bad to at the bottom of the pit, how he survived an struggled against the streets, and how his life could've taken a completely different turn.
If you're a fan of Booker or you want to here an incredible story of how much and individual can endure and still rise above then this is a book you need to read.

Elisa

Una vera storia di vita

Reviewed in Italy on May 17, 2013

Verified Purchase

Un'autobiografia semplice, ben scritta e di effetto.
Ma soprattutto onesta dove Booker si spoglia davanti ai lettori senza tralasciare dettagli sul suo passato burrascoso e gli errori che ha fatto.

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Loppo Louie

Booker T...

Reviewed in Canada on May 8, 2017

Verified Purchase

From a low life to
the high life of wrestling. It just goes to show
everyone should have chances in life.
Booker is a prime example of this.
Go Booker Go!!!!

Michael

Great read for non-wrestling fans and wrestling fans alike

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2015

Verified Purchase

Have to say though it was a short book (just over 210 pages long) I really enjoyed reading about Booker T and his life before he moved to WCW as part of Harlem Heat with his brother Stevie Ray!
It was amazing to see the hard life as a young man that he lived and the fact he was past around from family n friends. I found it interesting to see the pride he took in some of the petty crimes he participated in in his early life as well!!
I'd recommend this to anyone who loves wrestling and anyone who loves a rags to riches story!!

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Booker T: From Prison to Promise: Life Before the Squared Circle (The Soul Archives) Hardcover – August 1, 2012

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