The Last Wrestlers

Oct 5, 2024 9:19 AM

Author:Marcus Trower

The Last Wrestlers

Marcus Trower hated WWF. He hated Hulk Hogan, Big Daddy and all the other spandex-clad musclemen who over the years had made a mockery of his beloved sport. For him, wrestling - real wrestling - was a means of expression, both physical and mental. It was also, in Britain at least, a dying art.

Then tragedy struck - chronic health problems prevented him doing what he loved most. Unwilling to let go, he travelled to such far-flung reaches as India, Mongolia, Nigeria and Brazil in an attempt to uncover some deeper, perhaps spiritual, dimension to wrestling. Amidst incredible scenery and a cast of colourful characters, Marcus discovered the true origins of wrestling appeared to have little to do with spirituality and everything to do with seduction...

The Last Wrestler is the story of one man's rebellion against the office-bound constraints of the modern world. Vivid, comic and often moving, it reveals a testosterone-fuelled world you never knew existed.

Reviews

Fascinating, funny, tragic and inspiring

—— Arena

The Last Wrestlers is an absolutely fascinating, heartfelt and original book that deserves a wide audience

—— Robert Twigger, author of Angry White Pyjamas

This is a damned good read ... and in an area of interest devoid of decent literature, must be highly recommended

—— Allan Best , British Wrestling Association

His argument that a sporting defeat might feel like the end of the world because once upon a time it meant you would not pass on your genes is strikingly well put

—— Sunday Times

Marcus Trower ... is the perfect guide on a journey to discover the roots of a sport which, in the Western world, has long been forgotten

—— Daily Express

A cracking premise for a book and one that Trower pursues with rollicking optimism. He has an earthy and beguilingly frank style that marvellously captures the anthropological texture of his journey through the rural hinterlands of Asia, Africa and South America

—— The Times

Marcus Trower engages from the first word...a vivid, personal journey...this is sports writing at its best

—— Gay Times

Trower has the perfect pitch for a sentence that illuminates an entire culture

—— Financial Times

His dedication to finding a spiritual dimension to a lost art is hard to fault

—— Wanderlust

Notable for its honesty. The Liverpool defender's published opinion that he is happier retired from international football prompted a media frenzy

—— Martin Pengelly , Guardian

One of the few current footballers worth an autobiography

—— Jonathan Ruppin , Bookseller

Amid the basketful of bland post-World Cup books, McGrath's life story stands out a mile... Fascinating reading.

—— Evening Standard

The Republic of Ireland's most popular sportsman, still adored by fans of Manchester United and Villa.

—— BBC Sport

An all-too honest account of a playing career that just got better and better, despite threatening to go off the rails.

—— Sunday Mercury

An extraordinary book.

—— Irish Independent

Harrowing and brutally honest...a gripping story.

—— Derby Evening Telegraph

Brutally honest.

—— The Irish Post

Less a football autobiography, more repentant confessional.

—— Kevin Hughes , FreeSport

stunning

—— FourFourTwo

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