Mick Foley’s best-selling autobiography, Have a Nice Day! A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks has just been released in paperback version, and includes a new 40-page bonus chapter, chronicling the ring legend’s last year as an active competitor, and addressing other topics arising since the book originally came out.
As a whole, the book is incredible. If you haven’t read it yet, the paperback is an excellent, affordable way to do so. If you have, though, I wouldn’t recommend buying it again just for the bonus chapter.
In the new section, Foley talks at length about the success of his first foray into writing, noting that Have a Nice Day! was a success commercially, if not amongst the literary circles. He also talks about his involvement in the wrestling documentary Beyond the Mat, his vision of what his final angle should have been, and his decision to retire from the ring.
Unfortunately, it appears that space restrictions didn’t allow the author to tell the full story in these few pages. Already a very long book, it seems as if Foley was asked to hold back on his explicit story telling in order to keep publishing costs low. How else to explain the rapid-fire way in which his last few months are summarized in a scant few pages.
As an example, Foley mentions in passing that he had “a philosophical difference” with one of his opponents in his final match at WrestleMania 2000, but he doesn’t detail what those differences are or with whom he had them. This is a direct contrast with the rest of the book, in which he reveals everything about his life, both in the ring and out.
While Foley admits that part of the reason he wrote the additional chapter was a cash-grab – he is, after all, targeting the same readers who bought the hardcover edition – part of his motivation is to give fans his unique insight into the last year of his storied career. Unfortunately, he just leaves us wanting more.
Perhaps he’s just waiting to do this in another book – he does mention that he’s raring to write a follow-up at some point. If so, I hope he puts it out soon.
