Amy DumasLita: A Less Traveled R.O.A.D. - The Reality of Amy Dumas

I get there was a ghost writer or helper. But Amy is talented enough to do one on her own.

While not a huge fan of the WWE published books for the reasons explained in my review of Hulk Hogan's book (SHAMELESS PLUG), Amy "Lita" Dumas' book comes off as much more honest than many of the contemporary wrestling books. She admits that wrestling was not a life-long dream, and that even today, she considers herself fortunate to be where she is. It was very amusing to hear of her exploits in Mexico while working her way up the ladder in the world of the Luchadores, and how she learned wrestling in a very un-traditional way (as in, she didn't go to some establshed American wrestler's school), which makes her in-ring style unique, which is one of the reasons fans take to her:they have never seen anything like this from someone in American wrestling before, especially a female! Her daring in-ring style puts her in a class all to herself when it comes to women's wrestling. That's not to say that the other women in wrestling are not extremely talented ladies, because they are. I'm a huge fan of women's wrestling when done right (ie, legitimate athletics, not T&A contests). Ms. Dumas is still very young, so she looks to still have a great career ahead of her, despite a very serious neck injury she suffered last year. I found it horrible the way she described her treatment on the set after injuring herself-it seems that the general opinion is that these "phony wrestlers" never get hurt. That's a shame. Also, being a fellow animal lover (My wife and I have two cats that we A.D.O.R.E.), I enjoyed reading about how Ms. Dumas takes the time to work at animal shelters. So often in the course of charitable work, we lose sight of our furry and feathered friends who share in our happiness and sadness and don't judge you one way or the other. Like many others, I was saddened greatly in reading Ms. Dumas' heartfelt sadness at losing her best friend, Cody. However, Cody took care of Amy like the faithful friend he must have been, keeping her company and keeping her spirits up while she was injured, and when it was his time to go, he knew that it would be ok for him to go-that Amy would be ok without him. Out of the many WWE biographies out there, this one (aside from Jerry Lawler's) comes off as the most "R.E.A.L.". A recommended "R.E.A.D."

Beautiful sexy athletic one of the most underrated and unappreciated superstars of the WWE she should have been bigger should have been used more should have been used more lead up one of the best wrestlers of all time male or female I would love to meet this woman in person love you Amy really loved your book

SOME OF THIS BOOK BY AMY DUMAS IS QUITE INTERESTING. THE PROBLEM IS THAT MOST OF IT IS NOT. AMY SPENDS MOST OF THE BEGINNING OF THIS BOOK TELLING US ABOUT HER IDIOT BROTHER WHO CONSTANLY BEATS HER UP, BUT MOM SAYS IT'S HER FAULT. THEN WE ARE FURTHER ENLIGHTENED TO FIND OUT ABOUT HER INTERST IN PUNK BANDS. SHE GOES ON AND ON ABOUT HOW GREAT ALL THESE BANDS ARE. (WHO CARES) THEN WE GET TO READ ABOUT HER PET CODY, THE GREATEST DOG IN THE UNIVERSE. (TOO BAD HE DIES) FROM THERE THE BOOK STARTS TO MOVE ALONG TO WHERE SHE GOT HER FIRST TASTE OF WRESTLING IN MEXICO. WHEN AMY STICKS TO WRESTLING OR HER FEELINGS IS WHEN THIS BOOK IS INTERESTING. ALONG THE WAY SHE MEETS, WRESTLES WITH THEN BECOMES GIRLFRIEND TO MATT HARDY. LITA POPULARITY GROWS AND GROWS. BUT AN UNFORTUNATE ACCIDENT ON THE STAGE OF TV SHOW DARK ANGEL LEAVES AMY WITH A VERY SERIOUS NECK INJURY. HER FEELINGS AND THE CONTENT DEALING WITH OPERATION AND REHAB ARE THE MOST INTERESTING. ALONG THE WAY SHE APPEARS TV SHOWS WEAKEST LINK AND FEAR FACTOR, BOTH OF WHICH SHE DID NOT ENJOY. IF THIS CHICK EVER USED HER BRAIN AND NOT ACTED SO SPONTANEOUSLY SHE WOULDN'T HAVE GONE THRU ALOT OF THIS DRAMA. SHE SAYS THAT SHE STRIPPED JUST FOR THE MONEY AND THAT SHE FEELS SO UNCOMFORTABLE TAKING HER CLOTHES OFF. GIVE ME A BREAK, SHE LOVES ALL THE ATTENTION. WHY DIDN'T SHE GET A REGULAR JOB? PROBABLY SHE MIGHT OF HAD TO THINK ABOUT IT WHICH SHE HAS A PROBLEM DOING. STILL IF YOU LIKE LITA YOU WILL LIKE THIS BOOK. IF YOU ARE A CASUAL FAN THEN IT IS FAIRLY ENTERTAINING.

I enjoyed this book and found Amy to be a very nice person. The only problem I have with this book and any book written by people employed by the WWE like Chyna, Shawn Michaels, and others is that they never really get into the gritty stuff which is what most people want to know. It seemed like things were sugar coated and lacked detail. Common things that everyone knows about like Triple H having an affair just aren't mentioned even when Lita is talking about Chyna leaving the company. Yet Amy claims what you see with her is what you get which doesn't always ring true. I think this book would have been a lot better if it hadn't be written so early into her career if she had waited until she had done more and they had really let Amy give her own opinion on things it really would have been an amazing book. Instead at times it feels like a company is just trying to capitalise on Amy popularity and her having a lot of time while recovering from a serious injury. Good but not great.

brought it and book was all beat up not worth the money at all

I was looking that book for years until finally I got it for my collection. I'm a huge fan of Lita and she's my favorite, but I'm so lucky to have it on my own hands :)

If you're a WWE fan you'll enjoy this book. Take a look at her life and travels in the business. Enjoyed finding out some of her likes and dislikes and it was a shame of the accident that caused her wrestling to stop in the ring. She was one of the great ones like Trish. Always nice to see celebrities and their charities - passion and involvement in that charity.

As soon as I saw Lita on WWF (I was 15 years old at the time) I knew I was seeing something fresh and exciting. Lita was just so effortlessly cool and natural - nothing like most of the other female wrestlers who I felt were forced into being Barbie doll types. Lita is exactly the type of female wrestler I would have wanted to be...that is if I had even an ounce of athletic ability, which I just don't! I'll never forget watching those incredible moonsaults and hurricanranas and being blown away by her skills. Lita really showed that female wrestlers can be athletic, exciting, tough and sexy AND appeal to both male and female fans. As well as her fabulous partnership with the Hardy Boyz in Team Extreme, I also enjoyed watching her get involved in matches with the 'big boys' such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and Triple H.I was pleasantly surprised then to find that Lita's biography is actually a really, really good read. The co-writer did a great job in making the book flow and sound true to Lita's voice. The book is a good length too - it's not the type of thing that seems really superficial and you can read in 2 hours. I actually stayed up into the early hours to finish it because I just couldn't put it down.The most impressive thing about Amy is just how far she went to fulfill her dream of becoming a wrestler. Most people (certainly including me!) might have dreams of one kind or another, but would never actually get around to taking any positive action to make it a reality. But when Amy decided she wanted to be a wrestler, she started judo classes and even managed to get backstage at a wrestling event. She then went to Mexico, not knowing anybody, on the off-chance that she would be able to get some wrestling training. She ended up training with some future big names and then worked her butt off on the independent circuit and at ECW because joining WWF. Amy's success as Lita is truly deserved and reading her story inspired me to think that if I put more effort into fulfilling some of my dreams then there is a good chance I can do well in my chosen area.The second thing that I really admire about Amy is the voluntary work she has done with animals. Even when she broke her neck and was recuperating at home, she went to animal shelters and helped out with the most menial of tasks, which is even more impressive considering she was a very successful wrestler at this point and could have become detached from that way of life.Obviously, this book was written in 2003 so it doesn't include any of the things that have happened to Amy since, such as working with Edge, the reaction of some of the fans and eventually leaving WWE and forming a band. It does include Amy's background, how she got to WWF and also follows some of my all-time favourite storylines, which took place around 2000 / 2001.Amy is very honest about the wrestling business and talks alot about the behind the scenes stuff regarding how storylines are put together and matches are worked out and just how little time wrestlers are given to prepare before they have to go out and put on the show. I was shocked sometimes by how little support or common sense the managers at WWE seem to have in terms of storylines or working out what to do with wrestlers, but I suppose it must be hard to run such a huge and complex enterprise.Overall, this is a great book and I highly recommend it. If you enjoyed watching Lita in the early 2000s then I'm sure you'll love this book too!

Until Lita moonsaulted into WWE fans' hearts in early 2000, the idea of a woman laying any real offense to a man (and vice versa), was one largely reserved for Chyna. However, thanks to her relentless determination and passion, Lita soon found herself mixing it up with the midcard and main event men, and came to define the standard of what WWE divas should aspire to.Released in 2003, "Lita: A Less Traveled R.O.A.D - The Reality of Amy Dumas" takes us on the journey of a woman considered by many as the most revolutionary diva in WWE history. It is a story that is all the more remarkable considering she did not even start watching wrestling until her early 20s when she saw her boyfriend watching WCW, and was immediately hooked on the costume, performance, and entertainment aspect behind it all.The book is 320 pages, divided into 50 chapters. Each chapter is typically 3-7 pages long, making it perfectly suitable for any time-poor reading fans to dip in and out of.Dumas' co-writer, Michael Krugman, has done an excellent job in assisting with the narrative and construction of the piece, with the flow following a logical chronological order of events. That may sound generous praise for an obvious step, but you would be surprised how many wrestling books jump back and forth between time-lines, skewering the emotion and focus on the journey being told.The book's presentation and overall layout also benefit from a large array of personal and professional photographs peppered throughout.ECW Lita Heyman WWE Dumas Hardcore Angelica Danny Dorman From her family life and childhood, the finding of herself through punk-rock music, to working in animal hospitals and strip dancing, Dumas takes us through her formative years in just the right amount of detail; never staying too long on a subject so you get bored, but neither leaving you feeling cheated by a lack of information.The second stage of the book is where her wrestling journey begins and follows the long, ardent road she took to make it to the top. She takes us through the trials and tribulations of training in Mexico, her independent circuit days, her ECW stint as Miss Congeniality and then, finally, reaching the big time with WWE.Though some may think four years into her WWE career is too soon to release a book; it actually benefits from this, for it allows her to delve into all her major storylines during this time; how they came about, and what she felt about them. It covers her debut and split with Essa Rios, the formation of Team Extreme, battling The Radicalz, feuding with The Two-Man Power Trip, The Invasion, and the brand split.Near enough, everything she got involved in gets a look in, right up to point she broke her neck.The book is filled with some very interesting wrestling trivia that I suspect few will be aware of. For instance, did you know Lita once appeared as a "ho" for The Godfather in 1999? Or that she did not know her ring-name was Lita until she watched her Sunday Night Heat debut back on TV (nobody thought to tell her!)But wrestling lore aside, Dumas does not hold back on her personal life and opinions either, with such topics as her (then) real-life relationship with Matt Hardy, life on the road, her problems with "one-dimensional divas,"and her many TV show appearances she did for WWE (none, of which she enjoyed!).If I had to label one criticism for the book's writing style, it would be that she sometimes writes storylines/backstage screen conversations as if they were real life incidents, but is inconsistent with this approach, so it can come across as if she is unsure about breaking kayfabe or not. This does mean the lines between reality and fiction are sometimes blurred.Nevertheless, all in all, it is a minor infraction measured against the overall excellence of the book, and should not detract anyone from the enjoyment.So if you are a fan of Lita, wrestling books, or even just the Attitude Era, I highly recommend you pick this one up, somewhere along the road.HIGH SPOTSLita's honest and down approachEasy to pick up, hard to put down.Use of photographs.InspiringVery detailed take on her life in and out of the ring.LOW BLOWSConfusing use of sticking to kayfabe at times.

A really hefty book, with plenty of detail and loads of pics. Like most other wwe books this is a must read for any attitude era fan.

good

Book in very good condition, also sheds light on one of my favourite divas of all time