Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story (2005) - Plot & Excerpts
Guerrero's writing isn't as snappy, ironic, or engaging as wrestling memoirs by Mick Foley, Chris Jericho and others. What it lacks in those areas, however, it more than makes up for in another: an agonizing miasma of looming tragedy. The reader can't help but be aware (literally, due to the preface by Vince McMahon) that within a year of writing his tale of hard-fought victory over drug and alcohol addiction, Eddie Guerrero would be found dead in a hotel room, victim of a heart attack brought on by years of abuse.Foley and Jericho write with an exuberant, tongue-in-cheek trash-talking tone and a deep love of wrestling; Guerrero writes from the depth of the wrestling life, laying out how easy it is to become desperately hooked on alcohol, painkillers, and taking risks with your life. There's little joy in the story, just a grim determination to be honest as he details how low he fell (waking up in jail using a urine-soaked roll of toilet paper as a pillow is pretty low) and how hard it was to get (and stay) clean and sober.This is a hard book to read, because even as Guerrero gets his life turned around, the reader is painfully aware of how fleeting his triumph will be. Thus the happy moments can become even sadder than the sad ones. I was forced to constantly remind myself that the ending is a happy one--Guerrero is reconciled with his estranged wife and children, he is redeemed at work, he dies clean. Even knowing what's going to come later doesn't take that away from him. But so much of the impact of such wrestling memoirs rests on the knowledge of tragedy, and when Guerrero writes at length about his best friend, Chris Benoit [who, a year after Guerrero's death, killed his wife, child, and himself], and how special their bond is--well, it's hard reading at an existential level.
Cheating death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story by Eddie Guerrero. This book deserves only two words to describe it. Those two words would be: "inspirational" and "truthful". Eddie explains the hard life that he lived as a wrestler and a person battling his own demons. Some people would say that Eddie was a bad husband and father because of his drug and alcohol and drug problems but Eddie says that he loves his family more than anything. The book follows Eddie on his journey from wrestling in local promotions to his brush with death and to him winning the WWE championship in 2004. His book is brutally honest. With this book Eddie shows the dark side of the glitz and glamour of the wrestling business. It also gives the person a way to take a look into Eddie's life as he struggles with being far away from his wife and children most of the time as he makes money to support them. I connected to this book. I connected to this book by relating my father to Eddie. Both my father and Eddie give their bodies to support their families. My father by working in construction and Eddie by wrestling. Both will do anything to support their families. In wrestling one can easily seriously injure themselves like tearing a muscle right of the bone. In construction one can cut their hands off, cut their body parts. I praise Eddie by showing that his love for his family is so great that he becomes proactive and starts to battle his demons to save himself. In the book Eddie talks about numerous topics. One for example is his religion.
What do You think about Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story (2005)?
I fell out of wrestling just before Eddie Guerrero died, and I didn't watch again for many years. This book is heartbreaking and moving, and tragic in its foreshadowing of his premature death... I didn't understand the nature of drug addiction until I read Eddie's story, from the depths of absolute rock bottom to the heights of being the WWE champion after his rehab and sobriety. It also explores the relationship Eddie had with Chris Benoit, a wrestler that very few people will speak about, and I'm glad that WWE hasn't censored this book. Through Eddie, we see the vulnerable side of Chris Benoit and the brotherhood the two of them shared, though from reading the book you won't come any closer to understanding the events of June 25, 2007. Overall, Eddie's tale is one of honesty, hilarity, and ultimately, triumph. I could read this over again.
—Hanna Gibbs
I liked Eddie more after reading this, and I didn't. I didn't because he pissed away so much on drugs and alcohol. You wonder why he wasted so much of his life on it, but then again, I admired him more because he was fired multiple times, was down and out (in jail and had used a urinated on roll of toilet paper as his pillow was his lowest point) and came back to re-claim his family, find strength in Christ, and became a popular champion in the WWE before dying in 2005 (an enlarged heart from all his drugging days). So, it was very sad in a way, but inspiring in others.
—Brandon O'Neill
This might have been one of the most heartbreaking books I've ever read. For years, Eddie fought the demons of addiction. He lost his family, many friends, and his dream job over it. But, when he hit rock bottom, he was finally able to overcome them and put his life together. But sadly, Eddie only had a few years left before the damage he'd done to his body finally caught up to him taking him at the seemingly impossible young age of 38. This book, however, is a great first hand account of the career of Eddie. He grew up around the business, with his father and all of his brothers before him wrestling. He wrestled with some of the legends of the business. And what would be a reoccurring theme in his life, saw many of his peers and friends die at a young age. One of the most significant deaths would be that of his tag team partner, Art Barr, who's death was eerily similar to how Eddie's was years later. The other person in Eddie's life that was the closest too him was Chris Benoit. These two were truly like brothers. Eddie talks about how Chris was always there for him and looking out for him. But, I've always felt like Eddie's death and absence from Chris's life may have been a contributing factor in the dark path he took only a little more than a year later.To quote the last paragraph of the book, "Life turns on a dime. I don't have any idea what tomorrow will bring. I'm just very blessed to have been able to live what I've lived today. Sure, life would be a lot easier if we knew what was going to happen. But, that's not the way it works. You've got to live by faith, one day at a time." Viva La Raza Eddie! Rest In Peace!
—David
