''To Be the Man'' is an autobiographical book written by

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...

and

Keith Elliot Greenberg Keith Elliot Greenberg (born May 5, 1959) is a New York Times bestselling author and television producer. He went to Bayside High School in Queens, graduating in January 1977. He attended a number of colleges in the New York area. Career His ...

, and edited by

Mark Madden Mark Madden (born December 29, 1959) is an American sports talk show host in Pittsburgh. He is best known for his work as a professional wrestling color commentator for World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Madden hosts a weekday afternoon show fro ...

. It was published by

WWE Books WWE Books is a subsidiary of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., created in 2002 to publish autobiographies of and fiction based on WWE personalities, behind-the-scenes guides to WWE, illustrated books, calendars, young adult books, and other ge ...

and distributed by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

in July 2004. The book's title was taken from Flair's famous catchphrase: "To be the man, you gotta beat the man!".The 10 best quotes of ‘Nature Boy’ Ric Flair’s career
AJC.com (August 14, 2017). Retrieved on August 14, 2017.

Content

The book discusses Flair's birth and adoption through the

Tennessee Children's Home Society Tennessee Children's Home Society was a chain of orphanages that operated in the state of Tennessee during the first half of the twentieth century. It is most often associated with Georgia Tann, its Memphis branch operator and child trafficker ...

(whose adoption practices would later be discovered to involve child selling; the opening chapter is titled "Black Market Baby") and beginnings that lead him to stardom in promotions such as

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part o ...

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...

, and World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment.Ric Flair: To Be the Man
Amazon.com (July 6, 2004). Retrieved on December 22, 2007.

Reception

Dave Meltzer David Allen Meltzer (born October 24, 1959) is an American journalist who reports on professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Since 1983, he has been the publisher and editor of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON''). He has als ...

of ''

The Wrestling Observer The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four W ...

'' stated that it was the best written wrestler

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

at the time, but that he felt that Flair's comments accusing

Bret Hart Bret Hart (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legend's contract. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling backgr ...

of using his brother

Owen Owen may refer to: Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin. Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born. Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...

's death to further his own agenda deeply disturbing and out of line as well as "unnecessary and offensive".2004; ''

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four We ...

'' - Page 47 ''To Be the Man'' reached No. 5 on the hardback, non-fiction ''New York Times'' Best Seller list. It reached No. 10 for nonfiction best-sellers in ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

''. Upon its release, Flair held a successful book signing at a

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

bookstore in his hometown of

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. Nearly 13,000 copies sold between July 4 and 11, according to

Nielsen BookScan BookScan is a data provider for the book publishing industry that compiles point of sale data for book sales, owned by The NPD Group in the United States and the Nielsen Company in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, South ...

.Siner, Jef
''Ric Flair, author''
CNN.com (July 21, 2004). Retrieved on December 22, 2007.

References

2004 non-fiction books Professional wrestling autobiographies {{sport-bio-book-stub