Andre the Giant: Closer to Heaven - Bran...

~Netgalley Synopsis (because it's better than the Goodreads one)~

"He was one of the greatest performers in sports entertainment history, but his legions of fans around the globe barely know the man behind the legend of Andre the Giant -- until now!

Jean Ferre. Monster Eiffel Tower. Fezzik. These were alter egos for the internationally acclaimed pro wrestling superstar known as Andre the Giant, who thrilled audiences worldwide with his unmatched charisma and remarkable athleticism. Despite his astonishing popularity, few really knew the man behind the curtain -- the man born in the French countryside named Andre Roussimoff. Showing signs of gigantism at an early age, Andre decided to use his size to his advantage and entered the wild world of professional wrestling. From his first day in the squared circle, those close to him knew that a legend was born.
This lavishly illustrated authorized biography of Andre the Giant charts his entire life from the earliest days on his family's farm to his blockbuster feuds with the biggest wrestling stars of all time, exploring the dark side of fame and fortune along the way."

~My thoughts~

This is one of the rare interesting non-fiction graphic novels I happened to stumble upon. Somewhere around Christmas, I finally watched The Princess Bride, after having it on DVD for about 8 years now. An episode of The Goldbergs gave me the signal that it was time.
After seeing the movie (which is great by the way) I was interested in getting to know more about André the Giant, so I read a couple of articles on the internet and watched a few Youtube videos. The general opinion that I seemed to come across was that André was a giant asshole with a poor sense for personal hygiene. So when I saw this book, I felt like this would be a great opportunity to learn more of the true story. It did not disappoint.

The novel starts off with a foreword from André's daughter, Robin Christensen Roussimoff. It drew me right in. The foreword ends with:

"I hope when people read this graphic novel, they will get answers not only to who Andre the Giant was as an entertainer, but who Andre Roussimoff was as a person."

I think it very well did.

A lot of the novel involves André's wrestling career and lots of names and facts were dropped on the reader. This could be a bad thing if you're really not into the wrestling scene. However, I'm not into wrestling at all and I found it truly fascinating to learn about it. Who knew there was so much theatrics involved! I didn't. I learned that the Japanese wrestling scene added a lot to the Western one. I learned how Wrestlemania and Hulk Hogan grew to be as famous as they are now. Very interesting! I'm pretty sure the combination of all these info dumps in a graphic novel is what does the trick. I highly doubt I would've enjoyed it this much while simply reading about it in a regular novel.

Another thing which makes it all so vivid (as opposed to boring) is that the author chose to tell the story from André's point of view, which makes it a very personal experience. His thoughts are a red line throughout the book.

"Even at that young age, there was a part of me that was monstrous. Not in temperament, but in how others saw me."

It's really touching to see him reminisce about his past.

Incorporated pieces of a letter his daughter wrote to him gave it an extra layer of emotions. Even though I already knew he passed away at the young age of 46, alone in a hotel room in Paris after having attended his father's funeral, I still almost had to shed a tear when the novel ended with André stepping in his bed.

The graphics style in itself isn't something I'd usually go nuts about, but for the purpose of telling this story, it was perfect. Colourful, but not too colourful to draw away the attention of what's going on.

After having read this book, I look at André now as a friendly giant, but definitely not a stupid one. His gigantism, acromegaly, strive for happiness and lack of moderation are what make his life a sad story, but never a truly depressing one due to the enthusiasm for his work, both as an actor and professional wrestler.

I'm giving this 4.5 brownies because it left such an impression on me that I won't likely forget about anymore.

I'm ending this post with  a clip of a famous match between André and Hulk Hogan. Eventually, André gave up his spot to Hogan by intentionally losing matches. When I occasionally saw wrestling matches on TV, I'd flip the channel, going "Ugh, gross."  But after reading this book, I can see the entertainment of it. It's all a big show instead of just some brutal fighting.

I wanted to read this book the moment I first learned of its existence. I'll confess, I'm not any sort of fan of wrestling but I've always been interested and respected Andre the Giant ever since I first met him as Fezzik in the Princess Bride. The little I'd learned of his life had impressed me and this did little to change that.

Drawing on source material he actually lists (Thank You!), Brown does a great job of giving us "the big picture" as Hulk Hogan explains at the beginning. He lead an amazing life but one that was made difficult and only got worse as his Acromegaly advanced.

I just wrote about a book written entirely in haiku, and yesterday I finished Death Coming Up the Hill and also finished Andre the Giant. This time the format is graphic novel, or rather graphic nonfiction. Andre is remembered for his career as a wrestler and also his presence in movies including Princes Bride. It goes without saying that life was not easy for 7'4" Andre. This book provides insights about the man himself and also about his career. The recommended audience Grade 9 and up and I agree. The easy to read format is accessible to younger readers but there are some adult situations and content. Would I have let my daughter read it at a younger age? Yes! But I did not restrict her reading and would have known she could handle it. If you are not used to reading books presented in graphic style, this is a great starting point. It's another book you could pick from the library or bookstore shelf and read in one sitting. I would definitely want it in my high school library.