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The Eighth Wonder of the World
- The True Story of André the Giant
- Narrated by: Graham Rowat
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
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Publisher's Summary
A definitive and exhaustive biography
Is there a way to find truth in the stuff of legend? You may think you know Andre the Giant - but who was Andre Roussimoff? This comprehensive biography addresses the burning questions, outrageous stories, and common misconceptions about his height, his weight, his drawing power as a superstar, and his seemingly unparalleled capacity for food and alcohol. But more importantly, The Eighth Wonder of the World transports listeners beyond the smoke and mirrors of professional wrestling into the life of a real man.
Born in France, Andre worked on his family's farm until he was 18, when he moved to Paris to pursue professional wrestling. A truly extraordinary figure, Andre went on to become an international icon and world traveler, all while battling acromegaly. While his disorder is what made him a giant and a household name, it's also what caused his untimely death at 46.
With exhaustive research, exclusive interviews with family and friends, and an exploration of Andre's amazing in-ring career and the indelible mark he left on pop culture, Laprade and Hebert have crafted the most complete portrait of a modern-day mythical being.
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What listeners say about The Eighth Wonder of the World
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 2022-06-04
Horrible Narrator
It's supposed to be one of the best wrestling biographies in the world but the narrator is so bad I wasn't able to get past the forward.
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- Anonymous User
- 2022-03-25
Another gem by Hébert & Laprade
This is a great book. It's book written by authors who understand how to write historically. Not with a ton of hyperbole, not with a ton of sensationalism, sticking to the true facts.
They approach their writings more like historians.
I've read their other books and have even met them in person. They are passionate about what they're writing about and they are very knowledgeable. If they say "This is how it happened" then you can bet that it is indeed what happened.
They research their work extensively.
This is a big book, and it will take some dedication to get through.
This book gets a lot of flack for the narrator. I wasn't a fan of the narrator, particularly some of the mispronounced names and words. However, in most cases, the author doesn't have too much say in who narrates their book.
Unfortunately, having Hébert and Laprade narrate their own book would not be as appealing as it sometimes would be. These gentlemen are Québecois and have the accent to go along with it.
This is an excellent book, probably one of the best wrestling biographies I've ever read.
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- Vlademirvonputin
- 2020-05-10
giant doc
most comprehensive story and life of andre the giant comes highly recommended to fans of andre
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- Amazon Customer
- 2020-05-06
Essential writing, mediocre reading.
Hébert and Laprade have written one of the finest pro wrestling biographies to date. The capture the charm and complexity André, and clear up many mistruths ambiguities perpetuated by the world of professional wresting.
Unfortunately, the reading left some to be desired. Given the audience of this book would be primarily wrestling fans, there are mispronounced names of wrestlers and arenas scattered about. Worse still, might be the half-attempt of impersonating the voices some of the more famous figures in the book. They come across as either copy/pasted after the fact or too inconstant. The larger a fan a listener, the more this might take them out of the experience.
Still, this is absolutely an essential book for any fan of professional wrestling.
5 people found this helpful
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- Prince Akkanatan
- 2020-07-16
The Narration Nearly Ruins A Perfectly Good Book
It's been said in the other reviews, the Narrator is atrocious! Mispronouncing names like Arm Anderson, Marty Jan-iti, and Argentina (Almond) Roca is more annoying that you might think. But what really bothered me is the frequency of him saying "Pee Pee Vee" in a delivery that tells me he has no idea what it stands for. In fact any acronym in the book is delivered that way, and few are actually explained - I know what the acronyms stand for, but it's not as pleasant to the ear. His half-hearted impressions of the voices he quotes are awful as well. *I would buy this book over if it were re-recorded.*
As for the book itself, it is the definitive tome on Andre The Giant. Nothing can take away from that. Even though they use smark sources like Meltzer's nonsense (among other, more reputable sources), that too, can have it's weight as the myths of Andre also made the legend (as the book so beautifully explains).
4 people found this helpful
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- k.a. stemen
- 2020-07-19
Very distracting narrator.
The book was well researched and took an interesting look at a mythical character in Andre, but the narrator seemed very unfamiliar with terms and names from pro wrestling. His mispronunciations of names and repeated readings of acronyms as their constituent letters was distracting to me.
1 person found this helpful
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- Richard
- 2020-05-26
Very Annoying Narrator
The book is great. A necessary biography of a legend. However, the narrator has a voice that left me cold. On top of that, he mispronounces words.
1 person found this helpful
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- Nicholas B. Goddard
- 2020-05-26
The Best Wrestling Biography
A must read for any fan of wrestling. Quite possibly the best wrestling biography written to date.
1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 2023-01-25
Andre Protected
The book is an amazing journey of the legendary Andre the Giant. His life, from beginning to end, is explained in amazing detail. It does a great job of digging through the myth to get to who really Andre was. But even then, as the McMahon’s would do later in his career, the legend is still protected. And isn’t that the way it should be? It’s okay to have modern day legends, and Andre is still a legend.
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- Mark Hansen
- 2022-01-18
The Two Faces of André The French Whale
Very interesting story.
Not a fan of the narrator, but he was acceptable throughout.
Getting a clear picture of André's personality is not easy. On one hand he was the gentle giant and a really great guy to the people he liked. On the other hand he was a terrible bully and really mean and nasty to the people he didn't like, regardless of them doing anything wrong or not.
Must have been a chore sharing a locker room with this being.
Him literally pooping on Two Moves Allen in the middle of a match, was a full circle moment though...
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- Amazon Customer
- 2022-01-15
Narrator voice was like nails on a chalk board!
How do people come up with a voice narrator? Do they ever try to get dood one. Very naisly voice. Great story. Narrating was terrible.
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- jared Billy
- 2021-10-27
OMG Just OMG
truly fantastic if you are a fan of Andre you will become a bigger fan. If not you will become one.
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- Rodney
- 2021-06-29
Narration ruins the story.
Narration ruins the story. Unbearable to listen to. Absolutely awful. Story is good but entirely hindered by the awful reading.