Foley is Good: And the Real World is Faker Than Wrestling
by Mick Foley
At a glance
First published2001
AudienceAdult
ISBN0061032417
About the Author
Mick Foley1 book reviewed
Foley is Good
And the Real World is Faker Than Wrestling
by Mick Foley
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for
Dedicated WWE Attitude Era fans who have already read Have a Nice Day! and want Foley's candid, firsthand account of his championship peak, retirement, and the cultural controversies surrounding the WWF.
Worth it if
You loved Have a Nice Day! and want to follow Foley through his triumphant final chapter — delivered with the same unfiltered honesty and comedic energy that made his debut memoir a landmark.
Skip if
You haven't read Have a Nice Day! first, or you're hoping for the raw underdog tension and career-hardship candor of that first memoir — this is deliberately a victory lap, not a reckoning.
4.6from 551 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
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Foley Is Good: And the Real World Is Faker Than Wrestling is Mick Foley's second autobiography, covering the triumphant final chapter of his WWE career — from January 1999 through his retirement at WrestleMania 2000 — with the same candid, riotous humor that made Have a Nice Day! a phenomenon. Debuting at number one on the New York Times bestseller list, it proves Foley is a serious mainstream author, not just a celebrity memoirist. The key caveat: it functions as a direct sequel rather than a standalone, and its victory-lap tone trades the raw underdog urgency of the first book for celebratory energy — richest for dedicated WWE Attitude Era fans already familiar with Foley's story.
- Is it worth reading?
- For WWE Attitude Era fans and readers who enjoyed Have a Nice Day!, Foley Is Good delivers on its promise: the same unfiltered candor and genuine comedic energy, now applied to championship reigns and high-profile feuds. Its number-one debut on the New York Times bestseller list — following the same achievement by Foley's first memoir — confirms its broad appeal. The limitation is scope: because Foley writes from a vantage point of hard-won success, the raw dramatic tension of the first book is largely absent. Readers seeking unflinching career-low candor will find that ground covered more thoroughly in Have a Nice Day!, but those looking for a jubilant insider account of one of wrestling's most beloved performers at his peak will find this deeply rewarding.
- Similar books
- Readers who enjoy Foley Is Good will find natural companions in the wider world of wrestling and sports memoir. Foley's own debut, Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks, is the essential starting point — it covers the grind and sacrifice that make this sequel's triumph meaningful. Bret Hart's Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling offers a similarly candid, insider perspective from another Attitude Era icon, while Dwayne Johnson's The Rock Says... brings another key figure from Foley's own pages into the frame. Ric Flair's To Be the Man rounds out the era's memoir shelf with another larger-than-life wrestling personality's unfiltered account. For readers drawn to Foley's voice as a writer beyond wrestling, William Finnegan's Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life offers a comparable blend of athletic memoir and personal identity — a celebrated outsider-sport autobiography with genuine literary ambition.
- Who should read this?
- Foley Is Good is most rewarding for dedicated WWE Attitude Era fans who already have the context provided by Have a Nice Day! — the book's coverage of championship reigns, the 'I Quit' match with The Rock, and the cultural controversies surrounding the WWF will resonate most deeply with that audience. Readers who loved Foley's debut memoir are the natural next audience; the sequel delivers the same candid, comedic voice applied to a more triumphant period. More casual readers interested in Foley as a writer rather than a wrestler will still find entry points in the alternating personal-life chapters, though the book is not designed as a standalone introduction to Foley's story.
- Where should I start with Mick Foley?
- Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks is unambiguously the right entry point into Mick Foley's autobiographical work. It covers the years of physical sacrifice and career struggle that precede the triumphant period Foley Is Good chronicles, and its grind-and-sacrifice dramatic arc is what gives the sequel its full emotional weight. Foley Is Good is best understood — and most enjoyed — as the payoff to the story that begins in that debut memoir.
- How does it compare to Have a Nice Day!?
- Foley Is Good is more celebratory and energetic than Have a Nice Day!, reflecting the peak-career period it covers — championship reigns, mainstream crossover, and high-profile feuds like the 'I Quit' match with The Rock. Have a Nice Day! drew much of its power from raw underdog urgency and the physical and emotional toll of Foley's climb; that dramatic tension is largely absent in the sequel. Foley Is Good is, by design, a victory lap — which makes it enormously entertaining but somewhat less revelatory as biography. Readers seeking the unflinching examination of career lows will find that ground covered more thoroughly in the first memoir.
- Does Foley address WWE controversies?
- Yes — one of the book's distinguishing qualities is its willingness to engage directly with cultural controversies surrounding the WWF rather than sidestep them. Foley addresses debates over backyard wrestling, among other issues, giving the book a substance that sets it apart from standard athlete autobiography. This head-on approach to criticism is cited as a key strength in the book's reception, adding depth to what might otherwise have been a purely celebratory victory-lap narrative.
Summarize this book
Is it worth reading?
Who should read this?
Where should I start with Mick Foley?
How does it compare to Have a Nice Day!?
Does Foley address WWE controversies?
Summarize this book
Foley Is Good: And the Real World Is Faker Than Wrestling is Mick Foley's second autobiography, originally published on May 8, 2001, by HarperEntertainment. It picks up where Have a Nice Day! left off, spanning January 1999 through Foley's retirement at WrestleMania 2000, and closes with an epilogue marking the birth of his son Michael Francis Foley, Jr. The book alternates between behind-the-scenes WWE accounts — including Foley's firsthand telling of the infamous 'I Quit' match with The Rock — and personal-life chapters covering family, theme parks, and Christmas. It engages directly with cultural controversies surrounding the WWF, including the debate over backyard wrestling, adding substance well beyond standard sports autobiography.
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Age & Reading Level
Recommended age
Adult
Reading level
Adult
Content to know about
graphic descriptions of professional wrestling injuries and physical violence
Skip if you want a standalone memoir or are unfamiliar with WWE Attitude Era wrestling — the book functions as a direct sequel to Have a Nice Day! and assumes significant prior context.
Editorial Review
Mick Foley's second autobiography chronicles the triumphant final chapter of his in-ring career, debuting at number one on the New York Times bestseller list and delivering the same candid, riotous voice that made his first memoir a phenomenon.
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