http://muchnick.net/babylon/2007/06/15/wrestling-babylon-in-the-jerusalem-post/
WRESTLING BABYLON: Piledriving Tales of Drugs, Sex, Death, and Scandal received its first international coverage with an appreciation by Samuel Freedman in today’s Jerusalem Post.
In his regular column about American Jews, “In the Diaspora,†Freedman discusses Irvin Muchnick’s book about pro wrestling behind the scenes — and in particular its reflections on the author’s late uncle, legendary St. Louis promoter and National Wrestling Alliance president Sam Muchnick — and pronounces WRESTLING BABYLON “sufficiently postmodern for intellectual street cred.†Freedman adds: “The academy takes comics seriously these days, a half-century after they were viewed as the assassin of youth. So perhaps in the case of pro wrestling the Jews can take some share of credit along with the customary blame.â€
The full column can be viewed at
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181813032214&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull.
Freedman, a professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, also writes about education and religion for The New York Times, and is the author of many books. Freedman’s achievements include being a finalist for the National Book Award, 1990; winning the Helen Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism, 1993; being named a finalist for the Pulitzer Pries, 1997; winning the New Jersey Humanities Council Book Award, 1997; earning the Distinguished Teaching in Journalism Award, Society of Professional Journalists, 1997; and winning the National Jewish Book Award, 2000. His website is http://www.samuelfreedman.com.
The full transcript of Muchnick’s interview with Freedman is posted at http://muchnick.net/Freedman.html.
Muchnick will be in St. Louis next week to promote WRESTLING BABYLON (ECW Press; http://wrestlingbabylon.com), the country’s hottest-selling book in its category. He will have book signings at the Pro Wrestling Shirt Shop in the Westfield South County Center, Thursday, June 21, and Border’s Books and Music in Sunset Hills Plaza, Friday, June 22, and will make numerous local radio (KMOX and KFNS) and television (KMOV, Channel 4, and KSDK, Channel 5) appearances.
Media inquiries: [email protected].