Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Like many important books, Friday Night in the Coliseum -- the first book by the great Texas photographer Geoff Winningham -- appeals for a number of reasons.
First, this is a masterful book of black & white photography. Winningham is delighted by the whole scene of regional pro wrestling -- the action, the physicality, the hype, the showmanship, the patrons, the seedy splendor, and the fanatical nature of the fandom. This is one of those mid-century books of documentary photography that features images so well-lit and beautifully-composed that it seems unlikely that he could capture these images on the fly. My guess is that he shot rolls and rolls and rolls of film.
Next, this book is delightfully regional. This isn't just wrestling. This is Gulf Athletic Club wrestling in Houston in the late 1960's and early 1970's. It is way Texas. You've got your Mexican wrestling masks. You've got ladies with solid purses, puffy hair, and unattractive glasses. You've got your good old boys.
Finally, Winningham's book reveals a great love for wrestling itself when it was less slick. You've got fan letters to wrestlers, some shots of the wrestlers at home, and a whole middle section with publicity shots of an even older era of pro wrestling: Gorgeous George, Man Mountain Dean, some women wrestlers, and a madman who went by the name of Whiskers Savage. Whiskers Savage!
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