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Paperback
Publisher: M. Evans and Company, Inc.
ISBN13: 9781590770368
Condition: NEW
Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Owen's wife Martha, tells the story of their life together from the days as high school sweethearts, through Owen's rise to fame in the WWF.
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| Upsettingly Compelling, Heartbreaking True Story |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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This reads a lot like a tragedy novel, only this one is a cold hard true story.
It's not for the faint-hearted. The details of Owen's death are upsetting to read, and the pain that Martha (and all of us) feel is vivid and personal. I can't imagine what it must have been like to write.
I wish to thank Martha Hart for battling the tears to write this book.
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| May 23, 1999 aftermath |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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As is well known among the wrestling world fanbase, Owen Hart plummeted to his death on May 23, 1999 at a WWE pay-per-view at the Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri. The ironically named "Over the Edge" event rocked the wrestling world also ironically featured a segment of The Rock contained within the Undertaker's casket. The death of Owen could not have rocked anyone more than his wife Martha and their children, Oje and Athena.
This book by Owen's widow, Martha (and co-written by Eric Francis), came about a few years after the event and impending lawsuits for negligence and wrongful death. It is, at times, a moving piece of remembrances and at other times a somewhat `woe-is-me' and semi-`holier-than-thou' preaching. Martha Hart openly shows her disdain for the Hart family in general and strong dislike in particular to Ellie, Diana, and Bruce. Her relationship with Bret, as presented in her own words, is hard to interpret as to whether they were just close but at moments it does seem they may have been much more, which she later denies. Martha also shows great contempt for the wrestling industry in general, often tossing out disparaging remarks regarding the intelligence and sinfulness of wrestlers at large.
The outline of this book is fairly straight forward. The first 100 pages recount Owen's youth, their meeting, and marriage. The middle section of the text deals with the 78' fall, attempts to save Owen, investigation, funeral, and personal trauma that occurred. The last section of the book covers the lawsuits and pursuit of justice which Martha sought for Owen's death. One chapter in particular was dedicated to the faultiness of the quick release snap lock which was used (it is manufactured for use in releasing a sail on yachts). This device only required 6 pounds of pressure to open/release and was unfit to be used in any way to secure a human for such a stunt.
Other topics included how certain members of the Hart family (Ellie, Diana, and Bruce) sought to aide the WWE/McMahon's defense in the lawsuits in order to secure potential jobs with the company. Martha's outrage with the family, suffering and depression, and borderline abandonment of her children (understandably having her family members and friends watching them while she handled their legal matters and grief) spreads throughout the later portion of the book. Unfortunately so does her claims that Owen wanted nothing to do with wrestling, her constant `nobody-loves-their-family-more-than-me' attitude, and seemingly braggadocio of the money they have and world travelling they do now.
The book ends with the settlement and setting up of the Owen Hart Foundation which she funded and wanted organized. Oddly, for a large settlement, she only put a quoted two million dollars into the fund which she wanted established. The foundation is doing a lot of good for the right people. Also mentioned is Diana's own self-serving book (which outraged not only Martha, some of the Harts, and the public as well) caused Martha to file a lawsuit against Diana for libel/slander. Thankfully, the book was pulled from shelves and little is heard of it now.
Martha and the children continue to deal with their loss, she has distanced herself from the remainder of the Hart family, basically cutting them out of their lives all together. Hopefully someday all matters will be resolved and the children may get to know their relatives. This is a heartfelt book of memories and love of a wife for her husband however, at times it is also arrogant and preachy. Keep in mind, she's not the sole author so some factual errors may not be hers and there will be items that are her opinions and no one elses.
Overall, a moving book that should be read by fans while keeping in mind it is presented by Martha Hart so there is defintiely personal bias regarding events and emotions of a tragic affair. This should not be confused as a wrestling biography but a dedication of a loving wife in memory of her husband in order to have her story heard by the public.
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| Broken Harts: The Extremely Boring and Repetitive Book About Martha Hart |
| Customer Rating: 2 out of 5 |
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This book should not be classified as a wrestling book. It really should be listed under bitter wives trying to make their deceased husband and his family look really bad. In this book she talks about how bad the Harts were and also talks of how Owen never got along with them. She also talks about how bad wrestling is whenever the only reason her kids can go to their private school (which she mentions about 30 times throughout the book) and live their lives is because of it.
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| OWEN'S FAMILY IS HEARTLESS |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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THIS IS WRITTEN BY THE WIDOW OF OWEN HART, MARTHA WHO TELLS A VERY SAD, INTERESTING, SCARY, DEPRESSING AND UPLIFTING TALE. HER RELATIONSHIP WITH OWEN'S FAMILY IS DESCRIBED IN GREAT DETAIL ALONG WITH THEIR MARRIAGE, HIS FATAL FALL AND HER SUIT AGAINST THE WWE FOR NEGLIGENCE. THIS BOOK IS VERY SPELL BINDING AND KEPT ME TOTALLY FOCUSED ON THE EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE ESPECIALLY AFTER HIS DEATH. I REALLY FEEL FOR MARTHA AND HER FAMILY AND FOR A FEW OF THE HARTS WHO WEREN'T TOTALLY FOCUSED ON THEMSELVES AND SOME KIND OF MONEY THEY COULD GET FOR ALL THE COVERAGE OF THIS TRAGIC EVENT. IF YOU THINK YOU ARE FROM A MIXED UP FAMILY, YOU SHOULD READ THIS AND BE THANKFUL THESE IDIOTS AREN'T RELATED TO YOU. FOR OLDER AND MATURE ADULTS. SOME OF THE CONTENTS ARE DARK AND DEPRESSING.
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| Broken Harts: The life and death of Owen Hart |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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When I heard that this book was being released in early 2004, I had to get it. Owen Hart was not only a great wrestling technician and the youngest son of Stu Hart and brother of Bret Hart, but a great family man. Always putting his family first. In the crazy world of professional wrestling, it's the body first. But this was a great book, but the only thing I didn't like was how Martha was criticizing it, when she never stepped foot in a WWE ring. I haven't either, but as a fan, we get the "backstage pass", so to speak, to the locker room politics and backstage in general. This book shows what kind of person Owen was, and the person we loved to see in the ring. He wasn't the biggest guy in the WWE, but he had the biggest heart.
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