Mostly Memoir. Part Treatise. Some Genuflecting. The biggest thing to know about this book is that it is mostly memoir of Glenn Jacobs’ life *pre* becoming Mayor of Knox County, TN. Indeed, the longest chapters and the most chapters overall deal specifically with his 20+ years working for Vincent Kennedy McMahon in World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment. Which is where at least part of the genuflecting comes in – his praise of Vince… well, Kane has been known to employ less smoke than Jacobs blows when speaking of McMahon. (And don’t get me wrong, I’m one of the fans that generally thinks McMahon has truly been one of the smarter men in sports entertainment over the last 30+ years, largely for the reasons Jacobs elaborates on quite a bit.)
The next largest part of the book is Jacobs’ mostly general political philosophy with a few specifics. Here, Jacobs actually makes a very strong case for libertarianism and those that find themselves agreeing with his thoughts here should look into a newly announced (at the time of writing this review) Presidential candidate John Monds, the first Libertarian ever to earn more than 1 million votes. However, this is also where more of the genuflecting comes in, as Jacobs devotes a fair amount of time to praising the current occupant of the White House. If you like that person, you’ll like what he says here. If you don’t, know that this is a small section of the book overall, but coming near the end leaves a bit of a bitter taste in the mind of that type of reader.
Ultimately primarily sports entertainment memoir, this is one of the better written ones I’ve come across, and I’ve read several from over half a dozen of Jacobs’ contemporaries and even a few legends. Very much recommended.
This review of Mayor Kane by Glenn Jacobs was originally written on February 13, 2020.