Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America

"If you’ve ever seen some attention-hoarding loudmouth spout their nonsense into a microphone and wondered “wait, is this a bit?” then this book is for you. Abraham Josephine Riesman’s biography of WWE mastermind Vince McMahon isn’t just a deep dive into the history of pro wrestling, it’s also an explanation and exploration of what’s dubbed “neokayfabe” – that perfect mixture of half-truths and semi-fictions concocted to exploit our attention economy. And once you see the pattern laid by Riesman out in the world of “sports entertainment,” you can see it all throughout our everyday lives, because ultimately the answer to “is this a bit?” is “yes, but it’s real.”"