Book Review: Lucha Libre: Masked Superstars of Mexican Wrestling by Lourdes Grobet

And in this corner of my coffee table, weighing at 2. 8 pounds and hailing from D.A.P, New York is Lourdes Grobet’s stunning LUCHA LIBRE, the pictorial history of the mysterious masked men of Mexican wrestling with images so vivid you can almost smell the sweat and salsa. They’re all here, folks, from Astro to Villano, and all their thrilling victories and bone-crunching defeats in the squared circle are all captured by Ms. Grobet’s unflinching lens. Santo and the Blue Demon, patron saints of the sport and gringo fan favorites, are heavily featured among the legion of lesser known luchadors like priest Fray Tormenta, who wrestles to raise money for a home for street children and is the inspiration for Jack Black’s Nacho Libre, The Wise Giant, strange visitor for the stars left on Earth to combat evil by an advanced alien race (represented in the ring by a dwarf in a yeti suit) and Gran Markus Jr. whose head was shaved after a humiliating loss (a stunt repeated again and again for revenge matches.) Written in both Spanish and English, the book is destined to be a hit (and kick) on both side of the boarder.