John Capouya is a professor of journalism and writing at the University of Tampa. He was formerly an editor at Newsweek, the New York Times, SmartMoney magazine, and New York Newsday, among other places. He is the author of Real Men Do Yoga and has contributed to numerous publications, including Sports Illustrated, Travel & Leisure, and Life. He and his wife, the artist and photo editor Suzanne Williamson, live in Tampa and New York City.
"Finally, the tawdry but glamorous details behind the legend of one of my first childhood heroes. Gorgeous George is such a good read I felt like bleaching my hair afterwards." -- John Waters"Capouya's biography vividly re-creates Gorgeous George's antics and the world in which he had more shock value than a numerically named wideout could hope for today." -- Sports Illustrated"Compelling. . . . The tension between George's excess and his era's reserve is one of many in his story, and those are what make Capouya's cultural anthropology so interesting." -- Newsweek"Terrifically, tantalizingly weird. . . . GORGEOUS GEORGE does leave the words of one long-ago sports reporter ringing in your ears: 'Oh, my, what a strut. If only this man had been born in the barnyard. What a rooster he would have made.'" -- New York Times"...[Capouya] delivers a solid, entertaining book about a long-forgotten character and a peculiar slice of American history." -- Entertainment Weekly"Capouya vividly portrays the ins and outs of wrestling and [Wagner's] own struggle to maintain the 'Gorgeousness' of a public life in his private life as well." -- Publishers Weekly"In GORGEOUS GEORGE, Capouya combines extensive research and interviews with a colorful writing style and presents Gorgeous George as a cultural pioneer...Capouya's words are as fast-paced as the action in the ring and connect with the reader as solidly as a dropkick to George's kisser." -- Tampa Tribune"Compulsively entertaining..." -- Penthouse"You see the title of John Capouya's biography of Gorgeous George - which claims the flamboyant wrestler "created pop culture" - and you are struck by its audacity. A wrestler responsible for something that important? Impossible. But as you go through the pages, you can't help but agree." -- New York Post"Gorgeous George invented a style of showmanship that was imitated by entertainers and athletes. With this biography, John Capouya has done an excellent job in introducing the most inventive of sport's anti-heroes to a new generation of readers." -- Ishmael Reed (novelist, poet, and cultural critic)NO DOUBT OF IT: GEE GEE'S THE BIGGEST THING IN TV -- Washington Post, 1949"I don't know if I was made for television, or television was made for me." -- Gorgeous George"Liberace stole my entire act, including the candelabra!" -- Gorgeous George"One can explain the American condition as an eternal, televised battle between the Babyface and the Heel. That said, there's never been a heel like Gorgeous George. John Capouya has done a fine job here, excavating a forgotten life and explaining why it mattered." -- Mark Kriegel, author of Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich; National Columnist for FOXSports.com"Like the man himself, this inside look at a legendary performer challenges the reader to think beyond the wrestling ring. We give it four suplexes out of five." -- Pro Wrestling Illustrated"Former Newsweek editor John Capouya reveals the gory underworld of pre-WWE wrestling and shows how the Gorgeous One inspired James Brown, who loved George's robes, and Muhammad Ali, whose "I am the prettiest" echoed the wrestler's own vainglorious boasts." -- Los Angeles Magazine"As a show-biz bio and, for those who subscribe to a loose definition of sport, a sports bio, too, this is great stuff, entertaining and well referenced." -- Booklist
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