Gretzky

by Walter Grezky and Jim Taylor

A story of Wayne Gretzky.

Genres: Sports, Hockey, Biography, Nonfiction, Canada, Autobiography, Biography Memoir

Hardcover

First published November 1, 1991

Reviews

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gretzky by Wayne Gretzky is… fine.
I enjoyed it well enough, but the lasting impression it left was me wishing it had gone deeper. If you’re looking to be immersed in the raw behind-the-scenes grit of hockey from the late 70s and early 80s, you are not going to find that here. It's too sanitized and Disneyfied for that. The most revealing story we get is a laughably tame description of “the shave,” a notorious rookie hazing ritual, and even that feels scrubbed up to a G-rating for a general audience.
That’s a leitmotif throughout the entire book. The Edmonton dynasty years, which you'd expect to be a treasure trove of insight, are heavily filtered through an optimistic set of rose colored glasses. Gretzky’s voice (well, his ghostwriter's depiction of his voice) here is relentlessly upbeat, almost as if he’s writing "in-character" as the NHL’s smiling Golden Boy the entire time. It’s pleasant, but it’s a little too polite. And once Janet enters the picture, you can see the entire focus of his world shift. Edmonton's fans famously branded her hockey's Yoko Ono for that, and reading this even filtered through Gretzky's POV, it’s not hard to understand why.
Don't get me wrong: I didn’t dislike this book. I just hoped for more candor and detail. That’s probably on me more than it is on the book. If what you want is Gretzky-as-the-NHL's-ambassador, this delivers. If you were hoping for a peek into the rough edges of that era of hockey, you’ll be left shrugging, like I was.

[Genevieve D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started watching hockey after Gretzky retired, unfortunately. I enjoyed reading this autobiography with his perspective on things. I found it weird that it was published before he was 30 but in hindsight, he had accomplished most of the milestones if his career by then. It was still interesting to read this memoir knowing what happens in the future (most of all how close he got to winning the cup in LA).

I especially liked his musings about what he wanted to do in the future (like not coach, which he ended up doing) and some suggestions he had to make hockey a better and more popular sport. Some of his suggestions only made it to the NHL decades later, which I guess reinforces his opinion that it is an archaic league.

Most of his records remain unbroken, as Super Mario ended up having many bumps on his road. Now we watch as Ovi tries to break his goal record and hope that McDavid, another Oiler, can get close to his numbers!

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the most fascinating things about this autobiography is that it was written in the midst of his NHL career. Like what other player could do this and not get shredded for lack of focus or revealing too much locker room stuff or seeming too conceited. I am surprised that they never published a revised version, it would have been interesting to see the perspective on the later years with the moves to St Louis and New York, his state-of-mind leading up to his retirement, and his perspective post-retirement. In terms of the actual biography, there weren’t any mind-blowing revelations or insights, but I do think it reinforced Gretzky’s image as the classy face of hockey. It also showed his progressive view of the sport, where his suggestions for improving the NHL, have almost all been eventually implemented by the league (although they still are stubbornly clinging to fighting). Gretzky’s era was largely before my time, so I did enjoy reading the summaries of his early years and the fierce playoff battles that made up the Oilers dynasty. Gretzky’s history is now pretty well-known (it’s essential Canadian lore), but there is something nice reading it all in one place and in his own words. The book at times, does fall into the common sports biography trap of being overly humble, too effusive in praise of teammates, owners, coaches, etc. But, there are also a few glimpses beneath the surface, at the prideful competitor, the battles with Pocklington that led to his trade out of Edmonton, the complicated relationship with Glen Sather, his protectiveness of his wife, the difference in the NHL of his age vs the modern age, that all make for more interesting reading topics. Overall, it’s a good read for any hockey fans who want to learn more about the origins and early career of hockey’s GOAT.

[Alex Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

As far as I'm concerned, this is the gold standard for sports biographies.

Wayne Gretzky's account of his early years playing for the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings is riveting, page-turning material. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect going in, but the book combines lots of amusing and revealing anecdotes, play-by-play accounts of significant games in his career and behind-the-scenes shenanigans for a classy, engrossing portrait of his career.

There's a lot of great stuff in here. One chapter is written from the perspective of him sitting in the Oilers' locker room, looking at his teammates after a game and going over their strengths and weaknesses. Another talks about his father Walter's career with Bell Canada, and an amusing anecdote about a woman who railed at him about his son before finding out who he is. I even thought that they were going to short-shift his relationship with his wife Janet, but they also addressed that in its separate chapter.

You really do get a sense of who the man is, in virtually every facet. He's humble to a fault, doesn't mince words when it comes to people who've wronged him, and values his friends and family above all else (well, everything except the Stanley Cup).

Even the photos that are interspersed throughout the book do a great job of providing a visual history of Gretzky's career, starting from when he was a junior league player to his successes with the Kings.

If you read only one sports biography, you owe it to yourself to make it this one. Very much worth your time, and an amazing read.

[Chris Schaffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a very easy read, not the hardest book in the world. I grew up with Gretzky dominating the NHL and liked the old Oilers of the '80s as well as hockey in that era in general. They were a lot of funny anecdotes, I guess having a ghost writer helps. In classic sports book fashion, all of his teammates are great, there's a few things he politely disagrees with regarding hockey, he and his team were supremely confident going into a lot of big games, etc. I love it how all the hockey players have nicknames played off their last names - Hunter=Hunts, Messier=Mess, Gretzky=Gretz, Tikannen=Tik, etc. etc. To me the best parts were the Oiler years and all the playoff recaps, the Canada Cup stuff cool as well. In particular the early years of the Oilers before they started winning and in '81 took the Isles to 6 games in the old playoff format, the '83 season..when they were so cocky and got swept by the Isles and afterwards were walking by their locker room expecting to see a party only to see the players sore and laying around quietly - the sacrifices made to win. The write ups of the winning playoff years are great. For as great as he was and he was freaking great, Gretzky comes off as humble. Cool read for a sports junkie during hockey playoff season.

[Jimo15 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a hockey fan so I found this a very entertaining book. Obviously I knew who Gretzky was and his accomplishments. It was fun learning about his early hockey life, his Edmonton years and then the trade to Oilers. Getting the background (although only one side of story) on probably biggest trade in hockey history was fascinating.

He has a lot of antidotes and stories about his teammates and owners. He does seem to go overboard about team first and appreciating assist more than goals. That might be true but seemed to lay it on a little thick at times (no one can be that nice, can they?) Although Gretzky always comes across as down to earth and classy in his interviews and I think the tone of this book was that same voice. Even when he was talking about work ethics or changes that hockey needed seemed more like "hey this is what I think and others can do their thing".

The most amazing part was reading his list of what he would change in hockey in a book written in 1991 and how the NHL looks today. Quite a few of his ideas have been implemented.

[Ethan Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ethan Davidson
1/22/17
8th Period

Gretzky
Wayne Gretzky
Autobiography

This book is an autobiography by Wayne Gretzky about his interesting life. He writes about his time as a kid in Canada and getting to the NHL, all the while tracing his personal and professional career. He shows what it takes it really become the best.

I rated this book 4 stars because it was really inspirational to me and probably many other people (mostly kids). It didn't get 5 stars because it was pretty long and got boring at some points. I would recommend this book if you like sports or if you are interested in the famous life of the best hockey player ever.

[Luke Koran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Midway through his legendary career, The Great One offers a personal look into his life both on-and-off the ice in this 1990 autobiography. Gretzky is frank and humble with many aspects of his hockey career and philosophy, notably his bitter exit from the Edmonton Oilers. As I am mostly only familiar with the history of baseball and professional wrestling, a lot of aspects of 1970s and 80s hockey and Gretzky's career were new to me. Even if you are an avid hockey fan, I feel that most still could appreciate this book as the personal remembrances and touch of humor made for a nice combination. Though a follow-up biography of the greatest hockey player who ever lived is essential, Gretzky’s perspective on his story until this point of time still makes for a worthy read.

[Peter Holz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an odd book. Why would a sportsman write an autobiography before his career had finished? Having said that, this is pretty standard sports biography fare. I would like to thank my family, friends, team mates, etc. The trouble with sports biographies is that they all seem to blend together and are not really all that interesting, unless you have a specific interest in either the person or the sport. This one is pretty bland with not a lot of great insights or controversies. Still, if you are a fan of the Great One, there is enough here to keep you entertained.

[Scott Breslove · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not a huge hockey fan, but everyone knows Wayne Gretzky. Obviously this is an older book someone lent me, so it was written while he was still playing, obviously I don’t know where Wayne’s career went after publication, but he seems like a straight shooter with an interesting story to tell. I enjoyed it, possibly more if I were a hockey fan, but it was good.

[Margaret H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know nothing about hockey but enjoyed it. It was a simple read so the hockey end of it made sense. He is a very nice guy. It is written in 1990 and I read in 2019 so it is outdated considering he played many more years after this book and has done more after retirement.

[John A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Book

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know absolutely nothing about hockey except that my youngest niece played it in college, but I thoroughly enjoyed this autobiography which proves that sometimes nice guys finish first.

D

[Jonathan Bechtel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is the book I read back in high school. I'm not 100% sure.

[Conner Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good autobiography, a little short

[Matt Gale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Legend

[Iain · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasant read for hockey fans. I felt the first half was better than the last.

[Nathan Caldwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Come on, he's the Great One.
You gotta read it.

[Charlie Pasta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty standard but a fun read if you like Hockey.

[Hudson Hughes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible book. Mostly because he is a trumper

[hamptonenglish10 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will Maguire
Period 8
Ms. Brooks
Non-Fiction Book Review
Gretzky was an amazing book that described Gretzky's hockey life from the time he was a little kid to his trade from Edmonton to Los Angelos. The books begins with describing Wayne's parents and saying that he started skating early than most kids. He started to skate when he was two years old. It said that his dad made a little rink that he would use during the winter to practice hockey. Gretzky made it on a hockey team at a young age also. He made it into the Brantford Atom league at the age of six when most players were ten years old. The book then goes on to say how good Gretzky did when he was young and how he was hated by most of the parents on his team. He would then leave his hometown to play in Toronto and said how sad he was that he left home for good at such a young age. The book says that he would go to the WHA and how he was sent to play in Edmonton. Later the Edmonton team would turn into a NHL team called the Edmonton Oilers. Gretzky describes the players on the team and how most of them were young. Also he said that most people thought he was a fluke and wouldn't do good in the NHL. The first season Edmonton made the playoffs, but ended up losing. The book describes the years that followed. How they ended up winning four Stanley Cups while Gretzky was with the Oilers. Also a few major records he broke. It describe his relationship with the players on his team and how he meet his wife Janet. Near the end it starts to describe his trade to L.A. and how he felt about his new team.

Gretzky is an autobiography. I was able to figure this out from multiple clues. First was the fact through the entire book the story was written in first person point-of-view. This shows that Gretzky is telling the story about his life not some person who researched about him. Second was that fact that on the cover it says the book is an autobiography. That was a very easy way to identify the genre of nonfiction the book was.

While reading this book I learned many interesting facts about the worlds greatest hockey player. One fact was that he was afraid of flying airplanes. This was because of many scaring moments he experienced while flying in airplanes. A second interesting fact was he thinks that assists are better to earn than goals. I don't know if I fully agree with that statement, but I found it rather interesting that the world greatest hockey player thought that way. The third and most interesting fact of all was that parents back when he played when he was a kid booed him. That to me is amazing and infuriating. Parents should not boo kids on their own team just because they are really good and better than their own kid. That is stupid and idiotic. All these facts I learned from reading this book made it really interesting and not boring in the slightest.

I would recommend this book to mostly hockey lovers and people who are fans of the Oilers and Kings. This book will provide insight on how Gretzky contributed to the Oilers victories and Stanley Cups won during the teams early history. Also for the Kings it would show how they were able to acquire such a fantastic player from a team that Gretzky really didn't want to leave. Finally for the hockey lovers who just want to learn more about the great players in hockey history. Especially reading about the greatest hockey player of all time.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

The mid-career bio of Wayne Gretzky, widely regarded as the greatest ice hockey player of all time. I think this was published around 1990 or 1991, a couple of seasons after Gretzky moved from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings.

As this is a retrospective from a player who was still in his prime, it is not really an autobiography but rather an 'as told to' book, compiled and written by sportswriter Rick Reilly. Reilly keeps the writing focused on Gretzky's perspective, which is good, and he keeps the pace moving quickly. It's for a general audience, so it's appropriately readable. It hits many of the well-known stories from Gretzky's prodigious childhood to his climb to superstardom in the 70s and 80s.

This is where I learned of some of his personal superstitions, like the blue long-sleeve ringer t-shirts that he wore religiously under his jerseys, and his habit of eating hot dogs and drinking Cokes before every game.

This also includes a decent but not terribly thorough description of the Oilers' early 80s rivalry with the New York Islanders. This was a critical point in Gretzky's transformation from an outstanding player to a championship winner, and the Islanders' dynasty provided a good lesson for him and the Oilers. There's an official video documentary on that period which tells that story much better than Reilly can manage, but to be fair, I don't consider hockey to be Reilly's strength. He's more a jack-of-all-trades sportswriter than a hockey specialist.

It was a strange time to release a bio, because Gretzky still had a number of productive years after this. It comes right when the Kings were beginning to hit their stride in the early 90s. This comes, for example, before the Kings' very first run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993--and in particular, before Gretzky's performance in Game 7 of the 1993 Campbell Conference Finals against the Toronto Maple Leafs, a game which he regards as the best he's ever played.

As a side note, the book also comes before the NHL's expansion west and south in the wake of Gretzky's move to Los Angeles. Later in the 90s, there would be NHL franchises in other warm-weather cities like San Jose, Anaheim, Phoenix, Dallas, Tampa Bay, and Miami--none of which would have been possible without the success of the sport in Los Angeles. The sport now extends into areas previously thought unreachable. It is arguably Wayne Gretzky's single greatest contribution to the sport.

Like many sports bios, this is more like a dessert than a main course, but it does hit the high points as of its publication. It is recommended on that basis, but for a deeper dive into what makes Wayne Gretzky so great, you should really seek out more than one source. There are many. Three stars, maybe three and a half.

[Austin Hulsing]

So far in this book Gretzky is talking about his start playing hockey when he was 6 years old Gretzky had a total of 328 points in one season. By the time Gretzky was 17 he was being signed by the NHL. Wayne Gretzky is concerted one of the best hockey players who has ever lived. Wayne was offered many deals from different hockey teams like one of the offers was a $250,000 signing bonus , plus $100,000 the first year, $150,000 in the next two years and $175,000 the fourth year. 11/07/12

Sense last week Wayne has ended up playing in the nhl and winning the stanley cup within the first 5 years. Wayne has become one of the best hockey players in the nhl when he started out playing he was scoring all the time. Poeple thought he would go on a 80 game point steak but it never did happen. Wayne would score 2-3 goals in most games and some times even more then that. 11/14/12

So i ended up finishing this book and it turned out to be a really good book about waynes life and hockey carrer. This book turned out to have a lot of info about his life. This book had alot of good info about the things his has done in her carrer and the last couple chapters talked about him being traded to L.A. and how much he would miss his friends. 11/28/12

[Sonny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gretzky's had an amazing career, and he has to walk a fine line in his autobiography between modesty and rightfully displaying just how great he's been. He does it well, though. It's fun to read about all of his accolades and record-breaking games, but he's always quick to commend his teammates and heroes (mostly Gordie Howe).

The best parts are the behind the scenes details of the game itself. His account of his first Stanley Cup finals (and loss) are especially revealing. The drama behind his trade to Los Angeles is fascinating for anyone interested in how business plays a hand in sports and how some owners handle it better than others.

You could probably skip the chapter about his wife, who I'm sure is a "great" lady. But unless you're Canadian, you'll feel anxious for him to get back to hockey.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never pictured myself reading a hockey book. Or a sports book, actually. I was curious because I had read about Gretzky's assists outweighing his goals and his pride in that. I wanted to learn more about a guy like that. Sadly, this book ends in the early 90s so I don't know what happened next because, see point #1, I don't follow sports. It was interesting and engaging though a friend said it best, "TL;DR: skinny kid with backyard rink and mullet makes good." One thing I would have like to read more about was his off-the-ice life. Not in a juicy, gossipy way but I'd like to have read more about his relationships with people outside of his career.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick and enjoyable read.
3 surprising things I learned:


1. He did shockingly little to workout in the offseason. No running, hiking, or bench pressing. He did...brace yourself...aerobics with his wife!

2. He once peed his pants in a game two due to exhaustion/no control over his muscles.

3. He proposed over the phone.

He was very likable, unlike Theo Fleury in his book, and managed to be both humble AND interesting unlike Bobby Orr's book. (Sorry Bobby, you're still awesome)

I also thought his parents were awesome!

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this once when it first came out, and ended up reading half of it in the store when I came across it again before I finally managed to make it to the till. The book was great to relive old Stanley Cup memories for this Oilers fan - especially getting the opportunity to see the player's point of view. Also has Gretzky's PoV on the Trade. Lots of great anecdotes and a few hockey tips for those who play.

[Laura (ローラ) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't tell you how many times I read this as a child (I had a bit of a crush). I remember getting in trouble for reading it in "free reading" period in 6th grade because I wasn't being "serious" -- I remember my friends standing up for me because, yes, I was serious! hah. Good times. Sorry, this review doesn't have much to do with the book. I actually don't remember it much except that I loved it then. I had other Gretzky books in my collection, but this was my favourite.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favorite book in junior high. I thought it was so insightful and funny. I started re-reading it this weekend and laughed just as much -- mostly at the writing. It's terrible and awesome at the same time.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always been a fan of Wayne Gretzky, but now even more so. Just an all-around interesting person and good guy. The book is very entertaining, and Gretzky is open and honest about his life--good and bad. Now I need to find an updated version to see how he changed his mind about coaching...