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Foxcatcher: The True Story of My Brother's Murder, John du Pont's Madness, and the Quest for Olympic Gold
The riveting true story of Olympic wrestling gold medal-winning brothers Mark Schultz and Dave Schultz and their fatal relationship with the eccentric John du Pont, heir to the du Pont dynasty
On January 26, 1996, Dave Schultz, Olympic gold medal winner and wrestling golden boy, was shot three times by du Pont family heir John E. du Pont at the famed Foxcatcher Farms estate in Pennsylvania. Following the murder there was a tense standoff when du Pont barricaded himself in his home for two days before he was finally captured.
Foxcatcher is gold medal winner Mark Schultz’s memoir, revealing what made him and his brother champion and what brought them to Foxcatcher Farms. It’s a vivid portrait of the complex relationship he and his brother had with du Pont, a man whose catastrophic break from reality led to tragedy. No one knows the inside story of what went on behind the scenes at Foxcatcher Farms—and inside John du Pont’s head—better than Mark Schultz.
The incredible true story of these championship-winning brothers and the wealthiest convicted murderer of all time will be making headlines this fall, and Mark’s memoir will reveal the true inside story.
On January 26, 1996, Dave Schultz, Olympic gold medal winner and wrestling golden boy, was shot three times by du Pont family heir John E. du Pont at the famed Foxcatcher Farms estate in Pennsylvania. Following the murder there was a tense standoff when du Pont barricaded himself in his home for two days before he was finally captured.
Foxcatcher is gold medal winner Mark Schultz’s memoir, revealing what made him and his brother champion and what brought them to Foxcatcher Farms. It’s a vivid portrait of the complex relationship he and his brother had with du Pont, a man whose catastrophic break from reality led to tragedy. No one knows the inside story of what went on behind the scenes at Foxcatcher Farms—and inside John du Pont’s head—better than Mark Schultz.
The incredible true story of these championship-winning brothers and the wealthiest convicted murderer of all time will be making headlines this fall, and Mark’s memoir will reveal the true inside story.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published November 4, 2014
149 people are currently reading
1741 people want to read
About the author
Mark Schultz
378 books46 followersMark Schultz is an American writer and illustrator of books and comics. His most widely recognized work is the creator-owned comic book series Xenozoic Tales, which describes a post-apocalyptic world where dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures coexist with humans. In 1993, Xenozoic Tales was adapted into an animated series titled Cadillacs and Dinosaurs and a video game of the same name. Schultz's other notable works include various Aliens comic book mini-series published by Dark Horse and a four-year run on the DC Comics series Superman: The Man of Steel. In 2004, Schultz took over the scripting duties of the Prince Valiant comic strip.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 434 reviews
July 20, 2016
One of the most misleading presentations of a book I have ever encountered. This is not a book about John Du Pont and the murder of Dave Shultz - this is a (very poorly written) autobiography of Mark Schultz. If this is an autobiography, why isn't Mark Schultz' picture on the cover, like every other sports biography ever written? Because the publisher wants to confuse and mislead readers.
I don't care about sports and really don't care about wrestling, so I can't speak to whether Mark Schultz is sufficiently important enough to warrant an autobiography, but it seems he could not have sold it without overhyping the death of his brother.
This book was clearly dictated into a recording device then sent to a ghost writer, who did little to polish the words. I am very sorry his brother was murdered but his assessment of Du Pont is repetitive, often pointless, petty and sometimes downright silly. He depicts Du Pont as a cartoon villain, and the net result tarnishes his brother's memory.
The first half of this book is Mark Shultz bragging, and I just don't care enough about wrestling to try. If, like me, you were mislead into thinking this was about the murder, just read the prologue, the brief bio chapter about Du Pont and then skip to page 150, when the story begins to revolve around the relationship between the Shultzes and the killer.
The book publisher must have recognized that the only interesting part of this book is the murder, although there is no real insight offered here. You are better off reading some of the news reportage of the crime - this is just Mark Shultz whining and trying to make himself the story. Poorly written, no insight, nothing of substance. A complete failure.
I don't care about sports and really don't care about wrestling, so I can't speak to whether Mark Schultz is sufficiently important enough to warrant an autobiography, but it seems he could not have sold it without overhyping the death of his brother.
This book was clearly dictated into a recording device then sent to a ghost writer, who did little to polish the words. I am very sorry his brother was murdered but his assessment of Du Pont is repetitive, often pointless, petty and sometimes downright silly. He depicts Du Pont as a cartoon villain, and the net result tarnishes his brother's memory.
The first half of this book is Mark Shultz bragging, and I just don't care enough about wrestling to try. If, like me, you were mislead into thinking this was about the murder, just read the prologue, the brief bio chapter about Du Pont and then skip to page 150, when the story begins to revolve around the relationship between the Shultzes and the killer.
The book publisher must have recognized that the only interesting part of this book is the murder, although there is no real insight offered here. You are better off reading some of the news reportage of the crime - this is just Mark Shultz whining and trying to make himself the story. Poorly written, no insight, nothing of substance. A complete failure.
November 22, 2014
The title and tagline of this book are misleading; they should read "Foxcatcher: Mark Schultz's wrestling career, and a bit about John du Pont's murder of Dave Schultz". I am not a fan of wrestling at all, so I was a tad disappointed when I realised that this book is, for the most part, well... about wrestling. I found myself slugging on through the book in order to get to the details about du Pont and the murder. I was, and still remain, very curious about the Foxcatcher estate's twisted happenings. I wanted an insight into the mind of du Pont and his bizarre behaviour. Unfortunately, this book seems to be an excuse for Mark Schultz to talk, in his offputtingly self-obsessed and unengaging tone, about himself for a few hundred pages (and sometimes just about the various hot and busty babes he fleetingly met through his life). This is not a true crime piece by any means. This is one for fans of the Schultz brothers, or die-hard fans of wrestling in general. For everyone else, the only worthwhile moments are the stories about du Pont, and they are too few and far between to carry this dry narrative out of mediocrity and into truly engaging territory. Maybe there's just not much to say about this tragic circumstance that ripped a world apart, exposing the corrupt rot within. It is what it is.
December 6, 2014
Wow what a bore!!! I live in the Villanova area and know the story well. This book is not about the murder, brother Dave or crazy du Pont. It is an egotistical book about the author Mark Scultz. I really had to push through the book and almost gave up several times. If it were not a local story and one of our closest friends was a wrestler at Lehigh I would have returned it to the library after 5 chapters. A very big disappointment and have no interest in the movie.
January 4, 2015
A poorly-written, unabashed cash-grab unrelated to the film of the same name. I've come away with no insight on the murder in question of the psyche of the man who committed it. Instead, I have the strong feeling I've been trapped in a bar with Mark Schultz for 6 hours while he brags about how awesome he is and how everyone else tried to keep him down.
Yuck.
Yuck.
December 8, 2014
This book should be named something more like "All about me and my wrestling career and how I was a victim of all the normal stuff that happens to people. And by the way John duPont, a crazy man, killed my brother." Some of this story was interesting, but the author came across either whiney, or overly violent.
December 12, 2014
I expected more from this book. A lot more. The subtitle "The true story of my brother's murder, John DuPont's madness and the quest for Olympic gold" was very misleading. The first two are not dealt with in depth until page 263 (of 301 pages). I expected something of more depth and substance. The writing is not very professional, either. I think this is one of the rare times I will prefer a movie over the original book. It is mostly Mark saying how wonderful he is and descriptions of wrestling matches. No insight whatsoever. I do not recommend this.
January 9, 2019
Full disclosure: I'm from Iowa City, and if you know anything about Iowa City then you know where this is going...from 1977 to '81 or '82, I saw just about every Hawkeye wrestling home meet at the Fieldhouse. And I watched just about every away meet I could with Iowa Public Television's coverage. As a kid, my club wrestled out of the Hawkeye wrestling room in the evening after Gable and his guys were done, and I saw all them up close and then some. I was probably at the Fieldhouse five days or more a week in the late '70s and early '80s, wrestling, working out on the Universal machines, running stairs, playing racquetball, just soaking it all in. The Fieldhouse, Dan Gable and Iowa wrestling had a tremendous impact on my young mind. And that's the era of the Schultz brothers, as well.
So I'm from Iowa City, and Mark Schultz wrestled for Oklahoma. And so I never liked him. In '81 he beat my hero Mike Deanna in the NCAA finals. In '82 he moved up a weight to beat Ed Banach in the finals, an even bigger hero of mine, keeping him from becoming the first four-time NCAA champ. And in '83 he beat Duane Goldman in the finals; that didn't matter so much because I was never a tremendous fan of Goldman's, but you get my point. I've never liked Mark Schultz. I had a grudging respect for him that grew out of his tendency to beat my favorite wrestlers, but I didn't like him. He was a chump, even if he was a great wrestler.
And I like him even less now after reading his book, which is ostensibly about the murder of his brother Dave at the hands of crackpot millionaire wrestling devotee and Foxcatcher sponsor John Dupont (as recently depicted by Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum to a worldwide audience in the Foxcatcher film), but which could probably be more accurately described as a list of grievances Mark Schultz has against the world. And it's a pretty long list.
Mark Schultz is mad. He's mad at John Dupont, and rightfully so. But he's mad at everyone. He's mad at his childhood. He's mad at USA Wrestling. He's mad at assorted coaches who didn't treat him the way he felt he should have been treated. He's mad at the wrestlers who kept wrestling on Dupont's money after the murder. He's mad at the invisible asterisk after his '84 Olympic gold medal because the Soviets and Eastern Europeans boycotted Los Angeles. He's even mad at his big brother Dave for being a better wrestler and a better human being than he is. And so Mark Schultz is mad. And the book reads that way, which is too bad because at this point Mark Schultz should be over a lot of it and he should have shown some personal growth. But he hasn't, and you'll see that all too clearly if you read his book.
Should you read his book? I dunno. Read it if you're a college wrestling fan or an international wrestling fan. Read it if you saw the movie and you want another perspective on the Schultz brothers and Dave Schultz's murder. After all, the movie Foxcatcher plays fast and loose with the details, and if you watch the movie you'll have the wrong time frame for the events of the murder. But Mark Schultz filters those same events through his angry, aggrieved consciousness, so I don't know that you'll get a better or more accurate view of it all from his book. But you will see how angry and aggrieved he still is after almost twenty years.
So maybe you noticed I don't like Mark Schultz. He's got a chip on his shoulder. He's a staller. And he quit in the middle of the '88 Olympics, and two out of those three things nobody at Iowa would ever do. But Dave Schultz? I liked Dave Schultz. Everybody liked Dave Schultz. He wasn't a chump like his brother. And his death in '96 was a terrible loss to the wrestling world and the world at large. So maybe you should read the book for Dave Schultz, even if his brother Mark spends too much time in it grinding his personal axes and not enough time paying tribute to his older brother.
So I'm from Iowa City, and Mark Schultz wrestled for Oklahoma. And so I never liked him. In '81 he beat my hero Mike Deanna in the NCAA finals. In '82 he moved up a weight to beat Ed Banach in the finals, an even bigger hero of mine, keeping him from becoming the first four-time NCAA champ. And in '83 he beat Duane Goldman in the finals; that didn't matter so much because I was never a tremendous fan of Goldman's, but you get my point. I've never liked Mark Schultz. I had a grudging respect for him that grew out of his tendency to beat my favorite wrestlers, but I didn't like him. He was a chump, even if he was a great wrestler.
And I like him even less now after reading his book, which is ostensibly about the murder of his brother Dave at the hands of crackpot millionaire wrestling devotee and Foxcatcher sponsor John Dupont (as recently depicted by Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum to a worldwide audience in the Foxcatcher film), but which could probably be more accurately described as a list of grievances Mark Schultz has against the world. And it's a pretty long list.
Mark Schultz is mad. He's mad at John Dupont, and rightfully so. But he's mad at everyone. He's mad at his childhood. He's mad at USA Wrestling. He's mad at assorted coaches who didn't treat him the way he felt he should have been treated. He's mad at the wrestlers who kept wrestling on Dupont's money after the murder. He's mad at the invisible asterisk after his '84 Olympic gold medal because the Soviets and Eastern Europeans boycotted Los Angeles. He's even mad at his big brother Dave for being a better wrestler and a better human being than he is. And so Mark Schultz is mad. And the book reads that way, which is too bad because at this point Mark Schultz should be over a lot of it and he should have shown some personal growth. But he hasn't, and you'll see that all too clearly if you read his book.
Should you read his book? I dunno. Read it if you're a college wrestling fan or an international wrestling fan. Read it if you saw the movie and you want another perspective on the Schultz brothers and Dave Schultz's murder. After all, the movie Foxcatcher plays fast and loose with the details, and if you watch the movie you'll have the wrong time frame for the events of the murder. But Mark Schultz filters those same events through his angry, aggrieved consciousness, so I don't know that you'll get a better or more accurate view of it all from his book. But you will see how angry and aggrieved he still is after almost twenty years.
So maybe you noticed I don't like Mark Schultz. He's got a chip on his shoulder. He's a staller. And he quit in the middle of the '88 Olympics, and two out of those three things nobody at Iowa would ever do. But Dave Schultz? I liked Dave Schultz. Everybody liked Dave Schultz. He wasn't a chump like his brother. And his death in '96 was a terrible loss to the wrestling world and the world at large. So maybe you should read the book for Dave Schultz, even if his brother Mark spends too much time in it grinding his personal axes and not enough time paying tribute to his older brother.
January 2, 2015
For background, I grew up wrestling in eastern PA, my father is a Hall of Fame high school coach, and my brother coaches today. I was in HS in the 1980s and remember the Schultzs' winning gold in 1984. My father received an autographed copy of DuPont's Off the Mat book (which I threw out after the murder). I even saw the Bulgarian team mentioned in the book at an exhibition at Lehigh University. I wanted the movie to respect Dave and the sport and not to portray DuPont in a good light.
Over the holidays, my wife got this book for me. I didn't even know it was available. After seeing the movie I was curious to read it, because I knew the movie would tell the fall of DuPont, but I was surprised at how Mark was portrayed. I was very interested to read his perspective.
I was only aware of Mark's accomplishments, whereas Dave's accomplishments were well known, but so too was his being a great ambassador of the sport internationally.
The book was actually published in 2014 and the movie was in development many years beforehand. After finishing it, and given identical titles, I have to believe it was a quick attempt to publish and take advantage of the movie's acclaim.
As others have noted, the book is not well written, there are typos, and it is more about Mark than it is the murder or Dave.
For as bad as I thought Mark was portrayed in the movie, his own autobiography made him look worse.
I'm not sure who, if anyone this book is for. I didn't feel like Mark had respect for others. From comments about coaches to competitors, he didn't come across as being respectful. He was fixated on being the toughest, roughest, guy from beginning to end and didn't offer anything that would make me recommend this to a kid or person needing inspiration.
I was glad to read it to better set the timeline in real life compared to the movie and I liked some of the references to guys I watched wrestle in college, but the book was simply not good.
Over the holidays, my wife got this book for me. I didn't even know it was available. After seeing the movie I was curious to read it, because I knew the movie would tell the fall of DuPont, but I was surprised at how Mark was portrayed. I was very interested to read his perspective.
I was only aware of Mark's accomplishments, whereas Dave's accomplishments were well known, but so too was his being a great ambassador of the sport internationally.
The book was actually published in 2014 and the movie was in development many years beforehand. After finishing it, and given identical titles, I have to believe it was a quick attempt to publish and take advantage of the movie's acclaim.
As others have noted, the book is not well written, there are typos, and it is more about Mark than it is the murder or Dave.
For as bad as I thought Mark was portrayed in the movie, his own autobiography made him look worse.
I'm not sure who, if anyone this book is for. I didn't feel like Mark had respect for others. From comments about coaches to competitors, he didn't come across as being respectful. He was fixated on being the toughest, roughest, guy from beginning to end and didn't offer anything that would make me recommend this to a kid or person needing inspiration.
I was glad to read it to better set the timeline in real life compared to the movie and I liked some of the references to guys I watched wrestle in college, but the book was simply not good.
July 21, 2025
This is probably my favorite biographical account to date. Mark Schultz writes with brutal honesty and gives you his straight forward account of what happened. I appreciated his intense and insightful writing that made you feel exactly what he was feeling at that particular moment.
The book is written with a lot of details that in the end paint the bigger picture of relevance. Mark’s story starts from the beginning and gives his path he created on his own in the wrestling world. It seems that Mark and Dave’s lives ran parallel and intersected all throughout their life. From UCLA, to Oklahoma, Stanford, the World Championships and the Olympics, and then unfortunately to the Foxcatcher Farm. Mark’s writing gives the story of his love for Dave both on and off the mat and how John Du Pont was the unstoppable force that ruined everything.
The movie picks up at pg. 165 and goes on from there. An enjoyable read that I couldn’t put down. The final sentence capitalizes the whole story with “I miss you, Dave.”
The book is written with a lot of details that in the end paint the bigger picture of relevance. Mark’s story starts from the beginning and gives his path he created on his own in the wrestling world. It seems that Mark and Dave’s lives ran parallel and intersected all throughout their life. From UCLA, to Oklahoma, Stanford, the World Championships and the Olympics, and then unfortunately to the Foxcatcher Farm. Mark’s writing gives the story of his love for Dave both on and off the mat and how John Du Pont was the unstoppable force that ruined everything.
The movie picks up at pg. 165 and goes on from there. An enjoyable read that I couldn’t put down. The final sentence capitalizes the whole story with “I miss you, Dave.”
January 4, 2015
The most interesting thing about this book was the title.
February 23, 2015
There are a lot of bad reviews of this book on goodreads, and I read a few of them before I started this. So, expecting something atrocious, I began.
I finished the book today and can safely say it is not even half as bad as people are saying. But let’s get the bad out of the way first. No, it is not brilliantly written: the text is not fluid and beautiful; you will not gasp in wonder at the writer’s sentence structure nor marvel at his original phrases. But what do people expect from a wrestler? Something to rival the literary giants of the last century?
Yes, the book is misleading in how it has been marketed. Instead of calling it Fox Catcher, Mark Schultz should have given it a more apt name that related more to himself than John Du Pont. And yes, he does spend the first half of the book talking largely about himself and his own achievements. But I don’t see how he could have ignored his own career and just wrote about his life with Du Pont on the Foxcatcher Farm estate. There did need to be some context and without the history of who he was, anyone who doesn’t know him would have been wondering why on earth Du Pont wanted to employ him. Plus, the first 150 or so pages are interesting in their own right and serve as a decent run up to the events that the world (or at least America) knows about. So I can forgive the publishers (slightly) for using the Foxcatcher name to sell the book.
So, what can a reader expect? I’d say - expect a biography of a wrestler who followed his brothers footsteps to Olympic gold and then had the misfortune of being “controlled” by a rich, disturbed man after being unable to fund himself to continue training. Then, expect details of the murder of his brother, the arrest and judgement of John Du Pont, and how Mark Schultz dealt with it all in the last pages of the book.
I only have a vague memory of this case and have never paid that much attention to wrestling, so reading this book taught me quite a lot. I now know the rules of wrestling, which are detailed for the reader early on in the book. I also have a very good understanding of how little funding goes into wrestling in the US compared to countries like Russia and Bulgaria. I also now understand why Hollywood has made a film about this, complete with A list stars.
For me, the first half was interesting in the sense that Mark Schultz was describing his road to Olympic stardom, giving detailed match descriptions that may only be fully understood by another wrestler, but showing the reader his early life and how he became the man he is. After reaching his peak in the 1984 Los Angeles games, Mark is then propositioned to take up a career as wrestling coach with John Du Pont on his Foxcatcher estate. The reader then gets a very intriguing insight into the behaviour of this rich, eccentric, but clearly mentally damaged, individual from the POV of Schultz. I shook my head and was amazed at some of the things Du Pont did. The stuff he thought was happening was equally bizarre and frown-worthy (The geese on his estate were plotting against him!) It all ends in tragedy of course and Marks brother Dave, one time World Champion, is shot by Du Pont in what appears a cold blooded murder.
I suppose most people can make up their own minds as to whether Du Pont intended to murder David Shultz, or whether he was insane and not in control of what he was doing, but whatever the case it is tragic, and from what I read in this book I wonder if Mark has gotten over it. Although he states clearly that he cried at the memorial, when I read the last page I couldn’t help think he may not really have dealt with the death of his brother. But if that is the case then it is understandable because of the senselessness of how his brother died.
It is written in an honest and straight forward way. Mark Schultz clearly has no misgivings about laying himself open to ridicule and at no point did I feel he was holding back or presenting himself as something he isn’t. He is quite open about his insecurities, and that he often felt dread prior to tournaments and often wished he was as good as his brother David. So when he gets onto the subject of Du Pont, I am fully inclined to believe what he is telling me, and it is fascinating.
I have not read many (if any) biographies before, but I would dare say the vast majority of them will not be as interesting as this one. It only gets 3 stars because I think the editors could have done a better job.
BTW – I picked up this book half price from my local discount store. But I don’t think I would have felt short changed if I’d paid full price for it.
I finished the book today and can safely say it is not even half as bad as people are saying. But let’s get the bad out of the way first. No, it is not brilliantly written: the text is not fluid and beautiful; you will not gasp in wonder at the writer’s sentence structure nor marvel at his original phrases. But what do people expect from a wrestler? Something to rival the literary giants of the last century?
Yes, the book is misleading in how it has been marketed. Instead of calling it Fox Catcher, Mark Schultz should have given it a more apt name that related more to himself than John Du Pont. And yes, he does spend the first half of the book talking largely about himself and his own achievements. But I don’t see how he could have ignored his own career and just wrote about his life with Du Pont on the Foxcatcher Farm estate. There did need to be some context and without the history of who he was, anyone who doesn’t know him would have been wondering why on earth Du Pont wanted to employ him. Plus, the first 150 or so pages are interesting in their own right and serve as a decent run up to the events that the world (or at least America) knows about. So I can forgive the publishers (slightly) for using the Foxcatcher name to sell the book.
So, what can a reader expect? I’d say - expect a biography of a wrestler who followed his brothers footsteps to Olympic gold and then had the misfortune of being “controlled” by a rich, disturbed man after being unable to fund himself to continue training. Then, expect details of the murder of his brother, the arrest and judgement of John Du Pont, and how Mark Schultz dealt with it all in the last pages of the book.
I only have a vague memory of this case and have never paid that much attention to wrestling, so reading this book taught me quite a lot. I now know the rules of wrestling, which are detailed for the reader early on in the book. I also have a very good understanding of how little funding goes into wrestling in the US compared to countries like Russia and Bulgaria. I also now understand why Hollywood has made a film about this, complete with A list stars.
For me, the first half was interesting in the sense that Mark Schultz was describing his road to Olympic stardom, giving detailed match descriptions that may only be fully understood by another wrestler, but showing the reader his early life and how he became the man he is. After reaching his peak in the 1984 Los Angeles games, Mark is then propositioned to take up a career as wrestling coach with John Du Pont on his Foxcatcher estate. The reader then gets a very intriguing insight into the behaviour of this rich, eccentric, but clearly mentally damaged, individual from the POV of Schultz. I shook my head and was amazed at some of the things Du Pont did. The stuff he thought was happening was equally bizarre and frown-worthy (The geese on his estate were plotting against him!) It all ends in tragedy of course and Marks brother Dave, one time World Champion, is shot by Du Pont in what appears a cold blooded murder.
I suppose most people can make up their own minds as to whether Du Pont intended to murder David Shultz, or whether he was insane and not in control of what he was doing, but whatever the case it is tragic, and from what I read in this book I wonder if Mark has gotten over it. Although he states clearly that he cried at the memorial, when I read the last page I couldn’t help think he may not really have dealt with the death of his brother. But if that is the case then it is understandable because of the senselessness of how his brother died.
It is written in an honest and straight forward way. Mark Schultz clearly has no misgivings about laying himself open to ridicule and at no point did I feel he was holding back or presenting himself as something he isn’t. He is quite open about his insecurities, and that he often felt dread prior to tournaments and often wished he was as good as his brother David. So when he gets onto the subject of Du Pont, I am fully inclined to believe what he is telling me, and it is fascinating.
I have not read many (if any) biographies before, but I would dare say the vast majority of them will not be as interesting as this one. It only gets 3 stars because I think the editors could have done a better job.
BTW – I picked up this book half price from my local discount store. But I don’t think I would have felt short changed if I’d paid full price for it.
January 25, 2015
This is one of those times where I'm guessing the movie is going to be FAR BETTER than the book.
After reading Foxcatcher, I'm not sure who is a more pathetic human being, John DuPont or Mark Schultz. Neither is likable in the least but at least DuPont could claim to have mental problems. Clearly DuPont is an evil human being mentally ill or not. But Mark Schultz is just such a whiner. The whole reason that I read this book was to learn more about Dave Schultz's murder and the circumstances surrounding the crime. I would have been better off just reading about it on wikipedia for all the insight this book gave.
The bulk of the book was dedicated to Schultz's early life - how he came from a broken home and had a tough upbringing; how Dave was the single constant support in his life; how he trained and studied to become one of the best-known and most successful American wrestlers. As a fan of wrestling, I found this information somewhat interesting. My problem was the poor and boring writing style and Schultz's constant whining about not being supported. Good Lord, man, you became so successful probably BECAUSE you didn't have the support you wanted - get over it already! If it wasn't his parents not supporting him properly, then it was the college wrestling programs or coaches or colleges that didn't support him properly, or it was USA Wrestling that didn't support him. The part that really bugged me was that he held such disdain for USA Wrestling, Villanova and other colleges that used DuPont's money to support their programs. Um, Hello? Mr. Schultz, you did the same - but apparently it was OK for you because no one else supported you. He really takes no personal responsibility for his choices that led to bad things in his life. He still carries a big chip on his shoulder despite his conversion to the LDS church and his constant mantra of forgiving others so he doesn't have to carry that burden - ugh!
I don't know, if you wanted to know about the actual murder - you could simply read chapters 17-19 and get the entirety of the information on the actual murder - which really amounted to about 3 newspaper articles worth of storyline. I say see the movie and skip the book.
After reading Foxcatcher, I'm not sure who is a more pathetic human being, John DuPont or Mark Schultz. Neither is likable in the least but at least DuPont could claim to have mental problems. Clearly DuPont is an evil human being mentally ill or not. But Mark Schultz is just such a whiner. The whole reason that I read this book was to learn more about Dave Schultz's murder and the circumstances surrounding the crime. I would have been better off just reading about it on wikipedia for all the insight this book gave.
The bulk of the book was dedicated to Schultz's early life - how he came from a broken home and had a tough upbringing; how Dave was the single constant support in his life; how he trained and studied to become one of the best-known and most successful American wrestlers. As a fan of wrestling, I found this information somewhat interesting. My problem was the poor and boring writing style and Schultz's constant whining about not being supported. Good Lord, man, you became so successful probably BECAUSE you didn't have the support you wanted - get over it already! If it wasn't his parents not supporting him properly, then it was the college wrestling programs or coaches or colleges that didn't support him properly, or it was USA Wrestling that didn't support him. The part that really bugged me was that he held such disdain for USA Wrestling, Villanova and other colleges that used DuPont's money to support their programs. Um, Hello? Mr. Schultz, you did the same - but apparently it was OK for you because no one else supported you. He really takes no personal responsibility for his choices that led to bad things in his life. He still carries a big chip on his shoulder despite his conversion to the LDS church and his constant mantra of forgiving others so he doesn't have to carry that burden - ugh!
I don't know, if you wanted to know about the actual murder - you could simply read chapters 17-19 and get the entirety of the information on the actual murder - which really amounted to about 3 newspaper articles worth of storyline. I say see the movie and skip the book.
March 31, 2015
I couldn't stand the writing style.
February 15, 2018
This book is without a doubt one of the worst books I've ever read in my entire life. Like, it's easily in the top 5. Here are only a couple of the reasons why:
- He kept using the word "dual" when what he MEANT to say was "duel" (where was his editor in all of this?
- He kept contradicting his love of gymnastics and his distaste for wrestling. From one chapter to the next, he changed his mind about which sport he liked more and I really can't even handle it I mean PLZ
- He's WAY. TOO. DRAMATIC. Yeah, I know, the book's about his brother's murder and that's obviously a dramatic event but saying things like "God, if I lose this match just KILL ME because it's not worth living" is a BIT over the top, don't you think?
- For someone so convinced that his brother's murderer was crazy (which he was, I'm not disputing that) he certainly came across as crazy himself. Like, the whole I-trained-myself-how-to-use-a-crossbow-so-I-could-shoot-him-in-the-eyes thing, followed by the equally ridiculous I'm-going-to-have-a-child-with-a-Brazilian-woman-so-I-can't-be-deported thing is just ridiculous beyond belief and I quite frankly don't have time for it
There were so many other STUPID things, like "there was a beautiful girl who was even prettier than Dave's girlfriend who I made out with and then never saw again because I went to Mongolia but my confidence was REALLY boosted" and I have to agree with one of the other reviews that said this book reads like some drunk guy at a bar just trying to tell you all about his (boring) wrestling career and not letting you leave before he tells you EVERY. MINUTE. DETAIL. Like, for a book that's supposed to be about a murder there wasn't a whole lot of murdering happening.
This book was just an excuse to pat himself on the back for wrestling for a while and doing well, but because he knew that'd be BORING he added his brother's murder in there for kicks.
Seriously, don't read this - I'm telling you because I like you.
- He kept using the word "dual" when what he MEANT to say was "duel" (where was his editor in all of this?
- He kept contradicting his love of gymnastics and his distaste for wrestling. From one chapter to the next, he changed his mind about which sport he liked more and I really can't even handle it I mean PLZ
- He's WAY. TOO. DRAMATIC. Yeah, I know, the book's about his brother's murder and that's obviously a dramatic event but saying things like "God, if I lose this match just KILL ME because it's not worth living" is a BIT over the top, don't you think?
- For someone so convinced that his brother's murderer was crazy (which he was, I'm not disputing that) he certainly came across as crazy himself. Like, the whole I-trained-myself-how-to-use-a-crossbow-so-I-could-shoot-him-in-the-eyes thing, followed by the equally ridiculous I'm-going-to-have-a-child-with-a-Brazilian-woman-so-I-can't-be-deported thing is just ridiculous beyond belief and I quite frankly don't have time for it
There were so many other STUPID things, like "there was a beautiful girl who was even prettier than Dave's girlfriend who I made out with and then never saw again because I went to Mongolia but my confidence was REALLY boosted" and I have to agree with one of the other reviews that said this book reads like some drunk guy at a bar just trying to tell you all about his (boring) wrestling career and not letting you leave before he tells you EVERY. MINUTE. DETAIL. Like, for a book that's supposed to be about a murder there wasn't a whole lot of murdering happening.
This book was just an excuse to pat himself on the back for wrestling for a while and doing well, but because he knew that'd be BORING he added his brother's murder in there for kicks.
Seriously, don't read this - I'm telling you because I like you.
November 21, 2014
This book is really good as is and interesting, but this is a story that I wish that a guy like Jon Krakauer would have been trusted to tell. His ability to research and interview would have made this an all-time great non-fiction read.
That said, this is better than most books written by athletes. It is an interesting story that highlights both brothers well and as someone who grew up wrestling and was riveted to the TV as a kid during this trial, I found the whole thing fascinating.
There are a lot of wrestling names, events, and language that I liked a lot, but I liked it because it meant something to me as a former wrestler. This is not an easy read for non-wrestlers.
Also, I do not think it focuses enough on how / why Dave agreed to work with DuPont after Mark had had such a terrible experience there. It seems odd that, for brothers who seemed to be so close, that Mark would allow his brother to work under those conditions or that Dave would want to work and train under a guy that had treated his brother so badly. That whole thing was glossed over a bit.
And why were there no detailed testimonials from the likes of Andre Metzger, Bruce Baumgartner, or other USA Wrestling reps? DuPont was a kook, no doubt, but this would have been a stronger story if it included more than a single perspective. Even some sort of information from the DuPont staff, or the wrestlers that DuPont paid to lose to him, or anyone from any of the dozens of false award ceremonies, or anyone from Villanova's athletic department who had to deal with DuPont.
Also, Mark's MMA bout, though important to him personally and emotionally, did nothing for the story. That whole section seemed unnecessary .
I'm glad I finished this before seeing the film and I am interested to see what the movie focuses on.
That said, this is better than most books written by athletes. It is an interesting story that highlights both brothers well and as someone who grew up wrestling and was riveted to the TV as a kid during this trial, I found the whole thing fascinating.
There are a lot of wrestling names, events, and language that I liked a lot, but I liked it because it meant something to me as a former wrestler. This is not an easy read for non-wrestlers.
Also, I do not think it focuses enough on how / why Dave agreed to work with DuPont after Mark had had such a terrible experience there. It seems odd that, for brothers who seemed to be so close, that Mark would allow his brother to work under those conditions or that Dave would want to work and train under a guy that had treated his brother so badly. That whole thing was glossed over a bit.
And why were there no detailed testimonials from the likes of Andre Metzger, Bruce Baumgartner, or other USA Wrestling reps? DuPont was a kook, no doubt, but this would have been a stronger story if it included more than a single perspective. Even some sort of information from the DuPont staff, or the wrestlers that DuPont paid to lose to him, or anyone from any of the dozens of false award ceremonies, or anyone from Villanova's athletic department who had to deal with DuPont.
Also, Mark's MMA bout, though important to him personally and emotionally, did nothing for the story. That whole section seemed unnecessary .
I'm glad I finished this before seeing the film and I am interested to see what the movie focuses on.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 12, 2015
Even going into this book after reading bad reviews (it's written by a wrestler, not a writer!) and thinking I had realistic expectations, I still could hardly bring myself to finish this book. It wasn't just that it was poorly written; it's that Mark Schultz had a very inflated view of himself and I found after a while that I didn't really trust his story-telling because his point of view was so skewed by his drive to be the best fighter ever and his disgust with anyone who appeared weak or unattractive. But I persevered because I wanted to hear the story of John du Pont and Foxcatcher Farms, which came more than halfway through the book and again was told by this very unreliable narrator who many times wasn't even there to witness firsthand the stories he was telling. Du Pont was no doubt a mentally ill, power-hungry control freak, but Schultz's hatred of him was extreme and off-base, and at the end of the day, Schultz sounded like just one big whiner who didn't want to take responsibility for his failures in life, but would rather blame them on the wrestling association not funding wrestlers well enough or du Pont distracting him and wanting all the credit for Schultz's success. Waaah waah waaah. Get a life.
November 29, 2014
Dave Thomas should be embarrassed. While I love reading about wrestling, this book is very poorly written. Any information given in this book can be found through Google searches.
I have heard and read people refer to this as a memoir of Mark Schultz, and while it does contain Mark's experiences, the voice is extremely inconsistent and facts go unchecked. Often Schultz recounts second stories and event which he was not present for.
Interesting story, just poorly put together.
I have heard and read people refer to this as a memoir of Mark Schultz, and while it does contain Mark's experiences, the voice is extremely inconsistent and facts go unchecked. Often Schultz recounts second stories and event which he was not present for.
Interesting story, just poorly put together.
February 21, 2015
This is an incredible story so I really wanted to like the book. But I just couldn't. There was way too much time spent on relaying how awesome Mark Schultz was as a wrestler, and he just came across as not a very nice human being. I mean, I get that it takes a certain type of personality to get to the top of a sport, but I would have thought that with the help of a writer the "poor me, everything was stacked against me" stuff wouldn't have been laid on quite so thick. Sorry.
February 15, 2025
Hello, FBI? This man right here.
First of all, the title of this book is intentionally misleading. It is not about a murder; it is Mark's memoir. Since Mark wasn't present for the murder of his brother and didn't attend the trial, the brief mention of both is surface-level and could be gathered from a couple of newspaper articles. No doubt, the publisher had to embellish, because the book is otherwise dreadfully unappealing.
The real purpose of this book was to
1. Explain that Mark was not just a weird kid in school. Every FREAK thing he did was actually calculated and orchestrated in order to get him to the Gold, and
2. Excuse every. single. loss. he ever had. And yes, he remembers all of them.
Now let's get to the nitty gritty. This is your warning that I'm about to pull direct quotes from the book. If you consider that a spoiler, now is the time to stop reading.
Mark Schultz belongs on every watch list known to man. This was his "coming out a psychopath" book. Every quality you hate in alpha-men? Multiply it by 10 and you've got yourself Mark Schultz.
No one had it worse than Mark. Wrestling made him face every trial and tribulation known to man. In fact, a direct quote, "I believe there are only three groups of people who have it worse than college wrestlers: the terminally ill, soldiers on the front line, and prisoners on death row."
Can we say tone deaf?? Keep in mind, this man CHOSE wrestling. He CHOSE to compete. He made these CHOICES because he was so incredibly jealous of his brother's success in wrestling. He just had to be better than his brother.
Mark is violent, dirty, rude, calculated, cold, violent, angry, self-centered, a SORE loser, callous, and violent, violent, violent.
"I had determined that I would never again take losing in stride. I wanted to make losing the worst experience possible. I’d hit myself, bang my head against a wall, cry, scream, rip clothes apart, destroy nearby innocent objects, or whatever else I felt like doing."
"and on my way to the competition mat, I sat on those mats and prayed as hard as I could for God to please kill me immediately if I lost. I meant it."
"I consider stabbing myself in the leg or crashing my car on purpose to get out of the tournament."
"I destroyed everything in the room that wasn’t bolted down and with my head smashed a mirror to which I had taped the message 'No prisoners.'"
Are those excerpts not enough to convince you this man needs years of therapy? Well, he's also homicidal. On several occasions, he admits to only winning matches because he was actually, literally trying to kill his opponent. His favorite "sparring partner", Isreal, was his favorite because he was able to fight him with the most amount of violence he could. He admitted to purposefully cutting Isreal with a metal piece sticking out of his helmet because he didn't like Isreal's cornrows rubbing on his skin...
Someone called him from the gym and asked him to come spar and said there were "no rules." Mark's immediate thought?
"If there are no rules, I wondered, would we be trying to kill each other? Is this going to be a fight to the death?" Mark wants blood SO BAD.
Before John was any threat to his brother, Mark blamed John for "throwing" the Olympic game, and actually planned to murder him. "I bought a miniature crossbow and placed a plastic milk jug on a stick and imagined the jug was du Pont’s head. I practiced enough to where I was good at hitting the jug from fifty feet, which I knew was the distance from a group of bushes at his mansion to a person walking up the steps from the driveway." Psychopathic behavior.
Perhaps the most disgusting confession from Mark was revealed after his brother, Dave, had been murdered:
"And I hated myself for thinking this, but I realized that Dave would never break my record for World Championships won."
In the whirlwind of losing his brother, all he could think about was how he was the reigning champion between the two of them and how this will go uncontested. Absolutely revolting.
And do not get me started on how he describes women through the entire book!!! He had nothing to mention about his female colleagues, girlfriends, wives, sister-in-laws other than they were hot hot hot. The descriptions he used made me nauseous. He even went into detail about how hot the minors were that they hired as sort-of-cheerleaders for the wresting team he coached. Not to mention the fact that he did not turn away these minors when they turned up to his house party, but, instead, allowed them to mingle and drink. This guy...
I can't believe someone approved this to be published. I can't believe he convinced not one, but TWO women to marry him. I can't believe I finished this book. If I could give it 0 stars, I would.
First of all, the title of this book is intentionally misleading. It is not about a murder; it is Mark's memoir. Since Mark wasn't present for the murder of his brother and didn't attend the trial, the brief mention of both is surface-level and could be gathered from a couple of newspaper articles. No doubt, the publisher had to embellish, because the book is otherwise dreadfully unappealing.
The real purpose of this book was to
1. Explain that Mark was not just a weird kid in school. Every FREAK thing he did was actually calculated and orchestrated in order to get him to the Gold, and
2. Excuse every. single. loss. he ever had. And yes, he remembers all of them.
Now let's get to the nitty gritty. This is your warning that I'm about to pull direct quotes from the book. If you consider that a spoiler, now is the time to stop reading.
Mark Schultz belongs on every watch list known to man. This was his "coming out a psychopath" book. Every quality you hate in alpha-men? Multiply it by 10 and you've got yourself Mark Schultz.
No one had it worse than Mark. Wrestling made him face every trial and tribulation known to man. In fact, a direct quote, "I believe there are only three groups of people who have it worse than college wrestlers: the terminally ill, soldiers on the front line, and prisoners on death row."
Can we say tone deaf?? Keep in mind, this man CHOSE wrestling. He CHOSE to compete. He made these CHOICES because he was so incredibly jealous of his brother's success in wrestling. He just had to be better than his brother.
Mark is violent, dirty, rude, calculated, cold, violent, angry, self-centered, a SORE loser, callous, and violent, violent, violent.
"I had determined that I would never again take losing in stride. I wanted to make losing the worst experience possible. I’d hit myself, bang my head against a wall, cry, scream, rip clothes apart, destroy nearby innocent objects, or whatever else I felt like doing."
"and on my way to the competition mat, I sat on those mats and prayed as hard as I could for God to please kill me immediately if I lost. I meant it."
"I consider stabbing myself in the leg or crashing my car on purpose to get out of the tournament."
"I destroyed everything in the room that wasn’t bolted down and with my head smashed a mirror to which I had taped the message 'No prisoners.'"
Are those excerpts not enough to convince you this man needs years of therapy? Well, he's also homicidal. On several occasions, he admits to only winning matches because he was actually, literally trying to kill his opponent. His favorite "sparring partner", Isreal, was his favorite because he was able to fight him with the most amount of violence he could. He admitted to purposefully cutting Isreal with a metal piece sticking out of his helmet because he didn't like Isreal's cornrows rubbing on his skin...
Someone called him from the gym and asked him to come spar and said there were "no rules." Mark's immediate thought?
"If there are no rules, I wondered, would we be trying to kill each other? Is this going to be a fight to the death?" Mark wants blood SO BAD.
Before John was any threat to his brother, Mark blamed John for "throwing" the Olympic game, and actually planned to murder him. "I bought a miniature crossbow and placed a plastic milk jug on a stick and imagined the jug was du Pont’s head. I practiced enough to where I was good at hitting the jug from fifty feet, which I knew was the distance from a group of bushes at his mansion to a person walking up the steps from the driveway." Psychopathic behavior.
Perhaps the most disgusting confession from Mark was revealed after his brother, Dave, had been murdered:
"And I hated myself for thinking this, but I realized that Dave would never break my record for World Championships won."
In the whirlwind of losing his brother, all he could think about was how he was the reigning champion between the two of them and how this will go uncontested. Absolutely revolting.
And do not get me started on how he describes women through the entire book!!! He had nothing to mention about his female colleagues, girlfriends, wives, sister-in-laws other than they were hot hot hot. The descriptions he used made me nauseous. He even went into detail about how hot the minors were that they hired as sort-of-cheerleaders for the wresting team he coached. Not to mention the fact that he did not turn away these minors when they turned up to his house party, but, instead, allowed them to mingle and drink. This guy...
I can't believe someone approved this to be published. I can't believe he convinced not one, but TWO women to marry him. I can't believe I finished this book. If I could give it 0 stars, I would.
December 30, 2014
I received this book from a Good Reads First Reads drawing at no charge, but this in no way influenced my review.
I looked forward to reading this book for many reasons and was so disappointed as I turned the last page! When I began to think of what I would write in my review, I studied the cover and realized from the title that there were three parts to the book:
FOXCATCHER:
(1) The True Story of My Brother's Murder
(2) John duPont's Madness
(3) and the Quest for Olympic Gold
The first and second parts of the book are covered very quickly. The majority of the book is about MARK--HIS wrestling career, almost blow by blow, move by move accounts of match after match, MARK's financial woes, and how Mark was "done wrong" from the time he was a child, even to sleeping in a shed ( which was HIS poor choice). In Mark's own words, there came a time when he couldn't even get a job interview after a divorce that cost him his money, his kids, and his home.
The overall tone of the book, to me, was quite whiney--poor me, poor me.
I got the impression that Mark felt he was owed a good job, yet he squandered money, did coke, and kept up his association with duPont, knowing he was a drunk and drug addict with erratic and bizzare behavior, living in luxury at the Farm, and really not making any attempt on his own to distance himself from this man.
I think the book ( and the movie) are riding on the coat tails of DAVE's accomplishments and murder; the advertising for both seem to capitalize on this, but the book falls short in this area. It is more Mark's story--perhaps to ease HIS financial problems? Some things about Dave, the victim, were glossed over quickly.
I guess I was disappointed and mislead by the advertising. The book does cover these three things listed in the title, but I feel it was just a way for Mark to write his memoir that few would otherwise be interested in. I am saddened that an Olympian would put himself out in the public eye again-- as such a loser. Some things are better left unsaid and some stories are best left untold.
I looked forward to reading this book for many reasons and was so disappointed as I turned the last page! When I began to think of what I would write in my review, I studied the cover and realized from the title that there were three parts to the book:
FOXCATCHER:
(1) The True Story of My Brother's Murder
(2) John duPont's Madness
(3) and the Quest for Olympic Gold
The first and second parts of the book are covered very quickly. The majority of the book is about MARK--HIS wrestling career, almost blow by blow, move by move accounts of match after match, MARK's financial woes, and how Mark was "done wrong" from the time he was a child, even to sleeping in a shed ( which was HIS poor choice). In Mark's own words, there came a time when he couldn't even get a job interview after a divorce that cost him his money, his kids, and his home.
The overall tone of the book, to me, was quite whiney--poor me, poor me.
I got the impression that Mark felt he was owed a good job, yet he squandered money, did coke, and kept up his association with duPont, knowing he was a drunk and drug addict with erratic and bizzare behavior, living in luxury at the Farm, and really not making any attempt on his own to distance himself from this man.
I think the book ( and the movie) are riding on the coat tails of DAVE's accomplishments and murder; the advertising for both seem to capitalize on this, but the book falls short in this area. It is more Mark's story--perhaps to ease HIS financial problems? Some things about Dave, the victim, were glossed over quickly.
I guess I was disappointed and mislead by the advertising. The book does cover these three things listed in the title, but I feel it was just a way for Mark to write his memoir that few would otherwise be interested in. I am saddened that an Olympian would put himself out in the public eye again-- as such a loser. Some things are better left unsaid and some stories are best left untold.
December 31, 2014
Unfortunately, this really fascinating story is bungled up pretty badly by the author, who is also the subject of the story. Tons of cliches and poorly written sentences.
Also, for the "Story Of My Brother's Murder," the focus is on Mark Schultz for about 75 percent of the book and very little about his brother Dave.
Disappointing.
Also, for the "Story Of My Brother's Murder," the focus is on Mark Schultz for about 75 percent of the book and very little about his brother Dave.
Disappointing.
December 7, 2014
Mark Schultz is not a writer. There's nothing wrong with that, but it seems that someone in the publication process should have done something to clean this book up a bit. If you're interested in knowing the story behind the murder of Dave Shultz at the hands of John du Pont, I'm guessing the movie will be much better. The book is more for wrestling fans than anyone else.
October 21, 2015
I'm not sure I understand all the bad reviews. The author is very honest and not afraid to put it all out there. I found this book to be fascinating. It may not be incredibly well-written but the story is very compelling. I had a hard time putting it down. I'll be recommending it to several people.
February 11, 2020
World class wrestler and Olympic gold medalist? Yes.
Writer? 100% no.
Writer? 100% no.
August 7, 2024
This book is so bad that I'm making a presentation about how much I hated it
January 4, 2015
A sports memoir combination with true crime: "Foxcatcher: The True Story of My Brother's Murder, John Du Pont's Madness, and the Quest for Olympic Gold" authored by Mark Shultz (with David Thomas). This unique book mainly narrates the wrestling career of the author. The shocking and senseless murder of his brother Dave Shultz (1959- January 26, 1996) is recalled. Shultz, a husband and father of two children, was shot three times by his employer John du Pont in the driveway of his home, located on du Pont's 800 acre Pennsylvania Foxcatcher Farm estate, as his terrified wife stood nearby.
In 1987 with the elimination of many college wrestling programs, the scarcity of coaching positions, and Title IX guaranteed equality ending discrimination based on gender, Mark Shultz didn't hesitate to accept a generous offer to join the Villanova University's (Philadelphia, PA) Wrestling Team Coaching Staff. John E. du Pont (1938-2010), unable to succeed as an athlete of his own merit, donated large sums of money to the University. There were no rules, job description, or chain of command, du Pont controlled the program, and took credit for Shultz accomplishments, (winning Olympic and World wrestling championships).
du Pont presented himself as a philanthropist, when behind closed doors he was a cunning manipulator, with an enormous ego and sense of entitlement. "The guy was a disaster" Shultz recalled. Having a noticeable problem with substance abuse, he looked sickly/un-kept. After two years and many problems, the University declined to be affiliated with du Pont, and the wrestling program closed.
"Foxcatcher" wrestling center opened at du Pont's private estate in the late 1980's. In the following years more championships and impressive wrestling titles were won by both Mark and Dave Shultz. Eventually Dave also accepted a coaching position and worked for du Pont.
Dave really cared and tried to help du Pont: eventually du Pont's behavior became increasingly erratic and highly unstable. He waved an assault rifle at staff, was convinced there were transmitters in the gym/equipment and ordered walls of his mansion to be X-rayed. He communicated with rocks, hired psychics, and declared there were Nazi spies in the treetops surrounding his estate. In response to various police reports du Pont was deemed "eccentric" by local authorities, but no threat/danger to anyone.
Shultz wrote that du Pont enjoyed testing people to see if they would go against their judgment and principals for money, and regrets not trusting his intuition/gut instinct to not work for du Pont. It is really unfortunate that du Pont with all his wealth, couldn't get the obvious psychological help and intervention he desperately needed. Unless a reader is a wrestling sports fan, much of the story isn't as interesting as the narration about du Pont, injected throughout the book. I was surprised to read briefly Shultz had a wife and family (he lost to divorce), he didn't mention if he continued in his Mormon faith, nor much of the aftermath following this family tragedy. This is such a sad story, deepest sympathy to this family. Several pages of great photo's are included.
In 1987 with the elimination of many college wrestling programs, the scarcity of coaching positions, and Title IX guaranteed equality ending discrimination based on gender, Mark Shultz didn't hesitate to accept a generous offer to join the Villanova University's (Philadelphia, PA) Wrestling Team Coaching Staff. John E. du Pont (1938-2010), unable to succeed as an athlete of his own merit, donated large sums of money to the University. There were no rules, job description, or chain of command, du Pont controlled the program, and took credit for Shultz accomplishments, (winning Olympic and World wrestling championships).
du Pont presented himself as a philanthropist, when behind closed doors he was a cunning manipulator, with an enormous ego and sense of entitlement. "The guy was a disaster" Shultz recalled. Having a noticeable problem with substance abuse, he looked sickly/un-kept. After two years and many problems, the University declined to be affiliated with du Pont, and the wrestling program closed.
"Foxcatcher" wrestling center opened at du Pont's private estate in the late 1980's. In the following years more championships and impressive wrestling titles were won by both Mark and Dave Shultz. Eventually Dave also accepted a coaching position and worked for du Pont.
Dave really cared and tried to help du Pont: eventually du Pont's behavior became increasingly erratic and highly unstable. He waved an assault rifle at staff, was convinced there were transmitters in the gym/equipment and ordered walls of his mansion to be X-rayed. He communicated with rocks, hired psychics, and declared there were Nazi spies in the treetops surrounding his estate. In response to various police reports du Pont was deemed "eccentric" by local authorities, but no threat/danger to anyone.
Shultz wrote that du Pont enjoyed testing people to see if they would go against their judgment and principals for money, and regrets not trusting his intuition/gut instinct to not work for du Pont. It is really unfortunate that du Pont with all his wealth, couldn't get the obvious psychological help and intervention he desperately needed. Unless a reader is a wrestling sports fan, much of the story isn't as interesting as the narration about du Pont, injected throughout the book. I was surprised to read briefly Shultz had a wife and family (he lost to divorce), he didn't mention if he continued in his Mormon faith, nor much of the aftermath following this family tragedy. This is such a sad story, deepest sympathy to this family. Several pages of great photo's are included.
November 15, 2017
I’ve been reading this assignment for a grade in my English class, but it hasn’t felt like an assignment, because of how interesting and great the memoir is. While reading it, I’ve had trouble putting the book down and in the end fell, asleep in my bed, my face on the open book. I would recommend this book to others who like books of murder and competition.
In the book, Mark Schultz, the author, describes his struggle to go to school, to work, or to even appreciate life because of his family’s financial problems. An additional problem that Schultz faced as he went through high school is that he struggled with being his brother’s shadow. His brother, Dave, became an amazing wrestler the moment he knew how to fight back.
The first half of the memoir is about how Mark struggled but managed to work his way to the top. I really like books about self-progression and getting better and better, so this naturally stood out and intrigued me. I also really liked how it didn’t just say to work long and hard. One quote that I really like is, “To be successful in an area, you have to respect the people who are successful in that area, or you are disrespecting the very thing that you want to become.” You should respect those who are trying to help you, and I that really stood out to me. Unless you really don’t like reading about getting better, you probably shouldn’t read this. You will most likely be uninterested throughout the majority of the book.
If you enjoy reading about reading inspiring stories about improving one self and competitions, then you should read Foxcatcher. It’s a really good book, and the wrestling competitions are described really well and keeps the reader interested. In chapter 7, there is a really good paragraph about his national competition. Mark says, “I made a stupid move on an attempted throw almost two minutes into the match, and Ed caught me and scored on a take-down and a near fall to put me behind 4-0 . . . I lifted Ed off the mat by kneeing him in the inside thigh near his groin, then turned to the side and threw him on his back. I held Ed on his back for two seconds and scored four points to lead 6-5 after the first period.” There’s more to that round, but I just really like how he worded and described the fight. There’s a paragraph previous to this about how he was rather die than lose this match, which was another thing that Mark Schultz made stand out.
Again, if you are even remotely interested in the topics of this memoir, you should really consider reading it, because it is a great read.
In the book, Mark Schultz, the author, describes his struggle to go to school, to work, or to even appreciate life because of his family’s financial problems. An additional problem that Schultz faced as he went through high school is that he struggled with being his brother’s shadow. His brother, Dave, became an amazing wrestler the moment he knew how to fight back.
The first half of the memoir is about how Mark struggled but managed to work his way to the top. I really like books about self-progression and getting better and better, so this naturally stood out and intrigued me. I also really liked how it didn’t just say to work long and hard. One quote that I really like is, “To be successful in an area, you have to respect the people who are successful in that area, or you are disrespecting the very thing that you want to become.” You should respect those who are trying to help you, and I that really stood out to me. Unless you really don’t like reading about getting better, you probably shouldn’t read this. You will most likely be uninterested throughout the majority of the book.
If you enjoy reading about reading inspiring stories about improving one self and competitions, then you should read Foxcatcher. It’s a really good book, and the wrestling competitions are described really well and keeps the reader interested. In chapter 7, there is a really good paragraph about his national competition. Mark says, “I made a stupid move on an attempted throw almost two minutes into the match, and Ed caught me and scored on a take-down and a near fall to put me behind 4-0 . . . I lifted Ed off the mat by kneeing him in the inside thigh near his groin, then turned to the side and threw him on his back. I held Ed on his back for two seconds and scored four points to lead 6-5 after the first period.” There’s more to that round, but I just really like how he worded and described the fight. There’s a paragraph previous to this about how he was rather die than lose this match, which was another thing that Mark Schultz made stand out.
Again, if you are even remotely interested in the topics of this memoir, you should really consider reading it, because it is a great read.
February 3, 2015
When I saw some of the reviews for this book, I was a little afraid.
However, I found that I quite enjoyed this book.
I will agree with one statement in some of the reviews I found. This is really the story of Mark Schultz and his life. It is more of an autobiography then anything else. Yes, Dave's murder is talked about in this book, but it isn't the entire story. We get to learn about what life was like for Mark Schultz.
I thought that Schultz was really fair and honest. I thought that this written word was written in the plain truth. He just told the story the way it was. You could tell from the way that Schultz talked about Dave that he was everything to him whether it was a brother, a teacher, a coach, or a parent. That was what really got me about this book. It was the way that Mark talked about his brother. It was obvious that the two brothers were really close with each other.
I really wanted to see the movie, and so in looking at the movie, I found the book. I thought that it was really good and I quite enjoyed the book. I thought that Mark Schultz did a great job telling the story and I really loved two things. Those things were his honesty and the way that he talked about his brother. If you are interested or intrigued by the story of Mark and Dave Schultz, I suggest you give this book a try.
However, I found that I quite enjoyed this book.
I will agree with one statement in some of the reviews I found. This is really the story of Mark Schultz and his life. It is more of an autobiography then anything else. Yes, Dave's murder is talked about in this book, but it isn't the entire story. We get to learn about what life was like for Mark Schultz.
I thought that Schultz was really fair and honest. I thought that this written word was written in the plain truth. He just told the story the way it was. You could tell from the way that Schultz talked about Dave that he was everything to him whether it was a brother, a teacher, a coach, or a parent. That was what really got me about this book. It was the way that Mark talked about his brother. It was obvious that the two brothers were really close with each other.
I really wanted to see the movie, and so in looking at the movie, I found the book. I thought that it was really good and I quite enjoyed the book. I thought that Mark Schultz did a great job telling the story and I really loved two things. Those things were his honesty and the way that he talked about his brother. If you are interested or intrigued by the story of Mark and Dave Schultz, I suggest you give this book a try.
March 24, 2017
Most of these critiques are puzzling to me. Why would you buy a book about one of the greatest wrestlers ever, who was murdered by a cowardly, unaccomplished multi-millionaire, written by another one of the greatest wrestlers ever, and expect the book to be about John DuPont? John DuPont was an absolute zero. He wasn't smart, he had no job, he was a terrible athlete, and he had no friends. Sadly, however, John played a fundamental role in the Shultz brothers' legacy, by ending David's life. This book is an inside look at the lives of two of the most decorated United States athletes ever! It's a fantastic read!
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