The True Gift of Jericho : : No Is a Four Letter Word Book Review

The True Gift of Jericho : : No Is a Four Letter Word Book Review

When I was offered the task of writing a book review on ‘No Is a Four Letter Word’ by Chris Jericho, on all fronts, I was excited to open the book. The title and cover are enticing in and of itself, but any book written by a wrestler is something I can’t say no to.

Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ‘No Is a Four Letter Word’ has a motivational focus. Through 20 chapters and an epilogue, Jericho provides his audience or ‘constant reader’ as he likes to call them with valuable insight into lessons that will undoubtedly help you in your life.

Jericho has achieved greatness within WWE alone with 26 Championship wins, excluding tournaments and awards. Through his word as the lead singer of Fozzy, Jericho has helped create and release six studio albums, many of the songs having been extremely successful for them. With the incredible Talk Is Jericho podcast now taking off, Jericho is divulging deeper into his work as a published author. This is his fourth book, following ‘A Lion’s Tale: Around the World in Spandex,’ ‘Undisputed: How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps’ and ‘The Best In The World… At What I Have No Idea.’

By this point, it is safe to assume Jericho knows what he is doing when it comes to putting the proverbial pen to paper or given the modern standard, fingers to keyboard. The structure in and of itself is an interesting, yet powerful choice. The former 9 time Intercontinental Champion focuses every chapter on a certain lesson that you can apply to your life. He then relates it to how he has used it in his own life for both his time in WWE and working with Fozzy. I couldn’t be happier with his decision to do so. For every point, he gave serious context and that should be applauded.

There are twenty principles, listed (in order) as the following:

• The Mike Damone Principle
• The Jericho Principle
• The Keith Richards Principle
• The Vince McMahon Principle
• The Richard Hayden Principle
• The Negro Casas Principle
• The Yoda Principle
• The Paul Stanley Principle
• The Viv Savage Principle
• The Twelfth Ninja Principle
• The Groundlings Principle
• The Brian Pillman Principle
• The America’s Funniest Home Videos Principle
• The Mike Lozanski Principle
• The Ted Irvine Principle
• The Shep Gordon Principle
• The Ronnie James Dio Principle
• The Gene Simmons Principle
• The Steve Austin Principle
• The Bowie Principle

Something I adored was that Jericho was never afraid to joke about himself, his past and who he is as a person. He was sure of himself, what his goal was and did not wish at any point to deter from it. Before opening the book, I had much respect for him as both a wrestler and a singer (have you heard Fozzy? Incredible!) but leaving, I had that much more.

When we see these people on our screens every Monday night for ‘Raw,’ or every Tuesday night for ‘Smackdown Live,’ we don’t often think about the person behind that character. I learnt a lot about who the real Chris Jericho is. I was introduced to Christopher Irvine. His stories made me laugh, made me well up and made me wonder if he is secretly a Pokémon addict like myself.

Each principle had a focus on something entirely different and the lessons Jericho teaches are extremely valuable and applicable to anyone regardless of who the ‘constant reader’ is. You can find your own personal connection to each principle as he explains them in depth with his own examples taken from his life.

One of the most emotional moments in the book for me was when Jericho spoke fondly of visiting a birthday party for Motörhead singer Lemmy, who passed away soon after Jericho interacted with him there. As my intention is not to spoil the book for those intending on reading it, I won’t go into further details. Pursue those at your own risk. That said, if you do pick up Jericho’s fourth book, you most definitely won’t regret it as stories such as the one I described are incredibly insightful and interesting to hear.

If I took anything away from this book besides appreciating just how smart Jericho is, it is that all of us can always strive to improve ourselves in many ways. From a simple little change in attitude to the way we conduct and stand up for ourselves, this book is a true example of what one should look for in a motivational book.

Regardless of who you are, where you come from or your way of life, you’ll find both fulfilment and enjoyment from this book. I strongly believe you will have your own interpretations of what the principles Jericho lists and your understanding of them will lead you to success.

I’ve sat down for quite some time attempting to find something I found wrong about the book, but I couldn’t. Jericho had a goal when he created this book. He wanted to motivate people through a series of life lessons and that is exactly what he did. He also gave many examples that kept interest from start to the ending, establishing a connection with me and any other person reading the book that kept us wanting more.

To summarize my experience with ‘No Is a Four Letter Word,’ I absolutely loved the book and cannot recommend it enough. Since I am with this book review starting the trend on the website, I’ll rate it a 5/5. Anybody can pick up this book and enjoy and learn from it, regardless of knowing who Jericho is or what he does. I look forward to employing all of the principles in my life.

We can’t suggest picking up this book enough. If you have purchased the book already yourself, how are you enjoying it? Has this review gave you any incentive to purchase the book?

Let us know in the comments below or over on our Facebook page or Twitter account. Additionally, you can find me on Twitter at @SOSNH1995. We also want to remind you that we have a Newsletter you can sign up to. This will allow us to send you the best news in one place via an email. We also have the Wrestling Rumors app that we encourage you all to download to get updates faster than they release on our various pages. It is available on Android and iOS devices.