Cue the Rocky Music - Kunda Mike Kunda, Kunda Mike Kunda
Since Goodreads doesn't allow for half-stars, just wanted to note that I'd give this 3 1/2.The first time I visited Philadelphia I made a point of seeking out the Rocky statue and steps. I know, we're talking about a town once noted as the seat of American politics, a city that might have become our nation's capital, the final resting place of Ben Franklin and birthplace of Larry Fine, and where do I want to go first besides the Liberty Bell? I won't apologize for having a Rocky fetish, ever.I've talked about it on my blog before. Every time the Rocky movie marathon shows on Spike or TBS or G4 or whatever, we're watching it. I can't quite quote lines yet, but for some reason the movies never get old. Seems, too, hubby and I find something new to talk about with each viewing, and we cringe at the same moments. Years later I still can't watch the scene in IV where Apollo gets knocked out for good (sorry for spoiling it), and it could take weeks after watching III when we finally cease predicting "pain" for every event in our lives.This past April at the Philadelphia Book Festival I didn't see any pain, but I sure as hell saw a lot of rain. I don't mean a spring shower, I'm talking miserable gray sheets of ice cold wet. Luckily we had a number of warm bodies in our booth for support, but the weather kept me from browsing the rest of the fair. I did, however, glimpse one author dressed in Rocky street garb, hawking his book.Luck would have it, Mike Kunda's Cue the Rocky Music was available on Kindle, so I downloaded it that evening. I finished it this evening, and I will report that I found the story engaging. Music is basically a memoir of growing up in 70s-80s Scranton, and Rocky/Stallone's influence on Kunda's adolescence and adulthood. The story cuts between a more recent participation in a Rocky look-alike contest to corresponding stories of his childhood, and the narrative is relayed with down to earth frankness. Having grown up around the same time period, I find I can relate to much of what Kunda has to say, though the westside of Jacksonville is hardly "Scran'in."The latter half of the book chronicles Kunda's numerous brushes with greatness - it's almost cosmic how his path crosses with Stallone's over time. Yet I can relate to how Kunda talks about the sense of community among Stallone fans and how people can unite in friendship under a common appreciation. Definitely if you have a special place for Rocky Balboa in your heart, I think you'll like this one.