Joe Layden Books In Order
Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
Thin Ice: The Complete, Uncensored Story of Tonya Harding | (1994) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
40 Minutes of Hell | (1994) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Great American Baseball Strike | (1995) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Steve Young | (1995) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Deion Sanders | (1995) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
USA Basketball | (1996) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Caesar's Palace: The Complete Guide To Gaming | (1997) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Rising Stars of the NBA | (1997) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Champions | (1997) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Women In Sports: The Complete Book On The World's Greatest Female Athletes | (1997) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
All the Rage: The Life of an NFL Renegade | (1997) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
NBA Slam & Jam Map Skills | (1997) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
NBA Game Day | (1997) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Meet the Los Angeles Lakers | (1997) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Home Run Heroes!: Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa | (1998) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Art of Magic: The Companion to the PBS Special | (1998) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Against the Odds | (1998) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Kobe: The Story of the NBA's Rising Young Star Kobe Bryant | (1998) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Rock Says... | (1999) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
NBA Hot Shots | (1999) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Inside the WNBA: A Behind the Scenes Photo Scrapbook | (1999) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Superstars of U.S.A. Women's Soccer: Women Athletes of the 2000 Olympics | (2000) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
NBA Up & Coming: Stars of the New Millennium | (2000) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
NBA Rising Stars: Profiles of the Up and Coming Stars | (2000) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Superstars of USA Women's Gymnastics: Women Athletes of the 2000 Olympics | (2000) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Superstars of USA Women's Basketball: Women Athletes of the 2000 Olympics | (2000) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
WWF WrestleMania: The Official Insider's Story | (2001) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
To the Xtreme | (2001) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
No Limits: Burton Snowboards' Pro Riders | (2001) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Xtreme Sports: Fast Track | (2002) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
More to the Xtreme: Daredevil Athletes | (2002) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Smile as Big as the Moon: A Special Education Teacher, His Class, and Their Inspiring Journey Through U.S. Space Camp | (2002) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Get a Grip: A Take-Charge Approach to Living with Arthritis | (2002) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
All About Apolo | (2002) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Street Justice | (2002) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Home Before Daylight: My Life on the Road with the Grateful Dead | (2003) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Xtreme Sports: Summer | (2003) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
National Football League: Behind the Scenes | (2003) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale | (2003) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Heart of the Matter: The Three Key Breakthroughs to Preventing Heart Attacks | (2003) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
National Football League Super Bowl: Inside the World's Greatest Game | (2004) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Megastars: 2006 National Football League | (2006) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
NFL Super Bowl Super Touchdowns | (2006) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Building Leaders the West Point Way: Ten Principles from the Nation's Most Powerful Leadership Lab | (2007) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Last Great Fight: The Extraordinary Tale of Two Men and How One Fight Changed Their Lives Forever | (2007) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Warrior King: The Triumph and Betrayal of an American Commander in Iraq | (2008) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir | (2010) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
No Regrets: A Rock 'n' Roll Memoir | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Living with Honor: A Memoir | (2012) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Warrior's Heart: The True Story of Life Before and Beyond The Fighter | (2012) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Ghost Horse: A True Story of Love, Death, and Redemption | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Mind of the Demon: A Memoir of Motocross, Madness, and the Metal Mulisha | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Rise: A Soldier, a Dream, and a Promise Kept | (2014) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride | (2014) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Running with the Devil: Managing Van Halen Straight to the Top | (2017) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Incredible True Story of Blondy Baruti: My Unlikely Journey from The Congo to Hollywood | (2018) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
God and Starbucks: An NBA Superstar's Journey Through Addiction and Recovery | (2018) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid | (2020) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Warrior Dog: The True Story of a Navy SEAL and His Fearless Canine Partner | (2022) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
No Ordinary Dog is based on Warrior Dog, adapted for younger readers. |
Joe Layden
Starting in the year 1994, Joe Layden has written or co-authored a lot of books, many of which surveys for young adult readers or sports biographies. He is a New York Times bestselling co author and award winning journalist.
Layden began on the darker side of sports writing, by writing a biography of Tonya Harding in 1994. Then the next year he penned “Domestic Violence”, which was aimed at educating middle school students, but it also had a sports connection, using the O. J. Simpson trial as its thematic hook.
In 2001, he helped Dave Mustaine, guitarist and vocalist of Megadeth, write his autobiography, called “Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir”.
Starting in 2002, Joe moved away from sports and began covering such topics like living with arthritis, inspirational teachers and their classes, and the Grateful Dead.
“Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir” is a non-fiction book that was released in 2001. Founding member, lead guitarist, and singer of Megadeth and original guitarist for Metallica shares the unvarnished and ultimate story behind his involvement in the rise of two of the most influential heavy metal bands in all of history.
Dave Mustaine will be the first to admit that he is bottomed out just a few times in his twisted and dark speed metal version of a Dickensian life. From his soul crushing professional and artistic setbacks to his fight with addiction, Dave has hit rock bottom multiple times. April of 1983 was by far his lowest point, when he got unceremoniously fired from Metallica for hard partying. However what appeared to be the end of all of it was jus the start for this guitarist.
After he parted with Metallica, Dave went on to become the singer, songwriter, front man, guitarist (not to mention de facto CEO) for Megadeth, one of the most successful metal bands in the whole world. A pioneer of the thrash metal movement, Megadeth rose to international fame during the 80s and has since gone on to earn seven consecutive Grammy nominations for Best Metal Performance.
In this outrageously candid memoir, one of heavy metal’s most iconic figures gives an insider’s glimpse into the sordid and loud world of thrash metal: with all the sex, drugs, and rock n roll included.
“Street Justice” is a non-fiction book that was released in 2003. From celebrity bodyguard to Hells Angel. From the set of “Oz” to the streets of Brooklyn. A revealing autobiography about an American man.
Chuck Zito comes by his reputation honestly as being one of the most uncompromising and toughest men to ever sit astride a Harley. Now, with stories both truthful and violent, chilling and hilarious, Chuck tells his life story in his own words.
From growing up on the mean streets of the Bronx and Brooklyn where fighting was a way of life, to becoming president of the New York branch of the Hells Angels, and on to the wild and crazy life of protecting some of the biggest celebrities, Chuck may be seen as a latter-day outlaw, the last of this dying breed of men.
However throughout his tempestuous days, one single thing has defined him: his unfailing sense of justice, of what is actually wrong and what is right. This is how Zito found himself facing his largest challenge: refusing to cooperate with a federal investigation into his Hells Angels brothers, and in the process losing the single thing that he cherished most. His freedom.
Chuck’s astonishing recovery from such an experience, and the unique sort of stardom that he forged based upon sheer will and hard work, is quite the testament to his ambition, courage, and his indomitable heart. It’s a testament now recorded unflinchingly in this book.
“The Last Great Fight: The Extraordinary Tale of Two Men and How One Fight Changed Their Lives Forever” is a non-fiction book that was released in 2007. Wonderfully written and meticulously researched, this is the untold story about one legendary fight and the two warriors that would never be the same again.
It’s considered the largest upset in all of history of boxing: James “Buster” Douglas knocked the then undefeated Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson during the tenth round in the year 1990 when the intimidating and dominating Iron Mike was considered invincible.
“The Last Great Fight” takes the reader not just behind the scenes of such an epic battle, but also inside the lives of these two men, their ambitions, dreams, the downfall of one fighter and the rise of another.
Using his exclusive interviews with both boxers Douglas and Tyson, the referee, members of their families, the cutmen, managers, trainers, to the commentators and HBO staff that covered the fight in Tokyo, Joe has created a human drama that was played out on a huge stage. And he delivers a compelling story about shattered dreams, and (ultimately) redemption.
“The Ghost Horse: A True Story of Love, Death, and Redemption” is a non-fiction book that was released in 2013. Joe Layden, in “The Ghost Horse”, tells an inspiring true story about Tim Snyder (a club-footed, one eyed thoroughbred racehorse and a journeyman trainer) that scraped together every penny that he had in order to buy the unwanted and broken filly.
Tim helped this horse overcome all of its deficiencies, eventually naming her in part after Lisa, his late wife, and the only and great love of his life. She was a sweet tempered and bright woman whose gentle demeanor seemed eerily reflected in this horse.
The trainer, now owner, was by nature a combative and crusty kind, the yin to his wife’s yang, a racetrack lifer not moved easily by sentiment or new age mysticism. Yet during those final days in 2003, while Lisa lay in bed, her body ravaged by cancer, she reassured her family by telling them she’d be back as a horse and would see them again.
Tim Snyder did not believe in reincarnation at all. However he did acknowledge the oddness in this journey, the series of coincidences which brought them all together, and all of the undeniable similarities between his late wife and this horse. And so did those that knew this couple very well, and who could just marvel at the tale of his filly. Lisa’s Booby Trap, and the down-on-his-luck trainer that apparently had been handed a new lease on life.
This is a powerful horseracing tale about second chances and underdogs.
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