Blog Post #37: Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me Review

Hi everyone! I hope you all have been doing well. I just realized that it’s been almost a year since I’ve updated this blog! I’m really excited to start posting again.

This review is about another good one! I just finished reading Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me by none other than the Karate Kid himself, Ralph Macchio! With Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me, readers are transported back into the world of this iconic film franchise as he goes into detail about how it came to be and discusses the life-changing experience of taking on Daniel LaRusso’s character.

You’ll read about things like how “LaRusso” wasn’t actually the initial choice for Daniel’s last name, the ways Mr. Miyagi’s values/lessons have applied to Macchio’s actual life, and some ludicrous ideas people presented to him in an effort to continue the Karate Kid‘s storyline before the smash-hit spin-off series, Cobra Kai, ultimately materialized.

As a reader/fan, I also admired Macchio’s honesty pertaining to certain things. Throughout, he further reveals facing lulls in his career that followed the massive success he had during the ’80s and long-term frustration with being typecast. I’ve mentioned this before, but I always appreciate people’s openness about not-so-great circumstances/moments that they’ve experienced in their lives (whether these circumstances/moments were because of their own doing or not) and how they chose to respond to them.

I received this novel as a Christmas gift and, being a huge fan of both The Karate Kid franchise (I’ve watched The Karate Kid Part II more times than I can count) as well as Cobra Kai, I couldn’t wait to dive in. After finishing it, my first thought was: “I want more!” Overall, if you are as big a fan as I am, Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me won’t disappoint.