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Evel: The High-Flying Life of Evel Knievel: American Showman, Daredevil, and Legend, by Leigh Montville
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Review
“[EVEL] goes beyond the action-figure image, painting Knievel in all his contradictions....Now, in Montville’s capable hands, Knievel soars again in all his profane, self-deluded glory.” – Sports Illustrated“In the late 1960s and early 1970s…the coolest man on earth was Evel Knievel….Leigh Montville brings him vividly back in an outlandishly entertaining new biography.” New York Post“If Knievel lived ‘as if his pants were on fire,’ then his biographer writes like a house on fire…in describing the complex, contradictory stuntman’s battles with the demons that would ultimately destroy him, [Montville] pulls out all the stops.” – The Free Lance-Star “In Evel [Leigh Montville] writes in a florid high style, as if pulling a wheelie across every page. This can be smart, rowdy fun. Mr. Montville tacks the young Knievel to the wall, wonderfully.…He catches the way the wingspans of Knievel’s jacket collars were the ‘same as a good-size pterodactyl…Evel is never dull.” – New York Times“If you were a young boy, like I was, in the summer of 1974, you talked about two things: Evel Knievel…and Hank Aaron…I hadn’t thought much about Evel Knievel in the intervening 35 years until I picked up Leigh Montville’s awesome new biography…you’ll love Montville’s rollicking good tale—told with an Irishman’s wink and a nod—of how Knievel blazed across the American consciousness in the late 60’s and early 70s….Montville nails it just right.” -- The Hollywood Reporter “Montville fully imparts that sense of danger as well as Knievel’s mixture of singularly unpleasant personalities—thief, drunkard, brawler, extortionist, womanizer, snake-oil salesman, all-purpose con man—that somehow only enhance the legend. In the end, readers probably will not love or even like Knievel, but they’ll know the seamier side of the American dream that much better.” Booklist "Bestselling author and veteran sports columnist Montville (The Mysterious Montague: A True Tale of Hollywood, Golf, and Armed Robbery, 2008, etc.) points to the first biography of flamboyant risk-taker Robert Craig Knievel (1938–2007) as a cheaply commissioned, “cockeyed” screenplay (George Hamilton starred, angling for a career revival) based on “a collection of tall tales designed by the man himself to make people perk up and pay attention.” It was 1971, and while the film critically tanked, the publicity skyrocketed Knievel’s his popularity. Montville’s version ably describes his childhood raised by his grandparents in depression-era Butte, Mont., and then as a young, street-educated loner and general troublemaker. Greatly entertaining and anecdotal, the narrative covers the controversial aspects of the high flier’s history, tracking Knievel’s fearlessness as record-breaking smaller motorcycle tricks gave way to power-tripping death-wish jumps marked by countless broken bones, hospitalizations and even a coma—all observed by wife Linda and their three children. Whether cruising the talk-show circuit in a zebra-striped leisure suit, crashing onto the pavement at Caesar’s Palace or serving six months in jail for assaulting an event promoter, Knievel consistently treated his adoring (often aghast) fan base to reckless extravaganzas, increasingly perilous stunts and erratic, unbecoming behavior. Montville confidently narrates Knievel’s daredevilry with characteristic panache and presents his subject as a “one man ethical dilemma” who spent the bulk of his career testing the limits of his physical prowess with an unquenchable thirst for fame and fortune. A biography as sensationalist and superior as the daredevil himself." --Kirkus--Previous Praise for Leigh Montville--“[Ted Williams is] the complete package—a triumph, unreservedly the best biography of this larger-than-life American.”—Boston Globe “It is unlikely that any reader could view Ted Williams as just a ballplayer ever again.”—New York Times Book Review“[At the Altar of Speed is]…both a tribute and a candid look at [Dale] Earnhardt. [Montville] has succeeded wonderfully.”—San Antonio Express“Montville’s solid reporting is augmented by a whimsical style that weaves Earnhardt’s life, racing career, business ventures, and impact on racing fans into a rich tapestry of racing. The book delivers.”—Times Daily “[A] vivid, intimate account. Montville’s unique voice…makes old yarns seem new.”—Sports Illustrated “Montville is a wonderful storyteller and Ruth’s story, from Baltimore street urchin to international celebrity is indisputably amazing…a fascinating tale, alternately happy and sad, and always artfully written.”—Chicago Tribune
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About the Author
Three-time New York Times bestselling author LEIGH MONTVILLE is a former columnist at the Boston Globe and former senior writer at Sports Illustrated. He is the author of The Mysterious Montague, The Big Bam, Ted Williams, At the Altar of Speed, Manute, and Why Not Us? He lives in Boston.
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Product details
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Doubleday (April 26, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385527454
ISBN-13: 978-0385527453
Product Dimensions:
6.4 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.5 out of 5 stars
61 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#158,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
I read this book in hardcopy when first published, and just finished listening to the Audible version. My takeaway is that this is a really interesting biography marred only slightly by the writer’s tendency to sometimes insert too much of his own personality and opinions into what appear to otherwise be accurate reporting of historical events.For anyone who was a kid in the 70s and remembers the cultural phenomenon that was Evel Knievel, this biography offers an exhaustive look inside how that personage was created, and the forces that ultimately lead to the character’s downfall.A few reviews on this site accuse the book of being a character assassination. I don’t agree with that. Most of the events described have a ring of well researched truth. The only problem I had is that the writer tends to phrase things in a slightly snarky way, poking fun at Knievel’s expense. He may in fact be an easy target but that constant hint of sarcasm in the telling of events makes the tale seem a little less unbiased than it would have otherwise.The author also, while generally writing in a very engaging and lively style, has a tendency to insert himself into the narrative through an over use of cutesy phrasing. For example, when recounting a personal event in Evel’s life, he will write along these lines “Maybe he was at a bar in Phoenix. Maybe someplace else.†On the surface that sounds like sloppy research, however I got the feeling the author knew exactly where events happened, and was trying to make the point that it was a repeated behavior that could have happened anywhere. A writing device like that is fine used once. In this book it is used over, and over, and over - to the point I found it a little disruptive to the narrative. The author clearly knows where events happened (or should know).Final note: this book is packed with fantastic research, anecdotes and information. But even at its great length it doesn’t have everything I remember about Evel simply from being alive in the 1970s. Some examples of things I remember that were not mentioned include a proposed weekly half hour prime time fictional TV show, with an actor playing Evel who would be involved in weekly adventures and jumps. This got as far as being cast and a pilot being made. I don’t know if the film still exists but I remember seeing the pilot broadcast on the network, probably in the summer of 1975, as part of a series of unsold TV pilots they aired once to fill space that summer.Not in the book but worth mentioning is also the Saturday morning cartoon “Devlin†which was clearly inspired by Evel Knievel, and what Evel thought about it. And finally, how the top rated TV show Happy Days used Fonzie to parody Knievel’s exploits, not once but twice. Best remembered today is Fonzie’s infamous shark jump. But prior to that, there was a two part Happy Days where Fonzie tried to set a world record by jumping his motorcycle over garbage cans. In true Knievel style he cleared the cans but crashed on the landing ramp and was hospitalized. And in a wicked spot-on Knievel parody, when the father on Happy Days offers to drive the injured Fonz to the hospital in the family station wagon, Fonzie says (I am paraphrasing from a 40 year old memory of the original broadcast): “No, not in a station wagon. I want to go in an ambulance, with flashing lights, and big windows so I can wave to my fans...â€
This book was very well written. Even when it got into the technical description and Engineering of things it was still easy to follow and still kept the reader's interest. This is a must-have for everybody who loved Evel Knievel. Makes you want to go back and revisit the 70s for sure.
If Evel was half as bad as described here (there are two sides to every story), then he was still about six clicks beyond textbook narcissist. Except for the pain and strife he caused those close to him, I don't begrudge him this. To do what he did a person has to be a little, no, ALOT whacked. I guess in the measure of a life you have to look at the enjoyment he brought to the larger audience who never met him personally. We spent many hours as kids jumping our banana-seated, monkey-barred bicycles, trying to emulate the version of Evel we'd see that afternoon on Wide World of Sports. Those were golden days. Thank you Leigh Montville for writing a splendid book that allows us to revisit that era.
This book tells about the famous daredevil, Evel Knievel. And it is every bit as colorful, as the man you would see on TV performing some of his death defying tricks. It was entertaining at times and insightful! Warning: There is a lot of obscenity
This is one of the BEST biographies I have ever read, and I've read many. You do not have to be a sports fan or a fan of Evel Knievel. It was entertaining and fascinating, from beginning to end, which I think is rare in a biography. Better than biographies of Jim Morrison or Mick Jagger, or just about any entertainer. What surprised me were the stories from his early days, before he became famous, which can sometimes make the beginning of a story kind of drag, but the whole book was fascinating. Couldn't put it down. Whether you loved or hated him, he was truly an American original. Leigh Montville tells a story like nobody else can.
Having lived during and witnessing Evel's glory days on ABC's Wide World of Sports, his bizarro attempt with bizarro attention given to it to jump the Snake River Canyon and also seeing his sad and quick fall from celebrity to broke background noise I found this book a great read. The author calls it the way I remember it with lots of fleshing out and interesting stories to paint a very complete picture of Mr Robert "Evel" Knievel.Though not explicitly asked of the reader, I believe this book requests the contemplation of what such a person/act like Knievel rising to such fame says about American society and culture. Unless I'm over analyzing but I dont think I am.My only quibble? How can the tale of Evel jumping over a tank of sharks be told, with no mention of the greatest shark jumper of them all (The Fonz) being made?!?!?!
This is a surprisingly well presented tale about one of Butte's strange people. Leigh Montville has fashioned a really interesting tale about the life of Kneivel. Little seems to have been invented to make the book such a good read. I recognize the 50's, 60's in Butte and only just discovered the rest of Evel's adventures in the wider world. I enjoyed this presentation and was surprised to learn that I did.A friend mentioned one name in this book, moments later Amazon had found the book and loaded it to my Kindle. It is a good read!
Great read that tells much of not just the daredevil and public persona, but also of the man behind the scenes.
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