Evel Knievel: An American Hero (Paperback)

~ (Author) "On May 26, 1863, six tired, scared, and haggard prospectors camped near a creek in the Tobacco Root Mountains in what is now Montana..." (more)
Key Phrases: retired stuntman, canyon jump, takeoff ramp, Evel Knievel, Snake River, Grand Canyon (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Evel (n Bobby) Knievel's mother wanted him to be a painter, but the young teenager from Butte, Mont., was too wild and restless for anything so stationary, preferring the rougher pleasures of petty crime, sports and motorcycle riding. This breathlessly earnest biography of the motorcycle stuntman recounts his early days as an insurance salesman who once gained company acclaim for selling 271 policies to the residents of an insane asylum. But Knievel's true calling was to attempt incredibly dangerous feats with motorcycles, and after he won a bar bet by driving a bike over a VW parked on the street, his fate was sealed. Knievel's first act had him jumping two cougars and a box of angry rattlesnakes, and though he actually smashed open the box of snakes, he was encouraged to move on to bigger and better stunts. The number of cars, beginning at 10, kept getting larger, and the consequences of his crashes getting more severe, until 1968, when he attempted to jump over Caesar's Palace Fountains, failed and almost died. Though he did not, as was often claimed afterwards, break every bone in his body, it was probably as much his strange ability to heal and his willingness to reinjure himself as it was his motorcycling abilities that enabled him to continue performing. The desire to jump the Grand Canyon fascinated Knievel, but the federal government thwarted him, forcing him to settle for a crossing of Snake River Canyon in 1974. His rocket/motorcycle contraption malfunctioned, causing him to parachute into the river. Knievel emerged unscathed, but his career went the way of the bike, leaving him with a jail term for beating up a writer, massive liver failure and the exploits of his son Robbie to contemplate in his later years. Pictures not seen by PW. (Nov.)

Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

During the 1970s and early 1980s, Evel Knievel was a world-renowned motorcycle showman and daredevil whose performance jumps, both successful and unsuccessful, were seen by millions in person or on television. Some jumps seemed outlandish or suicidal, such as ones over Las Vegas's Caesar's Palace fountains or the aborted leap of Idaho's Snake River Canyon, but these also characterized Knievel's showmanship, promotional talent, and unceasing drive to test limits and challenge risk. That he survives today after numerous body-wrenching crashes is testimony not only to good fortune but also to his tenacity and mysterious strength of will. Collins's well-written account is largely admiring of Knievel and the physical and character traits that propelled him through his unique career, yet it is also honest and critical about the performer's personal problems and failings. What clearly shows is a life lived on the edge, in constant challenge and defiance of the oddsAa life that has somehow triumphed over those frequently long odds. A good bet for public libraries.ADavid B. Van De Streek, Pennsylvania State Univ. Libs., York de Gaulle Anthonioz, Genevi?ve.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (November 4, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312267339
• ISBN-13: 978-0312267339
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,471,702 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Vapid puff piece, March 20, 2000

By	Andrew Milner "reviewer" (Bryn Mawr, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Evel Knievel: An American Hero (Hardcover)

Nobody's demanding Boswell's Life of Johnson here, but Collins has fashioned a hazily-remembered, lazily-written biography of one of the 1970s most singular public figures. Where's the index or bibliography? Where's the list of sources? Who proofread this book (the word "athlete" is misspelled -- on the back cover, yet!)? I never thought I'd utter this phrase in public, but: Evel Knievel deserves better.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Even if you like Knievel, you won't like this book!, July 8, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Evel Knievel: An American Hero (Hardcover)

I agree with a previous reviewer who said this was a completely lazily-written book. Whether or not you approve of Evel's behavior, his life was anything but boring. Yet the tedious and poor writing style of this author tells Knievel's story in a way that's about as interesting as reading the White Pages upside down. It's unbelievable that a national publisher would print a book this sloppy. In addition to being poorly-written, it appears as though no one even proofread it. Repetition and typos abound. And it seems to be based on not much more than re-hashed facts from a few feature articles written about Knievel in big magazines in the 1970s (and maybe the foggy recollection of the hokey Evel Knievel biopic from 1971). Grammatically, this is possibly the most poorly-written book I have read in my adult life. As far as telling a story in general, it gets even worse marks. I can't believe someone got paid to write this. It really is THAT bad. And I LIKE Evel Knievel!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars But the PICTURES are good!, December 6, 2007

By	Insight (Midwest) - See all my reviews

The biography is detailed, interesting, and there are many pictures. I don't know what "lazy writing" means, but my focus was on the man, not the author.

Clearly Evel knew his faults, but he found a way to make a living knowing his physical health would suffer and he'd be in pain for the rest of his life. His last stunt was taking a baseball bat to his promoter, who was also his lawyer, a mistake he would regret for the rest of his life. (The lawyer is going after what remains of Evel's estate.)