What If I Had Never Tried It: The Autobiography [Import] [Hardcover]

Valentino Rossi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 27, 2005

The life story of the world’s greatest motorcycle rider — five-time-winner of the World Championships and one of the superstars of the sporting world — his post race antics and cheeky personality have won him as many fans as his on-track prowess.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Sport Rider, July 2006

“With his huge celebrity status, there have been the inevitable countless rumors and suppositions on Rossi and what makes him tick. This autobiography basically allows you to cut through most of that and see all sides of him … an entertaining read for any racing fan.”

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

About the Author

Valentino Rossi was born on February 16th 1979 in Urbino, Italy. He won his first GP aged 17, his first world title at 18 and his first MotoGP at 22. He currently rides for Yamaha and his main residence is in central London. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Century (September 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844138801
• ISBN-13: 978-1844138807
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,925,836 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rossi De-constructs the Methods to His Winning Ways, January 2, 2007

By 

Eric Sampson (Wayne, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What If I Had Never Tried It: The Autobiography (Hardcover)

The people that wrote the previous reviews are probably not hardcore motorcyclists or competitors, therefore I am dismissing what negativity they have to say about this book. So I challenge each of you to read it for yourself and draw your own conclusions, but these are my thoughts on it.
This book is an insite to the start of Rossi's career and family as well as his evolution to becoming a champion. All too often people will say that "it's easy for him" or "he doesn't have to work that hard at winning" when the truth is that his choices, his decisions and his methods are what allowed him to develop into a champion.
As a professional motorcycle racer and competitor (who has won amatuer roadracing championships) I found this book incredibly enthralling and motivating to the point that many times I had a tough time putting it down. Rossi's story about his coming of age, challenges and decisions can also be applied to nearly any area of your life. It's all about making the right decisions and surrounding yourself with the right people; the ones that have the ability to help you become successful. It's about facing challenges in the face of adversity and overcoming them. It's about bucking the naysayers and coming out on top. Rossi (and his co-author) put a lot a emotion into the book and you can practically hear him speaking in his broken english as you read the book.
I found this book to be a worthwhile read, and while the ending did leave a bit to be desired it was still phenomonal. It might have also been that I wanted to read more or it might also be because his legacy is yet to come to an end. Regardless though, it is an excellent inflection to his life and times.
This book is an insite to a world champion racer who has worked very hard to get where he is. I highly reccomend it to anyone who is looking for motivation or insite as to what makes a champion tick.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Motogenius indeed, October 19, 2005

By 

Paul D. Nguyen "motogenius46" (S. Cali USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What If I Had Never Tried It: The Autobiography (Hardcover)

I'm not actually even finished with the book yet (50 - 60 pages to go) but I had to write in and say that this is an amazing book. It's really good to read about Rossi's detailed feelings about the companies he has won championships for and about companies who he was thinking of moving to and companies that he started off with. He goes into a good amount of detail about the things that mean a lot to him and definitely clears some things up if you might have lingering questions. I'd recommend this to any Rossi fan... then again, if you're a Rossi fan, you should already own this book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars really good book, March 19, 2007

By 

sherri (Australia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What If I Had Never Tried It: The Autobiography (Hardcover)

Really interesting and well written. I read this ages ago and finally got around to doing a review. I'm not really a race fan but I love a well written autobiography and in the wide realm of sports biographies and autobiographies, this one is outstanding. Even if you arn't into sport. The book is easy reading and the writer uses a chatty, conversational style throughout. I'd recommend it to anyone just as a good autobiography, regardless if they knew who rossi was or not.