Evel Knievel: An American Hero

Rating:
Summary: Even if you like Knievel, you won't like this book!
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: Should have named himself "Conceded Knievel"
Review: I can't say the writing is bad, just the subject. An American Hero ? A womenizing, boozing, petty thief and con-man a hero, I don't think so, probably a fun guy to hang out with.. but no hero.

Rating:
Summary: Vapid puff piece
Review: 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.