Evel
The High-Flying Life of Evel Knievel: American Showman, Daredevil, and Legend
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Evel
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Narrated by:
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Danny Campbell
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By:
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Leigh Montville
About this listen
From New York Times bestselling author Leigh Montville, this riveting and definitive new biography pulls back the red, white, and blue cape on a cultural icon—and reveals the unknown, complex, and controversial man known to millions around the world as Evel Knievel.
Evel Knievel was a high-flying daredevil, the father of extreme sports, the personification of excitement and danger and showmanship . . . and in the 1970s Knievel represented a unique slice of American culture and patriotism. His jump over the fountains at Caesar’s Palace led to a crash unlike anything ever seen on television, and his attempt to rocket over Snake River Canyon in Idaho was something only P. T. Barnum could have orchestrated. The dazzling motorcycles and red-white-and-blue outfits became an integral part of an American decade. Knievel looked like Elvis . . . but on any given Saturday afternoon millions tuned in to the small screen to see this real-life action hero tempt death.
But behind the flash and the frenzy, who was the man? Bestselling author Leigh Montville masterfully explores the life of the complicated man from the small town of Butte, Montana. He delves into Knievel’s amazing place in pop culture, as well as his notorious dark side—and his complex and often contradictory relationships with his image, the media, his own family, and his many demons. Evel Knievel’s story is an all-American saga, and one that is largely untold. Leigh Montville once again delivers a definitive biography of a one-of-a-kind sports legend.
©2011 Leigh Montville (P)2011 Random HouseCritic Reviews
“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)
“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)
“[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)