4 comments about Heniz - Harold Frentzen: Fast road to success: Back on the Pace (Heroes on Wheels).

1. I've always been a big fan of Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Even though he's 36 this year, he's still one of the top five drivers on the grid. It's unfortunate that he's been in a downward spiral since his shocking dismissal at Jordan in 2001 (Eddie shot himself in the foot!).

   Hilton's book is very complementary of HHF. He gives some insight as to HHF's youth and family life, something that you don't find elsewhere. Hilton interviews a lot of people that have worked closely with Frentzen, including former mechanics, fellow drivers, and team managers. I think you get a good idea of HHF's personality and driving style from Hilton's book. He's truly a gem among F1 drivers, without the selfishness and complaining that you hear from most of them!

   Hilton spends much of the book talking about Michael Schumacher in order to illustrate Frentzen's speed on the track, as well as his laid-back style in the pits. While there aren't any quotes from Schumacher himself, Hilton uses interviews with Alan McNish, Johnny Herbert, and Karl Wendlinger to illustrate his point. Frentzen was always faster than Schumi when they had equal equipment!

   While it has a "cut and paste" quality to it (insert driver's name here), overall, I would recommend it to any F1 fan who wants to know more about one of the truly great drivers in Formula One today.




2. I don't know what the tittle of this book means, but Frentzen is a good pilot. What I don't think is that he's destined with a "fast track to glory"... He's just an average driver, like the rest of them all in F-1 nowadays, ( with the exception of Schumacher ). Hilton always writes this kind of book about drivers ( any drivers !!!! ), maybe for love of sport, maybe for the money ...



3. This book gave me all the statistics that I needed about this wonderful and versatile driver. Hilton has an amazing ability to recognise talent before it happens and he certainly has done so here. The author has managed to find some unpublished photos of this driver and it is enjoyable not to see the same old pictures that everyone else uses!I enjoyed the historical aspects and HHF's rise to glory, however I would have liked more 'in depth' dialogue with the racer himself: His thoughts on winning his first race, his thoughts on his team-mate's horrific accident at Monaco in 1994 and his stormy year with Williams. Perhaps as Frentzen's star rises Hilton will write a sequel and once more we will enjoy his easy, sometimes witty, thoroughly factual style.



4. Mr. Hilton should stop to write cheap bigraphies about any racing drivers and focus only in real sucessful drivers, like he did with Ayrton Senna and Jacques Villeneuve. " Fast track to Glory"? Where? Of course anyone who arrives in F-1 is a very gifted driver, but reading about Frentzen's career adds nothing to an auto-racing fan.

No comments about Dynasties: Legendary Families of Stock Car Racing.

1 comments about Sterling Marlin: The Silver Bullet.

1. As a biography, this is a well-written piece that covers Sterling's life and career from a pro-Sterling perspective. Larry Woody obviously has an affinity for Sterling and his family, which shines through. Providing a bold overview of his career, Woody shows Marlin as the tough, dedicated racer he is and the strong family man that he is, too!

   I'd have liked to have read a bit more detail on Sterling's early career...Woody seems to sweep over the late 70's and early 80's in just a few short pages. Sterling's years at Morgan-McClure and Ganassi are given the most prominence. On the positive note, the book covers all the way through Sterling's injury at Kansas...you can't get much more up-to-date.

   From a design/image perspective, the book is hit-and-miss. It features some awesome early photos of Sterling, both on and away from the track. Plenty of pics of him with the family and from his teen years, which are stellar.
   The on-track shots leave a lot to be desired. Whoever designed the book did not get very high-res photos from the races, so many images of Sterling's rides are blurry, out-of-focus, or just plain awful. Plus, the book doesn't show images of his Sadler Racing or Stavola Bros. cars and barely any of the Sabco years images. The cover design could've been a bit more dynamic, too.

   I haven't checked out the CD-ROM that's included yet. It's supposed to contain original music, screensavers, images, and stats.

   This book is pretty essential for Sterling fans. We're not likely to get a tell-all like Junior's "Driver 8" or Tony Stewart's "True Speed" any time soon, so this is as comprehensive a book about Sterling Marlin as you could ask for.

No comments about 'One Who Will': The Search for Steve Waugh.

No comments about Pacific High.

No comments about Frank Worrell: A Biography.

2 comments about Muhammad Ali and Company: Inside the World of Professional Boxing.

1. This is a compilation of newspaper and magazine articles written by Thomas Hauser on Muhammad Ali and other subjects in the world of boxing. Most of the articles are the length that you would expect in a newspaper column: about 3 pages of fairly large type.
   
   If you walk into this book with the proper expectations, you'll probably enjoy it a great deal. Hauser has rubbed elbows with many boxing legends, and displays a sports columnist's enthusiasm and knowledge of the great sport of boxing.
   
   But I think it's important to point out what this book is not, because I found the book's appearance to be somewhat misleading. The title and a front-cover declaration of a "foreword by Muhammad Ali" led me to think that the bulk of the book would be about Ali. In reality, only about 40 of over 270 pages cover Ali, and the foreword is a disappointingly brief three paragraphs.
   
   Nowhere on the front or back cover is there a mention that the book is in fact a compilation of newspaper articles, and there is an implication that the reader will get in-depth coverage of the inside world of pro boxing. However, the format of a newspaper column only allows the author to briefly touch on issues within the sport, and many of the columns deal with the issue of the day. Be prepared to read three or four praiseees singing the praises of a boxer you've never heard of, without any kind of surrounding context to let you know what became of him. There is also some repetitiveness that is fine for a regular column, but gets tedious to those who are reading the book in just a few sittings.
   
   It sounds like I'm slamming the book, but that's really not my intent. The writing is clean and crisp, Hauser articulates some interesting positions on some interesting subjects, and there is the highly billed and very compelling coverage of Muhammad Ali, perhaps the greatest living legend in the world today.
   
   If you know what you're getting, this is a pretty good read. But if you think you're getting in-depth coverage of the inside world of boxing, or a book about Muhammad Ali, then buyer, beware!



2. I loved this book.

   Easy to read - it's light and simple in its approach - it floats like a butterfly and...well...you get it. What we have are a bunch of Thomas Hauser articles with very clever and interesting introductions to each article.

   I did not want to put it down - it was fun, exciting entertaining, informative and fun - yes, I said fun twice.

   Hauser is such a modest and humble guy - he knows Muhammad Ali, he has interviewed and hung out with many a boxer and has been involved in and with boxing history - yet he remains incredibly humble and in the background - the book ain't about him, but he's a part of it - VERY well done.

   Most importantly - he makes mention of Butterbean not once, but twice! - AND quotes him!

   This is a great, fun, exciting, entertaining, informative and fun book - you won't want to stop reading - each article is like a Pringles potato chip - you can't just stop with one.

No comments about The Pearl: Steve Renouf's Story.

No comments about Great Tales of Canadian Sports Heroes (Value Pack) (Amazing Stories).

4 comments about Katia Gordeeva: Solo Flight (Stars on Ice Little Books).

1. The book is O.K.It is a mini book.Picture's are nice.



2. I personally just adore this little book of very much, although around 90% of the content of this book comes from the book 'My Sergei'. Still I do think it really is a book worth keeping. Not only because it summarizes the lives of Katia's from when she first started skating up till recently in around 80 pages (that is, even after she wrote 'A Letter for Daria'), it also has many many beautiful pictures of both Katia and Sergei together. And there are even pictures of Katia herself that I have never seen in the other two books that she wrote. I myself particularly love the ones that she and Sergei were skating together. They look so wonderful both as pair skaters and as couples!!

   Books that I definitely recommend reading if this is the first time you read about Katia's story in books form: 1. My Sergei 2. A Letter for Daria




3. This is a sweet, nicely illistrated book about Katia, her life before and after Sergei's death. Very uplifting to read, with colorful pictures of Katia's skating never seen prior to this book. This book is tiny, 3-4 inches square, but enjoyable for any ice skating fan. Great as a stocking stuffer for Christmas!



4. This tiny book is very cute. It has lots of pictures, some text, and various quotes by Katia and by famous people. The text is nothing new -- simply a very, very condensed version of "My Sergei" (Katia's autobiography). There are also a few small mistakes (The 1988 Olympics were in Calgary, not Sarajevo, for example). The pictures are the highlight of this book. There are quite a few of Katia that I have not seen -- skating solo in Stars On Ice, previously unpublished People magazine photos, etc. Most of the pictures of Katia and her late husband Sergei Grinkov have been in other books (such as "Stars On Ice"), but are still nice to see. If you are a Katia fan, I recommend getting this book -- it's less than $5 and is a nice little addition to your collection.