Book Review :: The Man in the White Suit, The Stig, Le Mans, The Fast Lane and Me

Discussion in 'Feedback, Reviews & Comments' started by Nathan, Sep 25, 2010.

  1. Nathan

    Nathan Founder

    Mar 30, 2009
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    The Man in the White Suit: The Stig, Le Mans, the Fast Lane and Me
    By Ben Colins

    [IMGR]http://lh3.ggpht.com/_L0BOHsTS8Ng/TJ357qnfQGI/AAAAAAAAHDg/_v5ug1g87bg/s800/21K6EOtRRlL._SL500_AA300_.jpg[/IMGR] I'm a big fan of Top Gear as are many of you as evidenced by the download stats when a new one is posted. I placed a pre-order for this book as soon as Amazon UK had it listed. When it arrived I put an afternoon aside to start in on the book. Five hours later I turned the last page. Not that this is a small book at around 350 pages but I found it hard to put down.

    After seeing and reading the coverage of The Stigs "outing" my expectations for the book were low. I was expecting a lot of whinging about how poorly Ben Colins was treated as The Stig by the Top Gear staff. How wrong I was. Mr Colins regales the reader with how much fun it is to be The Stig. Not all days were filled with exotic cars in tantalizing locations but the reader does get some idea of the behind the scenes goings on of my favorite automotive based TV show.

    Mr. Colins is a better driver than writer and this shows through as there are times when the wordplay could use quite a bit of help. However, the text does flow but I suspect that some of this my own blindness to the words used and my interest in the subject matter.

    We get a glimpse early on as to where Ben Colins becomes a petrol head. When at 5 years of age in protest to his father not getting a Jag as company car like the boss he kicks the boss in the balls we see just how deep gasoline runs in his veins. I suspect that some of the racing failures were glossed over with a bit of revisionist history, then again I think we all might do the same given the opportunity.

    We get a deeper look at the man in that white suit and I found it fascinating. A lesser man probably would have been quite bitter when taking about missed opportunity I was also expecting a bit of skewering towards Clarkson, Hammond, May and the Top Gear producers, there was none of that. In fact quite the opposite, quite refreshing in these days of tell all's that malign all.

    As a Top Gear fan I give the book 4 or 5 stars and recommend reading. If you are not a car person there will be some tedious bits but in the end I think that fans of Top Gear will like the book.

    [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Man-White-Suit-Stig-Mans/dp/000732796X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1285423203&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: The Man in the White Suit: The Stig, Le Mans, the Fast Lane and Me (9780007327966): Ben Collins: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ib7gh9EzL.@@AMEPARAM@@51ib7gh9EzL[/ame]
     
  2. Gil-galad

    Gil-galad Club Coordinator

    May 19, 2009
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    Sold me...it's on order. TG (UK) is my #1 show.
     
  3. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
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    May 4, 2009
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    I would suggest that the book was written before all the problems came up, thus the reason no real mention is made of it.

    But it does look like a great read, will have to add it to my cart for sure.
     
  4. thirdraildesignlab

    thirdraildesignlab New Member

    Sep 21, 2010
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    The producers of TG UK demonstrated precisely how NOT to handle such a thing. What weak PR for them. They should have embraced his self-outing and moved on... bitterness and lawsuits always leave that unpleasant impression of unfinished maturity.
     

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