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friedatweehuysen's review against another edition
4.0
I was entertained by Collins' autobiography. Not so much the army stuff which really convinced me it would be terrible for me. I enjoyed his racing stories, but adored his Top Gear stuff which I remembered as he was talking. Although I didn't realise how long those clips actually took.
katos's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting behind the scenes look into Top Gear, as well as racing and the Army. Sometimes the car bits dragged along too much, but that should be expected from this kind of book.
samstillreading's review
3.0
I purely read this book because I wanted to know more about The Stig and Top Gear. I didn’t really know anything about Ben Collins prior to this.
This book reads more like an autobiography of Ben Collins up to his departure from Top Gear (although it is VERY sketchy on the details and reasons why this happened). We learn about his childhood (interesting), younger days riding karts and various cars (interesting), army days (quite boring) and then we hit Top Gear days. This was by far and away the best part of the book for me. It was interesting to learn that Collins was actually being the Stig on the tube (public transport vs car vs bike vs boat), I would have thought someone else would do that. Riding with Tom Cruise, teaching a blind man to drive the Top Gear track and Richard Hammond’s crash (covered by the man himself in On the Edge), it’s all there. Ben Collins can cover how to drive very fast really, really well. The stories about Top Gear were very entertaining and witty. But towards the end of the book, we suddenly hear about how he is tired about the extreme secrecy he must maintain in his role as The Stig, how he’s getting a bit tired of the whole thing and then…it’s over. Given that the BBC tried to put an injunction on the publication of this book, there must be more! Why does Jeremy Clarkson react so negatively when questioned about Collins as The Stig? Why does Collins himself seem so jealous when a decoy in the form of Michael Schumacher appears on the show? The ending, the leaving is tied up so quickly and perfectly in a big red bow you just know that it’s hiding a dirty big coffee stain underneath.
A fairly interesting and light read, this would appeal to Top Gear fans (obviously) and boys interested in cars and racing. I’d also be interested in hearing about what Collins is doing now (surely being on Fifth Gear is incorrect?) but not enough to read another book.
This book reads more like an autobiography of Ben Collins up to his departure from Top Gear (although it is VERY sketchy on the details and reasons why this happened). We learn about his childhood (interesting), younger days riding karts and various cars (interesting), army days (quite boring) and then we hit Top Gear days. This was by far and away the best part of the book for me. It was interesting to learn that Collins was actually being the Stig on the tube (public transport vs car vs bike vs boat), I would have thought someone else would do that. Riding with Tom Cruise, teaching a blind man to drive the Top Gear track and Richard Hammond’s crash (covered by the man himself in On the Edge), it’s all there. Ben Collins can cover how to drive very fast really, really well. The stories about Top Gear were very entertaining and witty. But towards the end of the book, we suddenly hear about how he is tired about the extreme secrecy he must maintain in his role as The Stig, how he’s getting a bit tired of the whole thing and then…it’s over. Given that the BBC tried to put an injunction on the publication of this book, there must be more! Why does Jeremy Clarkson react so negatively when questioned about Collins as The Stig? Why does Collins himself seem so jealous when a decoy in the form of Michael Schumacher appears on the show? The ending, the leaving is tied up so quickly and perfectly in a big red bow you just know that it’s hiding a dirty big coffee stain underneath.
A fairly interesting and light read, this would appeal to Top Gear fans (obviously) and boys interested in cars and racing. I’d also be interested in hearing about what Collins is doing now (surely being on Fifth Gear is incorrect?) but not enough to read another book.
fragfritz's review
4.0
Good view of the production side of Top Gear and the challenges of breaking into top tier racing. Once he stopped trying to use clever cliches (first couple of chapters) the book improved immensely.
joesilverfox's review
3.0
Ever wondered who the man in the White Suit on BBC's Top Gear was. Well, read all about the second Stig, Racing driver Ben Collins here. A very interesting and fast moving book.
As a fan of Top Gear this is the best of all the books I have read by those associated with the show.
As a fan of Top Gear this is the best of all the books I have read by those associated with the show.
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