Guy Martin - My Autobiography

Author: Guy Martin
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0753555026
Category : Biography
Languages : en
Pages : 324

Book Description
The story of life at the center of the world's most dangerous sport, by its brightest and biggest star Guy Martin—international road-racing legend, maverick star of the Isle of Man TT, truck mechanic, and TV presenter—lives on the edge, addicted to speed, thoroughly exhilarated by danger. This book takes readers inside his head as he stares death in the face and risks his life in search of the next high, even as he agonizes over the loss of close friends in horrific accidents. He'll explain what it feels like to survive a 170mph fireball at the TT in 2010, and come back to do it all again. He sweeps readers up in a gritty sort of glory as he slogs it out for a place on the podium, but he also describes struggling with the flipside of fame. Meet his friends, foes, family, teammates, and bosses, and discover what motivates him, and where his strengths and weaknesses lie. For the first time, here is the full story in Guy's own words. From the boy who learned to prep bikes with his dad, to the spirited team mechanic, paying his way by collecting glasses, to the young racer at the start of his first race and the buzz he's been chasing ever since, this thrilling autobiography is an intense and dramatic ride.

Guy Martin

Author: Guy Martin
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
"This is the story of life at the centre of the world's most dangerous sport, by its brightest and biggest star. Guy Martin, international road-racing legend, maverick star of the Isle of Man TT, truck mechanic and TV presenter, lives on the edge, addicted to speed, thoroughly exhilarated by danger"--Publisher's description.

Dead Men Don't Tell Tales

Author: Guy Martin
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1473586933
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Book Description
Guy Martin can't sit still. He has to keep pushing - both himself and whatever machine he is piloting - to the extreme. He's a doer, not a talker. That applies whether Guy's competing in a self-supported 750-mile mountain bike race across Arizona, or trying to reach 300mph in a standing mile on the 800-horsepower motorbike he built in his shed. And during his TV adventures, travelling through Japan, winning records for the world's fastest tractor, re-creating the famous Steve McQueen Great Escape jump, discovering the toil and sacrifice of the D-Day landings and trying to cut the mustard as a Battle of Britain pilot. Guy's become a dad now and he's hoping that one day his daughter will grow up to be a better welder than he is. Oh, and he's still getting up at 5am to work on trucks in for service or to be out on his tractor, working the Lincolnshire land he's always called home. This is Guy Martin's latest book, in his own words, on the last four years of his life that make the rest of us look like we're in slow motion. We're here for a good time, not a long time. To Guy, if it's worth doing, it's worth dying for.

Born Standing Up

Author: Steve Martin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1847395848
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 198

Book Description
Steve Martin has been an international star for over thirty years. Here, for the first time, he looks back to the beginning of his career and charmingly evokes the young man he once was. Born in Texas but raised in California, Steve was seduced early by the comedy shows that played on the radio when the family travelled back and forth to visit relatives. When Disneyland opened just a couple of miles away from home, an enchanted Steve was given his first chance to learn magic and entertain an audience. He describes how he noted the reaction to each joke in a ledger - 'big laugh' or 'quiet' - and assiduously studied the acts of colleagues, stealing jokes when needed. With superb detail, Steve recreates the world of small, dark clubs and the fear and exhilaration of standing in the spotlight. While a philosophy student at UCLA, he worked hard at local clubs honing his comedy and slowly attracting a following until he was picked up to write for TV. From here on, Steve Martin became an acclaimed comedian, packing out venues nationwide. One night, however, he noticed empty seats and realised he had 'reached the top of the rollercoaster'. BORN STANDING UP is a funny and riveting chronicle of how Steve Martin became the comedy genius we now know and is also a fascinating portrait of an era.

The Reacher Guy

Author: Heather Martin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1643135872
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 378

Book Description
An exquisitely written and nuanced biography of an exceptional individual and writer who has created the # 1 international bestselling hero Jack Reacher, revered by dedicated and loyal readers worldwide. Lee Child has a great public persona: he is gracious and generous with readers and fans. But Jim Grant is a reticent and very private man. This rags-to-riches literary and social biography is based principally on disarmingly frank personal conversations and correspondence with the author since 2016 and privileged access to archival materials. It consists almost entirely of original material, and is the nearest thing the world is likely to get to the autobiography he does not intend to write. There are a handful of great Lee Child/Reacher stories that have been recycled over and over again. They are so good that no one has bothered to look beyond them. This book revisits (and sometimes revises) those irresistible stories, but goes back further and digs deeper. The emphasis on chronology, accuracy and specificity is unprecedented. The Lee Child origin myth is much loved. But mostly it sees him springing fully formed from the brow of Granada Television. There are glancing references to Aston Villa and the schoolyard, but no one has examined the social and historical detail or looked closely at where Lee really came from: the people, places and period. This is the first time someone has described the Lee Child arc: from peaceful obscurity in the Yorkshire Dales and Upstate New York to cult figure, no. 1 in America, rock star, celebrity and publishing institution through to backlash, the changing zeitgeist, and intimations of retirement. The analysis of the emotional power and significance of Lee’s work in the final chapters—the themes of happiness, addiction, dependency, loneliness, and existential absurdity—and the first-hand retrospective accounts of his life and second-act career are all exclusive to this definitive biography.

Guy Martin: Worms to Catch

Author: Guy Martin
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0753545330
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 328

Book Description
‘I was never going to sleep in and take it easy, there were worms to catch.’ Breaking records on the world’s biggest Wall of Death, cycling 2,745 miles across the length of the United States (while sleeping rough), attempting to be the fastest person ever on two wheels and travelling to Latvia to investigate his family’s roots, it's been a busy year for Guy Martin. There’s been some thrilling racing too, including wild Harley choppers on dirt and turbo-charged Transit vans through the Nevada desert. And don't forget there’s the day job to get back to in North Lincolnshire – the truck yard and the butty van. Guy has done more in one year than most people do in a lifetime, and with his gift for story-telling, he takes you with him to the outer limits of human endurance, and on a dizzying adrenalin high, all in a day’s work.

How Britain Worked

Author: Guy Martin
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1448131790
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 260

Book Description
It is a largely forgotten fact that Britain was the first industrialized country in the world, but Guy Martin - the cult motorcycle racer and mechanic - is about to remind us how the industrial revolution helped make Britain great. Guy shows how the discoveries made in the late 18th-19th centuries are to thank for the ease of our every day lives: in order to cook a bacon and egg sandwich in Industrial-era conditions, Guy has to restore a steam locomotive and railway to have the components delivered to the local shop; he has to bring a saw mill back into working order to be able to make a bicycle; he has to revamp a Victorian fishing trawler so he can cook himself some fish and chips, and when he decides to mow the lawn, he restores a Victorian botanical garden. After all that, he's in need of a holiday - so he sets to work restoring a Victorian holiday resort. Illustrated throughout with specially commissioned photography as well as historical images, Guy will take us through each project; his passion, enthusiasm and sheer inventiveness bringing a completely new perspective to the Industrial Revolution. He invites us to live it with him, to enjoy the nostalgia, marvel in the mechanics and learn from its legacy.

Me

Author: Ricky Martin
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101475048
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 185

Book Description
International superstar, Ricky Martin, who has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide, opens up for the first time about memories of his early childhood, experiences in the famed boy band Menudo, struggles with his identity during the Livin' la Vida Loca phenomenon, reflections on coming to terms with his sexuality, relationships that allowed him to embrace love, and life-changing decisions like devoting himself to helping children around the world and becoming a father. Me is an intimate memoir about the very liberating and spiritual journey of one of the most iconic pop-stars of our time.

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Author: Clayborne Carson
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 0759520372
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 416

Book Description
With knowledge, spirit, good humor, and passion, THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. brings to life a remarkable man whose thoughts and actions speak to our most burning contemporary issues and still inspire the desires, hopes, and dreams of us all. Written in his own words, this history-making autobiography is Martin Luther King: the mild-mannered, inquisitive child and student who chafed under and eventually rebelled against segregation; the dedicated young minister who continually questioned the depths of his faith and the limits of his wisdom; the loving husband and father who sought to balance his family's needs with those of a growing, nationwide movement; and the reflective, world-famous leader who was fired by a vision of equality for people everywhere. Relevant and insightful, THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. offers King's seldom disclosed views on some of the world's greatest and most controversial figures: John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Lyndon B. Johnson, Mahatma Gandhi, and Richard Nixon. It also paints a rich and moving portrait of a people, a time, and a nation in the face of powerful change. Finally, it shows how everyday Americans from all walks of life confronted themselves, each other, and the burden of the past-and how their fears and courage helped shape our future.

Ghost Boy

Author: Martin Pistorius
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0857203320
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 275

Book Description
In January 1988, aged twelve, Martin Pistorius fell inexplicably sick. First he lost his voice and stopped eating; then he slept constantly and shunned human contact. Doctors were mystified. Within eighteen months he was mute and wheelchair-bound. Martin's parents were told that an unknown degenerative disease had left him with the mind of a baby and he probably had less than two years to live. Martin went on to be cared for at centres for severely disabled children, a shell of the bright, vivacious boy he had once been. What no-one knew is that while Martin's body remained unresponsive his mind slowly woke up, yet he could tell no-one; he was a prisoner inside a broken body. Then, in 1998, when Martin was twenty-three years old, an aromatherapy masseuse began treating him and sensed some part of him was alert. Experts were dismissive, but his parents persevered and soon realised their son was as intelligent as he'd always been. With no memory of the time before his illness, Martin was a man-child reborn in a world he didn't know. He was still in a wheelchair and unable to speak, but he was brilliantly adept at computer technology. Since then, and against all odds, he has fallen in love, married and set up a design business which he runs from his home in Essex.Ghost Boyis an incredible, deeply moving story of recovery and the power of love. Through Martin's story we can know what it is like to be here and yet not here - unable to communicate yet feeling and understanding everything. Martin's emergence from his darkness enables us to celebrate the human spirit and is a wake-up call to cherish our own lives.