Evel

An Esquire Best Book of the Year
A Boston Globe Best Sports Book of the Year

"Slick, pulpy, eye-filling, exhaust-belching. . . . Smart, rowdy fun. . . . [Montville writes] as if pulling a wheelie across every page. . . . Evel is never dull."
--The New York Times

"[Evel] goes beyond the action-figure image, painting Knievel in all his contradictions. . . . 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. . . . Montville brings him vividly back in an outlandishly entertaining new biography."
--New York Post

"Engrossing. . . . A wild ride on the back of Knievel's cycle."
--Los Angeles Times

"Awesome. . . . A rollicking good tale. . . . Montville nails it just right."
--The Hollywood Reporter

"If Knievel lived 'as if his pants were on fire, ' then his biographer writes like a house on fire. . . . In describing the complex, contradictory stuntman's battles with the demons that would ultimately destroy him, [Montville] pulls out all the stops."
--The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg)

"The best biographies not only tell you what people did, they capture their personalities as well, making readers feel as if they are sitting down at a long, well-lubricated dinner with the subject. Mark Twain: A Life by Ron Powers is one such bio, and another is Leigh Montville's brilliant recent biography of Evel Knievel: Evel."
--Jim Caple, ESPN.com

"Fresh and exciting. . . . A fast-paced thrill ride through a life of success, sex and excess that is sure to leave you winded."
--The Montana Standard

"Montville has been doing big time things with his clever writing mind and his flying keyboard fingers for decades. . . . The job he did on [Evel] tops the others, good as they are. The outrageousness of his subject and Montville's matchless ability to entertain and report make it so."
--Hartford Courant

"Greatly entertaining. . . . A biography as sensationalist and superior as the daredevil himself."
--Kirkus Reviews