Product Description

Love him or loathe him, you cannot ignore him! Motoring aficionado, comic writer, TV presenter, engineering buff, journalist, author and unapologetic bon viveur, Jeremy Clarkson is one of Britain's most controversial personalities, and in this riveting and entertaining biography, frank views and hilariously candid anecdotes appear alongside the life story of the self-confessed Eurosceptic, chain-smoking petrol head. After a stint as a travelling salesman, Clarkson set up his own press agency, and soon found fame and fortune with BBC's Top Gear. Notoriously hit in the face with a banana meringue pie the day he received his honorary degree, he has been accused of calling cyclists 'muesli freaks' and BMW employees 'Nazis'. From causing huge disruption, to defending the rights of drivers, to fisticuffs with Piers Morgan, this is the true story of a colourful life lived at breakneck speed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #200638 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

About the Author
Gwen Russell is a highly successful journalist and author who has specialised in the celebrity circuit. She is currently based in bath.

Customer Reviews

My dog has no nose......
I am a big fan of the big man's writing, and decided to buy this book in the hope that it would be a reasonably amusing read. It wasn't. Gwen Russell manages to write about one of the country's most controversial and amusing celebrities, and manages to make it a very painful (and boring) read. She seems to have chosen him as a subject at random (who else has she written for!? Heat Magazine?!), then done some flimsy research, before sticking a huge picture of Jeremy Clarkson on the cover, and plastering her name on the book - including unashamadely on each of the pages inside! That should have been a warning, as well as the choice of photos - even they are awful! Talk about suckering in buyers and trying to make it on the back of someone else's success!

The only saving grace is that she collects various snippets about Clarkson together for the reader, but a couple of hours spent on the Internet would have generated just as much information. I learnt virtually nothing new about the subject from this book. Other reviewers can also testify to the mistakes, repetition, and amateurishly disjointed writing style of the author. The pages do thankfully pass by quickly due to the large 'John & Jane' font used to fill out the book!

I suggest you save your money, and wait for the paperback edition (or second hand one's - there should be plenty!) if you really MUST buy one of the worst biographies I have read. A great shame - and very disappointing. Better still, wait for Clarkson's next book - it will be a much better read than this twaddle! It has now been filed with my collection of Clarkson books as a curio - a swine amongst pearls! Mr Clarkson (if you're reading this), I suggest YOU write a biography about Gwen Russell in order to exact some revenge!

As the great man would say: if this book were a car, it would be a trabant.
I too am a great fan of JC. His unwillingness to bow to the pressures of the PC lobby seems to increase as the years pass. Unfortunately, it would appear that he was rather too busy rubbishing Vectras when this appauling diatribe hit his desk. It is, without exception, the worst biography I have ever read. Not that it is inaccurate per se, that might even risk making it controversial, but that it is atrociously structured, badly written and just plain boring. A reader hoping to learn more about the man himself would be wise to consult Google or perhaps a copy of the Sunday Times rather than buy this book. What is also clear is that the relentless self-promotion of Clarkson himself is eclipsed only by that of his biographer who is at pains for us to know how jolly successful she has been.

I bought this book on a whim, but anyone considering it would be advised to wait until the man himself has committed pen to paper. After all, when directly quoted (on perhaps fifteen or so occasions throughout the entire book) he is side-splittingly hilarious.

Might I second the point made by a previous correspondent regarding the 'Janet and John' typography and suggest that if you do buy this book, you might pass it to the nearest 10 year old who could happily occupy an afternoon pointing out the outrageous errors including the 'Ford Sirocco' and unforgettable 'Hercules helicopter'. Ladies and Gentlemen, steer clear.

Utter Rubbish
This has to be one of the worst books I have ever read. Inaccurate, inane drivel. I lack the ability to express in words just how dreadful this publication is. You already know more from watching the man on TV and reading his columns in the Times than this book will tell you.