Product Description

Jeremy Clarkson, it has to be said, sometimes finds the world a maddening place. And nowhere more so than from behind the wheel of a car, where you can see any number of people acting like lunatics while in control (or not) of a ton of metal. In "Born to be Riled", Clarkson takes a look at the world through his windscreeen, shakes his head at what he sees - and then puts the boot in. Among other things, he explains: why Surrey is worse than Wales; how crossing your legs in America can lead to arrest; the reason cable TV salesmen must be punched; and, that divorce can be blamed on the birth of Jesus. Raving politicians, pointless celebrities, ridiculous 'personalities' and the Germans all get it in the neck, together with the stupid, the daft and ludicrous in a tour de force of comic writing guaranteed to have Clarkson's postman wheezing under sackfuls of letters from the easily offended.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5991 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 576 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Jeremy Clarkson, the opinionated motoring journalist, has something to say on just about everything, not just cars, in this collection of his columns from both Top Gear Magazine and The Sunday Times.

Whether you love or loathe him, Born to be Riled makes for an entertaining and lively read as Clarkson vents his anger and frustration at, among other things, Sunday drivers, caravans and politicians. Even places are not safe from his poisonous tongue, with Surrey, Birmingham and Norfolk being on the receiving end of some particularly venomous rants.

Clarkson's views on cars and motoring make for interesting reading but do tend to speak to the more initiated enthusiast than the casual driver and analogies and comparisons are often lost on all but the most technically minded car fanatic.

However, Clarkson writes with joyous wit and even when his arguments seem a little shaky, you can't help but find yourself nodding in agreement or realising that he is riled by all the things in life that you are--being stuck behind a caravan on a country back road or the drink-driving laws in this country. In much the same way as Bill Bryson chronicles life's daily woes and pitfalls with a scathing sense of humour, so Clarkson speaks for a silent majority who are secretly incensed by a million and one things everyday of their lives, but are just a little too British to say anything.

In this book, Clarkson has become the common man's champion and when he is fighting for the cause with this much humour and wit, long may he remain in that position. --Jonathan Weir

From the Publisher
Tall, Dark and Clarkson
Jeremy Clarkson gets a stack of letters from young people asking how they can nick his job, and his reply is always the same: forget about the driving, think about your writing. Television may have brought the fame, but the key to Britain’s most celebrated motoring journalist lies within the written word, and this book is the best of Clarkson on his home ground – bringing together the cream of his columns form Top Gear Magazine and the Sunday Times. Naturally we get his verdict on a whole spectrum of cars – from Ferraris to FSOs – with some leaving him drooling at their drop - dead presence, whilst others leave him wishing they would just drop dead.

Cars aside, these columns are also a record of his thoughts on motoring in general, thoughts which managed to enrage the whole of Norfolk, the housewives of Surrey, all caravan owners, Nissan Sunny drivers and both the chefs in Birmingham. Throughout you’ll find lashings of opinion, from his appalling predictions for the F1 season through to his full-bore attacks on politicians who blame the car enthusiast for every evil in society. Sometimes his arguments are strong and incisive, sometimes they’re as thin as an after dinner mint, but Born to be Riled remains throughout a joyful, mischievous and beautifully written record of one man’s extraordinary life on wheels.

About the Author
Jeremy Clarkson made his name presenting a poky motoring programme on BBC2 called Top Gear. He left to forge a career in other directions but made a complete hash of everything and ended up back on Top Gear again. He lives with his wife, Francie, and three children in Oxfordshire. Despite this he has a clean driving licence

Customer Reviews

A good read but has aged badly.
If like me you read Clarkson to be amused by his ranting then you won't be disappointed. Sadly as articles are often put in contex of current issues the book hasn't aged well. Often articles are irrelivent and his remarks on the cars often dated due to the release of new novels.

For a first Clarkson book I would recomend one of the newer ones, but for seasoned Clarkson fans the book will make you laugh and all to often nod along with Clarksons rants.

Exactly as expected, which is no bad thing
Jeremy Clarkson... everyone has an opinion about him. He is to tact what creosote is to interior design, heck, he may even be proud of such a comparison. However, he's driven more cars than most of us and once you get past his striving for controversy his writing is pretty damn good in my view.

Born To Be Riled contains the articles Clarkson has written for The Sunday Times and Top Gear magazine, writing about new cars and topical issues of the time. No-one escapes, especially Americans and inhabitants of Norfolk! Needless to say the central theme is cars and whilst some of them are genuine reviews there's a fair view of what I would call observational humour, spotting the different type of drivers and car owners.

I found this to be an entertaining read, although not something I'd necessarily read in a continous setting; each article is only a couple of pages long so you can easily read a few, not read the book for a few weeks and pick up where you left off without any problem at all. I'm a big fan of Clarkson so as expected found each article amusing and entertaining.

If you regularly read Top Gear and the Sunday Times then you really won't gain anything from reading this book, unless you're such a fan you want to read it all over again.

Brilliance
Clarkson invites us to see the world from through his eyes, having read the book i can confirm that driving is the main talking point as you would expect, however Clarkson shares his comical views and opinions on almost everything you can think of, and often you can find yourself agreeing with him.

Buy it!