Product Description

Jeremy Clarkson knows there's more to life than cars. There is, after all, a whole world out there just waiting to be discovered. So, before he gets on to torque steer and active suspension, he'd like to take a little time to consider the bigger picture. Don't worry, we'll get to the car bit in the end, but before we do, we'll learn about: the unfortunate collapse of the British empire; why Galapagos tortoises are all mental; France, reduced to the size of a small coconut; why Jeremy Paxman and the bass guitarist of AC/DC aren't so very different; the problems of being English; and God's most stupid creation. Then there are the cars: Whether it's the poxiest little runabout or an exotic, firebreathing supercar, no one else writes about cars like Jeremy. Unmoved by official claims and uninterested in press junkets, anything on four wheels is approached without fear or favour. What emerges from the ashes is not always pretty. But it is, invariably, very, very funny.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14423 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

Daily Mirror
'A dazzling hero of political incorrectness.'

Synopsis
Jeremy Clarkson knows there's more to life than cars. There is, after all, a whole world out there just waiting to be discovered. So, before he gets on to torque steer and active suspension, he'd like to take a little time to consider the bigger picture. Don't worry, we'll get to the car bit in the end, but before we do, we'll learn about: the unfortunate collapse of the British empire; why Galapagos tortoises are all mental; France, reduced to the size of a small coconut; why Jeremy Paxman and the bass guitarist of AC/DC aren't so very different; the problems of being English; and God's most stupid creation. Then there are the cars: Whether it's the poxiest little runabout or an exotic, firebreathing supercar, no one else writes about cars like Jeremy. Unmoved by official claims and uninterested in press junkets, anything on four wheels is approached without fear or favour. What emerges from the ashes is not always pretty. But it is, invariably, very, very funny.

From the Back Cover
NO ONE WRITES ABOUT CARS LIKE CLARKSON. TRY THIS: 'Pile up to a corner, change down on the ridiculously narrow-gated gearbox, brake hard. Already your clutch leg is aching from the effort. Now turn the wheel. There's power assistance, but not much. Your arms are straining to hold the front in line, so you apply some power to unstick the back end. Grrrr, goes the 4.7 litre V8. Wheeeeeeeee goes the supercharger. And eeeeeeeeeeeeeee go the tyres as they lose traction.' OR THIS: 'I reserve my special level of hatred, my mental Defcon 4, for people who drive up the A44 at 40mph. I don't think we should be allowed to kill people who drive too slowly. It's never right to take life. But I do think we should be allowed to torture them a bit. Saw their legs off maybe, or shove a powerful air hose up their jacksies. Forty may have been acceptable in 1870, but it's simply unnaceptable now. If all the world did 40, it wouldn't work any more.'

Customer Reviews

Car reviews that are laugh out loud!
Firstly, this is more than a book about cars. It is Mr Clarkson's dry, witty and always cynical outlook on the world. If, like me, you find relief in discovering someone who is still politically incorrect, chauvanistic and doesn't care who knows it you will love the book. I found a lot of myself reflected in reading this

I have not enjoyed reading a book as much as this in a long time. The format of the reviews makes this an easy read to pick up and put down. Reviews are about 4 pages on average with great photography. The first 3 pages of a review are devoted to a humorous commentary on something seemingly unconnected with a car. This is always rectified in the last page with a surprisingly insightful description of the car itself. I believe all the reviews have previously been published in The Times.

Many car types are covered; supercars to the lowliest of runabouts....they're all here. Genuinely useful information can be found within the covers....not just the eye-watering performance figures of Veyrons and Diablos.

I would have no hesitation in recommending this book for both entertainment and basic information on the cars reviewed. Someone who was only a fan of humour would probably be best advised to steer clear (amusing pun intended) as this is a serious work of car journalism too.

At the time of writing (October 2008) Jeremy has been involved in a head on crash but early reports indicate that he is pretty much unscathed; "My right index finger looked like a burst sausage, my left shin was fatter than my thigh and my back felt like someone had driven over it with a pile-driver."

Good luck with the recovery, Jeremy, and lets hope another book as good as this appears soon.

Funny and funnier
Now we all know that Clarkson makes loads of money from selling books full of stuff he has already written in the paper but so what....who cares whether he's making extra money or not when you get to read this much funny stuff all in one book!

We all know he says he's writing about cars when in fact he just rants about complete rubbish for 3/4's of the articles....but who cares when he can make rubbish this funny!!!

We all know that Clarkson is a pompous, over opinionated, biggot....who cares....he's funnier than most other people you can read these days!!

I love this book....I think all the clarkson books are great but this one really is one of his best. I like the fact that they have made a bit more effort and actually put pictures of the cars he is talking about in the book. I probably like it more because it is more recent as well so the jokes are more topical.

If you want a bit of light reading, you know the kind of thing you can lie in bed and giggle to or sit in on a sunday morning and relax to then this is the book for you. Its light hearted, its funny, its easy to read and it offends 90% of the population which has to make you laugh doesn't to really!!

I'm not sure I will ever vote Clarkson for Prime Minister but I would certainly give him my vote when it comes to his writing. Dont think about the fact that he makes money out of this book having already been paid for writing the articles for the paper. It doesn't make any difference to you it just means you get to read all his funniest material in one go, which to be honest, is well worth the money!! In fact, with that kind of money making ability maybe he should be our Prime Minister!!!

"To everyone except John Prescott"
Jezza's dedication, above, is a little unfair, in that he and the redoubtable Mr "two-jags" Prescott at least share a passion for cars. I like Clarkson's refreshinging un-PC attitude, although not his complancency about CO2 (although he may yet turn out to be right) and enjoy his columns on cars, and on more general matters, in The Sunday Times.

But is this a good book? Mr wife bought me it for Christmas, bouyed up no doubt by my positive reaction to "The World according to Clarkson" the year before, but I have read perhaps half of the fifty or so "chapters". Why?

Well, I can remember most of them from when I first read them, 2003 - 2006, for a start. At the same time, some of the contemporary references were so fleeting that they conjure forth no recollection at all. For example: in October 2003 "BBC bosses" decided to replace DJ Sara Cox with someone. Jezza suggested it was "The Queen". I have no recollection at all what that was about - have you?

In any case, Clarkson's humour about cars is perhaps a little intense when presented in such a format.

Whereas the content of a peperback is normally exactly the same as the hardback that preceeded it, be aware that the paperback does not include the excellent colour plates of all of the cars. As with the hardback, you don't get the number of "stars" Clarkson awarded to each car in that paper. How much would that have cost?

This is a book for the "lavatory reference section", from which to try to read one chapter before bed, or from dipping into on some other basis. Within those terms it succeeds.