Life Of Evel

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A searching and at times harrowing re-appraisal of the life of Evel Knievel the seventies American icon and the greatest daredevil motorcyclist that ever lived. Now fully updated in paperback with the story of the last few years of his life and his death in 2007. Stuart Barker's definitive biography captures the super-star status that Knievel held and also examines the marketing phenomenon of a man who once boasted he 'made $60 million and blew $63 million'. Born in the town of Butte Montana in 1938 Robert Craig Knievel was an outstanding athlete ski jumper and ice hockey player at school. His early jobs included working in the copper mines and driving a bus as well as a stint in the US Army but he always subsidised his income through crime ('I could crack a safe with one hand tied behind my back quicker than you could eat a hamburger with two.') He used bikes to escape from the police and eventually hit upon the idea of jumping them after seeing a stunt driver jump cars at a state fair. His first jump took place over two mountain lions and a box of rattlesnakes and he soon developed his act into the 'Evel Knievel Motorcycle Daredevils' before embarking on a solo career.Knievel suffered 37 breaks and fractures during his daredevil career.