How could I resist a book titled Go Like Hell? Actually, the full title of this book by A.J. Baime is Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans. Irresistible for a guy who keeps a blog called junkyard wisdom, right?
And what a great book it is! Okay, so it’s not for everybody. If you don’t love cars, don’t bother with it (there are more ideas below to choose from). But if you do love cars, and if you are old enough to remember the crazy Le Mans races of the 1960’s, or are too young to remember and want to learn about them, then read this book.
It’s no ordinary book about racing. It has so many elements that it’s hard to call it a book merely about Le Mans. There’s the storyline of Ford Motor Company attempting to buy Ferrari, and the subsequent fallout from that failed attempt. There’s the nationality at play in European racing, when World War II was still a recent memory. There’s the Detroit auto industry influence as Ford takes on GM, and Ralph Nader takes them both on.
As one reviewer said, it reads like a novel as much as a history book. The full cast of characters are here, from Henry Ford II to Enzo Ferrari to Lee Iacocca. Great racers and car builders of the era are profiled: Carroll Shelby, Phil Hill, Mario Andretti, A. J. Foyt, Ken Miles, Dan Gurney, John Surtees…and many more. The book takes these fascinating people and makes them come alive with insight into their hearts and minds.
If you have a car lover on your Christmas list, this is a good book to remember. Or you could give a Ford GT40 and make that car lover really happy!
Also, I want to share with you my reading list over the last couple of months. I admit it…I’m aiming for 100 books in 2011. Stay tuned on that. Here are the most recent:
One Click: Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon.com, by Richard Brandt. Interesting insights into the founder of Amazon.com. A good business book with a high tech angle.
Essential Alfa Romeo, by David Hodges. Purely for fun if you love these Italian cars.
Destiny of the Republic, by Candice Millard. Great historical book about the assassination of President Garfield. Reads like novel, not a history book.
Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson. Brilliant. Easily my favorite book of the year.
The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, by Lesslie Newbigin. Another brilliant book, but simply too deep for me to fully grasp.
The Long Ships, by Frans G. Bengtsson. A classic adventure novel set in the 10th century among Vikings.
Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me), by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronsen. Very insightful book that has all the strength of an academic text but written for everybody to understand.
The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America, by Marc Levinson. A&P was the Wal-Mart of it’s era, the largest chain store in the world. How did it fall, and what was the backlash against it?
The Deep and Secret Color of Ice, by Paul Willis. Beautiful poetry by one of my favorite people.
Jaguar: One Man’s Struggle to Establish the World’s First Jaguar Preserve, by Alan Rabinowitz. A story of endurance and perseverance to create the Cockscomb Basin preserve in Belize.
XEALOTS: Defying the Gravity of Normality, by Dave Gibbons. Wonderful book for those of us who live life to the beat of a different drummer.
This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly, by Carmen M. Reinhardt and Kenneth Rogoff. Tough book to push through; offers great lessons from the past, but this is a book for economists.
Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend, by Susan Orlean. A joyful story about the great Rin Tin Tin and his heirs.
Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World, by Michael Lewis. Funny, even hilarious, but at times it felt a bit trivial and reached for the low hanging fruit.
Confidence Men, by Ron Suskind. Insights into the relationship between Wall Street and Washington D.C., and how that impacted the early months of the Obama Presidency.
The Pun Also Rises, by John Pollack. A history of the pun and how it shapes our language.
1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, by Charles C. Mann. Wow, sweeping book with big picture insights into how Columbus set off globalization and the impact it has had.
A Credible Witness, by Brenda Salter McNeil. My friend Brenda nails it with this book and explores the relationship between evangelism and racial reconciliation.