Evel: The High-Flying Life of Evel Knievel: American Showman, Daredevil, and Legend

This is what a biography should be: a well-researched, well-written examination of where a person comes from and what makes his or her life worth examining. Evel Knievel was a bona fide superhero to me and my generation as we were growing up, but we didn't know the whole story. Montville expertly tells the rise and fall of self-made man Robert Craig Knievel, the moral of which is this: admire Evel's achievements but don't admire the man. This is an outstanding book.