Book Review: Evel by Leigh Montville

One of my favorite ways to unwind is to watch Rifftrax, the series where three former Mystery Science Theater 3000 performers watch movies and riff. And one of my favorite movies to watch them riff on is Viva Knievel, a late 70s movie starring Evel Knievel as himself along with Lauren Hutton, Red Buttons (!), and Gene Kelly (!!).

It's fun to listen to the performers crack wise on this clunker of a film that has Gene Kelly playing second fiddle to Evel Knievel (again, !!!). But the last time I watched it I had two questions:

1. How exactly did Evel Knievel get to be so big anyway? I mean, he was still doing jumps while I was a young kid, and I knew about the Caesar's Palace Fountains and the Snake River Canyon (at least I heard of them), but I don't remember ever really seeing him outside of the odd old toys. So how did he get to be so popular?

2. What's up with the incident the Rifftrax guys keep bringing up about doing time for beating up a producer?

Looking to expand my knowledge beyond mere Google searches, I decided I needed to read a book about Evel Knievel. Took a look at what was available, and didn't see any that looked especially literary or reputable, and none by authors I heard of. So I literally picked a book by its cover and picked up Evel by Leigh Montville.

I can say that the story of Evel Knievel is pretty fascinating. But the story of Evel Knievel as told by Leigh Montville is ASTOUNDING!

Leigh Montville does an absolutely amazing job of taking this material and keeping it exciting the whole way through. I can truly say I haven't read a book this well written in years. He keeps the story so engaging from beginning to end.

Not that Evel's story isn't incredible enough. From show-off and burglar in Butte. Montana to an insurance salesman and car dealer across the West, Robert Knievel started playing a con game early. To raise awareness while selling motorcycles, he decided that he would perform a jump across mountain lions and a box of rattlesnakes at a nearby farm. Well, the mountain lions just hid under the ramps, and Robert's rear wheel tipped over the box of rattlesnakes, letting them loose across the farm. Everyone around him considered this a disaster, but Robert realized that this jump was all the crowd would be talking about on Monday.

And that was the day he truly became Evel.

Montville takes you through Evel's life as a performer, from carnival jumps to breaking records to big-money opportunities like Caesar's Palace and Ontario Motor Speedway. Along the way Evel goes from broke to filthy rich, but Montville makes sure to remind you that he's still a con man, and even while owning two houses, multiple cars, and enough boats to constitute his own navy, he was still stealing from every friend he had (although usually paying them back by buying them something nice). He was also abusive to his wife, neglectful to his kids, and willing to hook up with any woman at any time (While promoting a series of jumps in Chicago a local reporter asked "What is your greatest fear?" and Evel replied "VD.")

A lot changed with the Snake River Canyon jump. This nadir of the Boomer generation had a lot in common with Altamont and Lollapalooza 99 - drugged-out hippies rioting and setting fires, Hells Angels as security, constant fears of the crowd over-running the performance. It was also the beginning of the end for Evel, as this was the jump that made people think his jumps weren't on the level (more on that below).

Evel had a few more jumps after Snake River (including a horrific one at Wembley Stadium), but his career effectively ended when he beat up the movie producer (he wasn't actually a producer, but he did work for a movie studio). Sheldon Saltman was Evel's former press agent, and wrote a tell-all book about Snake River. Evel thought it was disrespectful to his wife and family (which is one of the most ironic thoughts that have ever happened in the history of the world), and beat Sheldon with a baseball bat as he was going to his car. Evel was arrested and thrown in jail. His sponsors all left him, his prospects dried up, and then we come to the final and inevitable portion of the story - the fall from grace (and into bankruptcy).

So, again, amazing stuff to read, but completely super-charged through Montville's writing. After reading this I looked up what other books he wrote, and I can't believe I haven't read him before, as he wrote about subjects such as Dale Earnhardt, Babe Ruth, and Mohammed Ali. Looking forward to my next Montville read!

Really fun book - nine out of ten hot dogs!