Book Review - John Force: The Straight Story of Drag Racing’s 300-MPH Superstar
Written by David Lamm · March 9, 2006
|
You knew it was bound to happen. John Force is the undisputed face of modern drag racing and is probably one of a few household names that non-drag racing fans will recognize. The loquacious, personable, verbose and downright entertaining Force makes a great subject for a coffee table book. John Force: The Straight Story of Drag Racing’s 300-MPH Superstar written by Erik Arneson with photography by Jon Asher fell a little flat in my opinion and could have gone further in telling John Force’s amazing story.
The first glaring flaw in this book is the lack of Force included in this book. How can a book written about the man lack substance about him? There was no direct interview between the author and John Force. Apparently, Arneson never sat down with Force and picked his brain for some classic stories that many of us may not have heard. Sure, there are quotes in the book, but many of them are lifted from press releases or stories that ran in the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, National Speed Sport News and a wealth of online racing websites. So with no interview between the author and the subject the book consists of recapping John’s life story to date. The problem is all of it has been written in different sources prior to the publication of this book. Arneson does a great job of pulling together appropriate quotes from different times in Force’s life but I learned nothing new.
I was hoping this book would provide me with some insight on John’s early racing career. More than likely, someone that will purchase this book will already be a fan of John Force. If you already have an interest in Force you probably already know about how John met Gary Densham in Australia or his childhood growing up Bell Gardens, Calif. or even the now famous ‘I saw Elvis at 1,000 feet’ story from Memphis. Force’s life is an open book (no pun intended) and we already know about him winning championships and breaking records and becoming a media darling. I don’t need to read a book about the things many of us can read on the internet or look up in a fan guide. I was hoping to read more about John’s struggles as a match racer. You can’t tell me Force could have relayed some great stories from those days at race tracks that would have been better paved with marbles than the asphalt they were forced to race on. Tell me about Force shooting the breeze across the country telling funny stories at truck stops because he was so broke he hoped someone would laugh and offer to pick up the check for his meal. Give me more of Force’s personality and a graphic example as to why he is adored by millions. Facts and stats does nothing for me and recounting his dominant season of 1996 has been well documented well before this book was written.
The highlight of the book for me was the photography. Great work by not only Jon Asher but other photographers like Jeff Burk and Ron Lewis who also contributed some great shots of Force. I do have one gripe about the photography in that the editing of the book could have flowed better with the photographs. Some pictures just seemed to be tossed in to fill the page and did not have relevance to that point in the book. There were no photos of the race tracks Force competed on during his early years. Mentions of Lions Dragstrip appear in the book but no photos. And all the photos did not have to be of John or his car. There was a section where his rivalry with Whit Bazemore was documented and no photo of Bazemore appeared. I believe if these were included it would have really helped this book.
I will say that if this book was billed as an ‘unauthorized biography’ it would make more sense that the author did not directly interview Force. I know John is a big star and his time is limited, but I know he is not that inaccessible. I am sure Arneson, a former NHRA media award winner for his work while at USA Today, could get past the public relations person or could get Force on the phone. This book would make a great gift for a parent to pass on to their child who is just learning about drag racing. If you are already a fan of John Force you may be disappointed because you won’t learn anything new. Casual fans of drag racing might beg to differ but those with an intimate knowledge of Force and his career this book leaves you wanting more.
Comments
Got something to say?
You must be logged in to post a comment.