The Driver by Alex Roy
Discussion
I liked this review so will therefor give this a wide berth thanks:
"Did some extra work recently, on the set of the show Heroes. There, I met a 20-year-old kid who loved cars. He told me about this book, and because I have a serendipitous relationship with books and tend to follow almost any recommendation, I read it...
Alexander Roy is a big fish in an EXTREMELY small pond: He is one of the best cross-country endurance racers in the world.
This does not mean he is skilled at navigating a car along a racetrack (which, if anything, this book convinced me is a lot harder than it looks.) No, Roy is good at starting in a city, like New York, and then driving his car very fast to another city many miles away, like Los Angeles.
No, this activity is not legal, at least the racing aspect of it. Driving cross-country is of course quite legal, and there is a group of very rich people (mostly men), who meet every year and do it caravan-style, showing off their outrageously expensive vehicles and partying every night along the way. This event is called Gumball, and it is not a race, and its participants are not interested in racing, because racing on public roads in very expensive cars is illegal, not to mention extremely dangerous. I repeat, Gumball is an opportunity for a bunch of wealthy, car-owning douchebags to get together, show off their cars, and have a little fun.
Roy, however, treats this event as a race. He tries to go faster than everyone else, hitting the checkpoints first, not getting pulled over by cops, and so on. He goes to outrageous lengths to do so, outfitting his M5 with all sorts of illegal cop-blocking radar infrared scanner bulls
t. He plots out gas stops and routes using advanced satellite technology, and he disguises his car and himself (typically as a fake police officer/vehicle) to increase his ability to drive fast without detection from law enforcement.
And typically, Roy wins. He wins Gumball... which is, I repeat, not a race, though a few of its more douchebaggy participants do indulge Ray in the racing aspect... and Roy typically beats them or at least handles himself very well against them, and for this he is extremely proud of himself. Puffed up on exhaust, he can't stop delighting in his illegal racing exploits, his witty dialog with his "copilots" on the races, his crazy moves along the turnpike. Two-thirds of The Driver are filled with Roy's descriptions of different years' Gumballs, an initially interesting trickle of information drying up hard and crusty as the "races" pile up and the page count creeps up over 300.
Let's get something straight: Roy is a winner of races that hardly anybody wants to race in. He is a winner of races that endanger innocent people's lives and that offer no reward for winning outside of a possible felony charge (these morons drive in excess of 100 mph and more.) What's more he creates his "racing" out of an event that isn't even supposed to be a race, that actively promotes itself as not being a race.
He is a douchebag among douchebags, pointlessly fabricating glory and exciting competition in an arena that nobody outside of the extremely wealthy even cares about. The Driver is mildly interesting when Roy relates to us his preparations for drives. Douchebag or no, you can't deny his intelligence or focus when it comes to this giant waste of time and human life (yes, later on in the book some innocent civilians are struck and killed by one of Roy's Gumball "competitors"), and the lengths to which he prepares for the "races" are fascinating in a sad and demented kind of way. The last third of The Driver revolves around Roy's attempt to set the speed record for driving across the entire country, coast to coast. He finds a way to do it in 31 hours, a remarkable feat.
A few good moments aside, however, The Driver mostly made me angry. That Roy is intelligent enough to be aware his exploits are endangering innocents, and that he has the perspective to freely admit his obsession is pointless and his idea of "racing" mostly imaginary, only increases his douchebaggery. If you're aware you're doing something idiotic and yet you still do it... again and again and again... well, that's not very impressive to me. To make matters worse, Roy has the audacity to cast himself as this outlaw hero, this brooding figure who is aware of all the risks, aware that all his family and friends think him a fool... but he has no choice. He is a "racer," a "competitor," and the call of the open road is bigger than anything else, bigger than the lives at stake, the potential felonies awaiting him and his "crew." He is "The Driver," and when push comes to shove, nothing else matters.
He is a Douche. Bag."
"Did some extra work recently, on the set of the show Heroes. There, I met a 20-year-old kid who loved cars. He told me about this book, and because I have a serendipitous relationship with books and tend to follow almost any recommendation, I read it...
Alexander Roy is a big fish in an EXTREMELY small pond: He is one of the best cross-country endurance racers in the world.
This does not mean he is skilled at navigating a car along a racetrack (which, if anything, this book convinced me is a lot harder than it looks.) No, Roy is good at starting in a city, like New York, and then driving his car very fast to another city many miles away, like Los Angeles.
No, this activity is not legal, at least the racing aspect of it. Driving cross-country is of course quite legal, and there is a group of very rich people (mostly men), who meet every year and do it caravan-style, showing off their outrageously expensive vehicles and partying every night along the way. This event is called Gumball, and it is not a race, and its participants are not interested in racing, because racing on public roads in very expensive cars is illegal, not to mention extremely dangerous. I repeat, Gumball is an opportunity for a bunch of wealthy, car-owning douchebags to get together, show off their cars, and have a little fun.
Roy, however, treats this event as a race. He tries to go faster than everyone else, hitting the checkpoints first, not getting pulled over by cops, and so on. He goes to outrageous lengths to do so, outfitting his M5 with all sorts of illegal cop-blocking radar infrared scanner bulls
t. He plots out gas stops and routes using advanced satellite technology, and he disguises his car and himself (typically as a fake police officer/vehicle) to increase his ability to drive fast without detection from law enforcement.And typically, Roy wins. He wins Gumball... which is, I repeat, not a race, though a few of its more douchebaggy participants do indulge Ray in the racing aspect... and Roy typically beats them or at least handles himself very well against them, and for this he is extremely proud of himself. Puffed up on exhaust, he can't stop delighting in his illegal racing exploits, his witty dialog with his "copilots" on the races, his crazy moves along the turnpike. Two-thirds of The Driver are filled with Roy's descriptions of different years' Gumballs, an initially interesting trickle of information drying up hard and crusty as the "races" pile up and the page count creeps up over 300.
Let's get something straight: Roy is a winner of races that hardly anybody wants to race in. He is a winner of races that endanger innocent people's lives and that offer no reward for winning outside of a possible felony charge (these morons drive in excess of 100 mph and more.) What's more he creates his "racing" out of an event that isn't even supposed to be a race, that actively promotes itself as not being a race.
He is a douchebag among douchebags, pointlessly fabricating glory and exciting competition in an arena that nobody outside of the extremely wealthy even cares about. The Driver is mildly interesting when Roy relates to us his preparations for drives. Douchebag or no, you can't deny his intelligence or focus when it comes to this giant waste of time and human life (yes, later on in the book some innocent civilians are struck and killed by one of Roy's Gumball "competitors"), and the lengths to which he prepares for the "races" are fascinating in a sad and demented kind of way. The last third of The Driver revolves around Roy's attempt to set the speed record for driving across the entire country, coast to coast. He finds a way to do it in 31 hours, a remarkable feat.
A few good moments aside, however, The Driver mostly made me angry. That Roy is intelligent enough to be aware his exploits are endangering innocents, and that he has the perspective to freely admit his obsession is pointless and his idea of "racing" mostly imaginary, only increases his douchebaggery. If you're aware you're doing something idiotic and yet you still do it... again and again and again... well, that's not very impressive to me. To make matters worse, Roy has the audacity to cast himself as this outlaw hero, this brooding figure who is aware of all the risks, aware that all his family and friends think him a fool... but he has no choice. He is a "racer," a "competitor," and the call of the open road is bigger than anything else, bigger than the lives at stake, the potential felonies awaiting him and his "crew." He is "The Driver," and when push comes to shove, nothing else matters.
He is a Douche. Bag."
I read this a while ago. Quite enjoyed it, though I found my interest began to wane in the final 3rd. Its a little dated now, the technology that gave Roy the advantage over his competitors is now old hat and now pretty useless, but he captures the excitement of racing on public roads well.
With regards to the above comment, I'd say that you don't need to agree with what he's doing to find it an interesting read. Are you never going to read a biography about a serial killer or criminal because you don't agree with what they did? Things like this are interesting simply because they tell the story of things we'd never do, of worlds we'll never be a part of.
With regards to the above comment, I'd say that you don't need to agree with what he's doing to find it an interesting read. Are you never going to read a biography about a serial killer or criminal because you don't agree with what they did? Things like this are interesting simply because they tell the story of things we'd never do, of worlds we'll never be a part of.
RowntreesCabana said:
With regards to the above comment, I'd say that you don't need to agree with what he's doing to find it an interesting read. Are you never going to read a biography about a serial killer or criminal because you don't agree with what they did?
don't disagree and it was a review not my views - not sure your analogy stands as a bio of a serial killer is unlikely to be admiring or self-congratulatory. I fear this book might be which would annoy me - just a personal view.Have met Alex a couple of times and have to say he's nothing like he's portrayed in that review at all, I found him to be a likeable chap and a total and utter petrol head.
I also liked the book, kept me absorbed for a while and was much better to read than Kimble's ramblings on M5board
I also liked the book, kept me absorbed for a while and was much better to read than Kimble's ramblings on M5board
It's not bad. On a similar subject "Cannonball! World's Greatest Outlaw Road Race" was a much better read. See; http://www.caranddriver.com/features/the-last-cann... for one of the stories from the book.
Gassing Station | Books and Literature | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff