Book Review: You Don't Know the Half of It

I've just read Aaron Slight's autobiography You Don't Know the Half of It for the second time, and I do recommend it.

Bike racers books tend to be distinctly low brow, sometimes shallow, and mostly lacking any real insights. Against these criteria Slight's book is a brilliant read.

Known to many as the guy that never won the WSB title and remembered by me as the man that was right all along about the need for better rules, Slight's career in WSB ended in 2000 when he was unceremoniously dumped by Honda.

Great clip here from when John "I clean my mars bars" K won the title on the RVF after a season of typically bad luck for Slight.



And when an argument/battle with Neil Hodgson cost him the 98 title.



I originally bought the book hoping to take joy from yet more evidence that Foggy was an idiot but I ended up being surprised by the depths of his story and my admiration for him went even higher as a result.

I had no idea about the trauma's caused by his brain bleed and resulting stroke. In short Aaron knew for yonks that something was seriously wrong but nothing was found by doctors. I can only imagine the damage this would do to one's self confidence in the unbelievably testing environment of world championship racing. How he got through that and came back strong is the mark of the man.

How Honda dumped him after being proven wrong is the mark of the company.

Proof that nice guys don't win.

A compelling story. Read it.

(theres excerpts from the book in one of the Kiwi newspapers here...)