The Limit: Life and Death on the 1961 Grand Prix Circuit
Written by Michael Cannell
Narrated by Fred Stella
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Michael Cannell
MICHAEL CANNELL is the author of Incendiary: The Psychiatrist, the Mad Bomber and the Invention of Criminal Profiling; The Limit: Life and Death on the 1961 Grand Prix Circuit; and I.M. Pei: Mandarin of Modernism. He was an editor at the New York Times for seven years and has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and many other publications. He lives in New York City.
More audiobooks from Michael Cannell
A Brotherhood Betrayed: The Man Behind the Rise and Fall of Murder, Inc. Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Incendiary: The Psychiatrist, the Mad Bomber, and the Invention of Criminal Profiling Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to The Limit
Related audiobooks
Engines of Change: A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rome 1960: The Olympics that Changed the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Faster: How a Jewish Driver, an American Heiress, and a Legendary Car Beat Hitler's Best Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The World's Fastest Man: The Extraordinary Life of Cyclist Major Taylor, America's First Black Sports Hero Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slaying the Badger: Greg LeMond, Bernard Hinault, and the Greatest Tour de France Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Now It Can Be Told Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Best Game Ever: Giants vs. Colts, 1958, and the Birth of the Modern NFL Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It's All About the Bike: The Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rush to Glory: Formula 1 Racing's Greatest Rivalry Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mechanic's Tale: Life in the Pit-Lanes of Formula One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51994: The Untold Story: of a Tragic and Controversial F1 Season Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Race with Love and Death: The Story of Richard Seaman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Untold Stories From F1 During the 1990's Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lights Out, Full Throttle: The Good the Bad and the Bernie of Formula One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Aussie Grit: My Formula One Journey Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Max Verstappen: The Inside Track on a Formula One Star Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Team Lotus: Struggling Beyond The Post Colin Chapman Era Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Total Competition: Lessons in Strategy from Formula One Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Man in the White Suit: The Stig, Le Mans, The Fast Lane and Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Build a Car: The Autobiography of the World’s Greatest Formula 1 Designer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Charles Leclerc: A Biography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRacing with Rich Energy: How a Rogue Sponsor Took Formula One for a Ride Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lewis Hamilton: Championship Year 2017 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flat Out Flat Broke Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5George Russell: A Biography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLando Norris: A Biography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGO! The Bettenhausen Story: The Race Against A Dream Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMurray Walker: Unless I’m Very Much Mistaken Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Racing to the Finish: My Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Sports Biographies For You
Elevate and Dominate: 21 Ways to Win On and Off the Field Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5MOX Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Endure: How to Work Hard, Outlast, and Keep Hammering Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Breathe: A Life in Flow Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fast Girl: A Life Spent Running from Madness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Under the Black Hat: My Life in the WWE and Beyond Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Build a Car: The Autobiography of the World’s Greatest Formula 1 Designer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Golden: The Miraculous Rise of Steph Curry Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The TB12 Method: How to Achieve a Lifetime of Sustained Peak Performance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Smart Money: How the World's Best Sports Bettors Beat the Bookies Out of Millions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unguarded Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Darkness to Light: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Young Bucks: Killing the Business from Backyards to the Big Leagues Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Path Lit By Lightning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life's Too Short to Go So F*cking Slow: Lessons from an Epic Friendship That Went the Distance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5LeBron Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sixty-One: Life Lessons from Papa, On and Off the Court Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Just Tyrus: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Straight Shooter: A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tiger Woods Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Where Tomorrows Aren't Promised Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lita: A less Travelled R.O.A.D.--The Reality of Amy Dumas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Forward: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When the Game Was Ours Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Longest Race: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike's Elite Running Team Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Run the Mile You're In: Finding God in Every Step Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Birth of The Endless Summer: A Surf Odyssey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Limit
25 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Racing in the 1950s was a blood sport. Driver and spectator were regularly killed. One accident killed 50 and injured 200 more, it was unspeakably horrible. And they raced on, the winner taking the podium. The cars were not yet festooned with corporate sponsorship, rather a solid color reflecting the country - Italy red, Germany silver, Britain green etc.. it was a battle of nations in the aftermath of WWII, the killing now refined to a few super-star gladiators who took their role seriously. A loss was a national disgrace. And the women, always beautiful and available. Booze, parties, and movie stars. Live fast and die young was not just a saying, they created it, James Dean was a racing fan. The technology was primitive, drivers often Jerry-riged cars mid-race to keep them going after some part or another blew or dropped off. Phil Hill, the American driver who won the 1961 Grand Prix Circuit and subject of the book, was a master of this sort of thing who could get into the "zone" and intuitively read and understand his vehicle by sound and feel. Other drivers like the German Wolfgang von Trips operated on sheer balls. Some lasted, many did not. The tolerance for risk was very high then, it says something how much we have gained and lost.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5While I've been aware of the outlines of this tale for a long time, Michael Cannell does a fine job of distilling down several generations of coverage to give you a joint life and times of Phil Hill and Wolfgang von Trips and the insanely intense environment they performed in. This being a time when the overhang of World War II was still like yesterday and Von Trips easily slipped into the role of being a unifying hero for Germany, whereas Hill mostly drove out of a love of cars and an existential need to prove his own relevance to himself. There are any number of ironies that you can point to in this tale of sport run in the spirit of war but the most poignant one is that while Trips became the beloved martyr in death, Hill was reduced to something of an afterthought (particularly since his racing skills rapidly deteriorated after 1961). Except Hill was the man who went on to have a happy family life when he thought that was out of reach.