What If I Had Never Tried It: The Autobiography | 
 enlarge | Author: Valentino Rossi
Publisher: Motorbooks
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $14.80
You Save: $10.15 (41%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 41463
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1
ISBN: 0760326827
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.75092
EAN: 9780760326824
ASIN: 0760326827
Publication Date: April 9, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Hardback book with BRIGHT DUST JACKET is NEW!
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Product Description
What If I had Never Tried It is the first autobiography of arguably the world's greatest motorcycle road racing champion, Valentino Rossi. Certainly he is the greatest in modern times and similarly the best loved. This is the official, personal story: fast paced yet insightful.
Rossi’s record in the motorcycle road racing World Championship is supreme. First in the ultra-competitive 125 class starting in 1996; then in the 250 class only to graduate shortly thereafter to the big league of the 500s. In 2002 the premier class switched direction moving from 500 cc two-strokes to 990 cc four-strokes from then on to be known as MotoGP. Rossi rides for Honda and wins. He wins on a Honda the next year and then switches to Yamaha, to every race fans’ surprise, and wins against all odds. He wins again in 2005. No one is close. No one is faster. And all at speeds which approach 200 mph.
Both on and off-track, on the ubiquitous TV screen or walking in the street, Rossi is idolized as though he were a rock star. From his native Italy to California, from Philips Island to Laguna Seca, he has raised the limits, reshaped the frontiers of the sport and set new trends. Rossi has become the 21st Century face of motorcycle road racing. Yet he remains faithful to himself?one moment the intelligent, articulate interviewee; the next a jokester; the next the single-minded, focused, strategic racer with split-second skills the rest of us can only dream of.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 Ug. He shouldn't have tried it. June 4, 2008
This book is a LONG read. I don't know if the translation got lost, but it was painful. I don't know if Rossi actually penned the verse, but it comes across as poorly written and not at all thought out.
His stories are all over the place, and he tends to say the same thing over and over again, but in different ways.
On the plus side, it does help explain a bit about Rossi, and what he's about.
 Awesome June 3, 2008
This guy is the best rider in the world and his story is very interesting.
A typical "as told to" book May 12, 2008
In America there's not much coverage of Moto GP, so I didn't know that Valentino Rossi is one of the highest-paid athletes on the planet and a national hero in Italy. I began to watch Moto GP on satellite TV in Thailand about three years ago and was captivated by Rossi. He used to stand on the podium with a little smile on his face, as if to say, "What fools these mortals be!" He hasn't been winning so much lately, but he did two weeks ago in an awesome display of excellence.
It's hard to imagine just how competitive Moto GP is; tons of money are involved and every one of the riders is incredibly talented. We're talking speeds of more than 200 mph on two wheels. Rossi has been World Champion seven times, which should give you an idea of his skill and determination, especially when you realize how many times he has crashed or fallen off the bike. Success never came all that easy.
The book is a typical "as told to" effort by Enrico Borghi, a motorcycle journalist, and translated by Gabriele Marcotti. It is probably as close to Rossi's own beliefs as possible, but it's not great literature. A lot of time is spent on why he races bikes instead of cars (except for his adventures in rally racing, one of the most difficult competitions in the world), why he was happy to leave Honda, and how many friends from his village he is still very close to. I could have done with a bit less self-justification, but he claims to have been persecuted by the press all along, and this is his chance to speak his piece.
Rossi is a fascinating person, a gorgeous man if ever there was one, and if you are at all interested in him or in motorsport you will enjoy this book.
The only other thing I've been able to find about Rossi was an interview in a British man's magazine that said he likes Dire Straits. Hey, Vale! I like Dire Straits, too.
James Ashley Shea
Great read - really enjoyable April 6, 2008
I'm not one to read lots of books, but this one was easy to read and I didn't put it down until I finished it in about 2 days. I'm a Rossi fan and it was pretty cool to read about the things from his past and present and the reasons he does wat he does. His good humor comes through or sure.
super March 17, 2008
I bought this books because I was just intrigued with the fact that someone writes autobiography being 27 years old. I do not think he did it for a money or fame so I wanted to check it out. I am not fan of Valentino or Moto GP. This book by far surpassed my expectations. It is written in the way as you would talk to the person with conversation jumping from one thing to another without much chronological order and this make it enjoyable reading.
Two things I liked the most is that he pays a lot of tribute to the team what is quite rare in his position. Other thing is that he reveals such intimate details and opinions about his decision making and motivation, as well about honda and yamaha teams which is really unusual keeping in mind the guy is still in the business.
One thing I miss is to learn what was the writing process and to which degree Borghi was decided on the style and content. I think the ending could have been written better, but it is always the thing with good books.
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