Member Reviews
Christy W, Reviewer
4 stars!
A interesting book about a fascinating man. It was well written with great details.
I voluntarily read an advanced copy.
Andy L, Reviewer
Enzo Ferrari achieved the rare distinction of being famous enough to be known by just his first name. His lifelong passion for racing created vehicles whose styling and performance created a world-wide following of fans. Luca Dal Monte tries to capture the successes and failures the man behind that brand.
=== The Good Stuff ===
* The book provides a look at the simplicity and complexity of Enzo Ferrari. Ferrari began with a single ambition to build a racing team capable of winning every car race it could enter. Toward that goal, he became a race driver, team manager, vehicle designer and industrialist.
* Dal Monte provides a look at the complexity of Ferrari’s personality. We see the cold side of his relationship with his wife Laura, the love and heartfelt loss for his son Dino, the loyalty and callousness that he showed to business associates and the dedication and petty tantrums that marked his personality.
* The book is easy to read and the writing flows smoothly, While automobiles are central to the story of Enzo Ferrari, the book stands alone as the biography of a man with a passion in life, and his willingness to make sacrifices to achieve his goals. And while we think of Ferrari as an amazing success story, he did pay a personal price for his triumph.
=== The Not-So-Good Stuff ===
* The level of detail, especially at the beginning of the book, is a bit overdone. While I am a casual fan of auto racing, I began to lose interest reading paragraph after paragraph of who won a race held in 1933. As Ferrari became more famous, and worth of more attention, the later parts of the book are much richer in analysis and more interesting.
* I was reading a draft copy, so this may be different in the finished version, but the book screamed for pictures. Photos of the cars described in the book gave a much better understanding of the vehicles being discussed.
* The book is more about Ferrari the man than it is the vehicles. The technical side of racing, while obviously present in the book, usually takes a back-seat to the personal and business relationships.
=== Summary ===
While I found the beginning of the book a bit tedious at times, overall it was a fascinating look at the life of a man with a simple passion. While Ferrari achieved tremendous successes in his chosen field, he had his share of setbacks and failures. True racing fans will wish for more details of both his cars and his business relationships, but overall I enjoyed the book. There were many of those little details (in his most successful years, Ferrari hardly ever attended an auto race) that make a biography seem personal.
