If you've seen, and loved, "The World's Fastest Indian" you might want to think twice about reading this book. Despite a good deal of romantization on the part of author Tim Hanna, the Burt Munroe depicted here is not exactly the kindly old coot seen in the movie. The real Munroe was a single-minded, often difficult, man who, in truth, abandoned his family, and ignored a good many social graces in order to pursue his one interest single mindedly.

But then, history is rarely made by gentle, accomodating people, and in this regard, the real Burt Munroe does not disappoint. While the movie is charming in its depiction of the kindly innocent abroad, the real story is much more complex, and in the ned, much more interesting. Munroe was anything but the naiive innicent abroad on his first (of many) trips to America. He'd lived in Australia, travelled to England and much of the continent, and was quite the sophisticated traveller when he arrived at Bonneville. His knowledge of engineer was indeed largely self taught, but he also took advantage of the wisdom and experience (and good graces) of many others who advised him along his way.

Hanna does a very good job of telling Munroe's story- although he is perhaps a bit too eager to recreate conversations and internal monologues for my tastes. Still, it does help to move the narration along. And he does treat Munroe's relationship with his family rather perfunctorily, although I suppose it could be argued that it's not really the aspect of his life that people are most interested in.

Fans of motor racing and motorcycles will find much to enjoy here, particularly as George Begg's biography of Munroe (which Hanna acknowledges was a major source) is no longer in print.

I patiently waited out many Amazon "order delays" figuring the book had a high order rate after the movie was released. Finally arrived about a week ago. The book is very well written and gives a great amount of detail on this slightly "odd" but determined fellow. I have not seen the movie yet as it came and went in our town in about one week. The one character flaw that shows up for Mr. Munro is that in the pursuit of his goal he seemed to forget he had a family. Worth the read. Could use some more pictures......

I saw the movie first and absolutely loved it. Got the book from Europe after two failed attempts to order in the US.
It is an inspiring story with a good mix of technical detail and personal info about Burt Munro. It's well written all in all, not high literature, but a good bio style. Captivating and easy to read. Has some nice photographs also.
I loved the movie but thought that some scenes must have been exaggerated for dramatic purposes. Reading the book made me rethink: attaching a tree to the trailer to fix a lost wheel, old men need love too, mowing grass by burning it with gas,... It all appears in the book also, maybe slightly rearranged in the timeline though. Some things the man has done make you shake your head in disbelief.
If you like bikes, liked the movie, and like to read, you more than likely will enjoy this book also.

The book is great. I ordered it here back in early February, and eventually cancelled my Amazon order.

The book is published in the UK or New Zealand by Penguin, and there are probably copyright issues getting it over here in the US that have delayed publishing (it used to be the same way with Che Guevara's "Motorcycle Diaries" - also published in the UK but rather hard to find in the US for a long time...)

If you must use Amazon, try Amazon.co.uk

Cheers, and Happy Reading / Riding!!