Fast Company

A Memoir of Life, Love, and Motorcycles in Italy

De: David M. Gross

Narrado por: Grover Gardner

David M. Gross pens a wry yet ecstatic love letter to the uproarious, style-obsessed city of Bologna and the motorcycle that gave him the freedom to live life at its fastest.

David Gross is working as a corporate lawyer in New York when he gets a call from a friend inviting him to move to Bologna to help turn around a legendary Italian motorcycle company, known for its dominance on the track and its inability to turn a profit. Off he heads to the fabled home of marbled meats, radical leftist politics, and bespoke shoes, diving into his new life as the "corporate image consultant" to gearheads while learning to navigate the giddy mores of Bolognese society. There he sparks the business's "spectacularization" with sexy ad campaigns starring factory workers who, when not on strike, strut to the espresso machine clad in Versace. But above all, he is seduced by speed and the discovery that becoming a better motorcycle rider means tapping into dormant parts of his self that were just waiting to be unleashed.

©2007 David M. Gross (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.

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The writing is top notch as is the narration, but I was a little unsettled by the descriptions of the author's lovers and love life. These parts of the book seemed to go nowhere and they disrupted (to me) the flow of the book.
But it was a good "listen".

Not so great.

Just plain old not-so-great.... It seemed pretty negative, but it is a memoir so I suppose he's just telling it how he sees it. However the book was a far cry from the editor's summary and not what I expected.

Very enjoyable!

One of the best, if not the best audio book about motorcycling, expertly read by Grover. The book was enhanced by his reading. Funny, informative on Italy, Italians, and Ducati. I listened time and again on long driving trips. You'll love it.

Disappointed

As a long time Ducatista, I guess my expectations were simply too high. . . The book is another pointless "how I spent my Italian vacation." Very little details or real insight into Ducati, or the details of the business turn-around.

Eye Opening

I own a Ducati. Multistrada, a model introduced during the time frame covered in this book.!!