Major Taylor

The Inspiring Story of a Black Cyclist and the Men Who Helped Him Achieve Worldwide Fame

By: Conrad Kerber, Terry Kerber

Narrated by: Barrie Buckner

Length: 15 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

In the wake of the Tour de France’s fallen heroes, the story of one of history’s most legendary cyclists provides a much-needed antidote. In 1907 the world’s most popular athlete was not Cy Young or Ty Cobb. Rather, he was a black bicycle racer named "Major” Taylor.

In his day, Taylor became a spiritual and athletic idol. He was the fastest man in America and a champion who prevailed over unspeakable cruelty. The men who aided him were among the most colorful to emerge from the era. When hotel and restaurant operators denied Taylor food and lodgings, forcing him to sleep in horse stables and to race hungry, there was a benevolent racer-turned-trainer named Birdie Munger, who took Taylor under his wing and into his home. Then along came Arthur Zimmerman, an internationally famous bike racer, who gently mentored Taylor when some riders drew the color line and refused to race against him. Taylor’s manager, pugnacious Irishman and famed Broadway producer William Brady, stood up for him when track owners tried barring him from competition. From the Old World came a rakishly handsome, mustachioed sports promoter named Victor Breyer, who lured Taylor overseas for a dramatic, Seabiscuit versus War Admiral-like match race that would be widely remembered a quarter century later.

With a foreword by World Champion and three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond, this spellbinding saga of fortitude, grace, forgiveness, and a man’s unyielding will to win against the greatest of odds is sure to become a classic that will be enjoyed by everyone.

©2014 Conrad Kerber and Terry Kerber (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

This is a remarkable story that is known by very few.

The story was written using vivid language to help the listener envision a time with few videos and photographs. The performer occasionally struggles with pronunciation.

Fantastic Book - Epic Story

I really enjoyed this story about a Major Taylor. A great American hero that was loved everywhere in the world, but never completely accepted here in America. He succeed in becoming the first black American world champion in cycling.

The narrator was not up the level a book like this deserves. In addition the countless mispronunciations (including the name of Greg LeMond in the forward), there where times the narrator was droning through sentences as if he was just trying to get this done.

I have recommended this book and will continue to do so, but not without caveats

Please re-record this wonderful book and get Don Chesal’s to read it.

Major Taylor, great story, bad performance.

And amazing story however delivered in a very unfortunate way. The reader miss pronounced so many words, it really detracted from the amazing life of Major Taylor. The editing was also extremely poor and unfortunate as well.

My life is better for knowing this story

Truly Inspiring yet Major Taylor's life story has left me with an extremely heavy heart.

Embarrassing Mispronunciations

The story is like none other in the history of American sport. That being said, the performance is deplorable. The amount of and consistency of mispronunciations is truly incredible! Greg Lemond, John McEnroe, velodrome, peloton...the list keeps going of words the narrator butchered. There was obviously no quality control and no one in charge heard the book before it was released. It is a shame that a story this amazing is held back by the over bearing annoyance of a plethora of mispronunciations.

Amazing story of untold hero

The Story of Major Taylor is equally great and tragic. narration is sub-par. worth reading.

Great Story, poor narrator

This is one of the best cycling stories I have heard but the editing is just poor and narration is loaded with mispronunciations.

Very good book; narration was problematic

I truly enjoyed the information in the book. The research was incredible. Great detail.
I could not get past the mispronunciations throughout the text: Greg LeMond became lemond, pelotón & several others made it difficult to listen. This book was the first time that I adjusted the speed of narration so I could get through the book faster. An editor would have improved the story for me.

Awesome book!

Loved this book! Great history of one of the world's greatest athletes a. Just wonderful.

Great book terrible narrator

Let me start by saying how much I loved this STORY! Major Taylor is one of the greatest cyclists and most influential African-Americans in history. The dramatic Flair and beautiful attention to detail bring Major Taylor back to life! I am unable to give it all the stars it deserves simply due to the narrator. I can forgive many of the mispronunciations of foreign languages, but it is much harder to forgive when the names and words are some of the most common and well-known in the cycling vocabulary. I suffered the butchering of words Peloton and the velodrome for chapters but was still shocked when the founder of the Tour de France had his name mangled beyond recognition. Things became even worse towards the end of the book when the narrator ceased to edit out his stumbles but left himself reading the same sentence three times trying to figure it out. I hope this book is re-recorded in the years to come as I would love to listen to it again, but that will have to wait until somebody else is reading it.