The Book of Stock Car Wisdom Compiled & Edited by Criswell Freeman

Drivers are a breed apart. Ken Squier observed, “The stock car driver is the new American cowboy.” Like gunfighters at a showdown, racers face danger with a calm resignation that leaves the rest of us in awe.

A slim book that I stumbled across. A quick browse led me to the above excerpt, and I must say that I found much of what is within the pages remarkably akin to the Old West sentiment. 

With that said, not essential, but also not trivial.

Those who risk their lives in skin-in-the-game endeavors have something to say.

The Big Book of Biker Flicks by John Wooley and Michael H. Price

“I had gotten this idea in 1967 for a new kind of Western. We’d put these two hipsters on cycles in place of cowboys on horses, and turn ‘em loose in a lawless modern-day world.” Peter Fonda on Easy Rider

This book sports the full title The Big Book of Biker Flicks: 40 of the Best Motorcycle Movies of all Time, it is a large lavishly illustrated guide to the subject.

Plot synopses, behind-the-scenes takes on the making, and many comparisons to the Old School Western.

The authors seem to love all these films whether good or bad, but I wager if you have a fondness for a few biker flicks at all and can see Fonda’s parallels to the Western you might find this a fun browsing book.