Jay Leno looks over a copy of Riding Man with Mark Gardiner.
Jay Leno recently chose Riding Man as the very first motorcycle book ever included under the Jay's Book Club banner on
JayLenosGarage.com.
Although he's better known for his collection of vintage cars, Leno's an avid rider and the owner of over 100 motorcycles, including several vintage race bikes with their own Isle of Man histories. Like many motorcyclists, he vividly remembers seeing on-board TT videos but knew little of the actual TT experience until reading Riding Man. He called Riding Man “An amazing story,” and said, “It's a fascinating read,.. I highly recommend it.” In fact, he's done more than recommend the book, he's made it the subject of a 12-minute interview with Mark on his web site.
The book, written by Mark Gardiner, is memoir of a year spent attempting to first qualify for, then finish, a TT race on the Isle of Man. Mark often describes himself as, “the only average guy whose ever ridden in the TT.” That may be, but Leno's selection of Riding Man suggests that Mark is far from average as a writer.
“A few weeks ago,” says Mark, “I interviewed Jay for Classic Bike magazine. He told me that he was planning to tape some new segments of 'Jay's Book Club' for his JayLenosGarage.com web site. Sure enough, a short time later he called and asked me to come back up to the garage to tape an interview. He's a total gearhead, an avid motorcyclist. Like so many riders, he's fascinated with the Isle of Man even though he's never been there. I think he appreciated the travelogue aspect of Riding Man, and the ability to vicariously come along for the ride.”
“Jay totally understands the living-out-a-dream aspect of Riding Man,” adds Mark “but I have to say that I would not have dared to dream that one day he'd be interviewing me about my book. I gave up everything I had to ride in the TT—I quit a lucrative advertising job, sold all my possessions, and spent my life's savings to have my Isle of Man adventure. From the beginning, my goal was not just to ride in the TT, but to write about it. I felt that no one had ever really given motorcycle racing a fair shake in literature. What I didn't realize was that while choosing to race on The Island involved taking a controlled risk, publishing a book about it involved jumping into uncharted waters. I wasn't sure how it would work out, but with Jay's help, that decision may prove to have been slightly less crazy than the decision to enter the TT.”
Gardiner hopes that the exposure his book gets on
JayLenosGarage.com will help to make more motorcyclists aware of Riding Man. Leno opens each book club segment with a little jab at Oprah, saying, “There's no weight loss or self-help here,” but the fact is for guys with grease under their fingernails, Jay's Book Club is more influential than hers.
“I've always known that the first audience for Riding Man would be avid motorcyclists,” says Gardiner. “But I also believe that Riding Man's underlying themes—about the pursuit of dreams at any cost, and the search for a spiritual home—are universal. Maybe this exposure will also help to attract the attention of reviewers from outside the motorcycle segment.”
“Although I enjoy doing public readings from Riding Man and have occasionally interviewed celebrities in my work as a journalist, this was the first time a celebrity's interviewed me. It could have been stressful, but Jay's totally down to earth. Being interviewed by him in his garage is more like a bench racing session with an old friend.”
The JayLenosGarage web site is produced by NBC Universal, and the Riding Man segment makes extensive use of documentary footage from the film
One Man's Island.
Jay's interview with Mark can be seen here:
www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/video_player.shtml?vid=1137648
