Guy Martin: My Autobiography – Audible book review

I regularly used to say I was born and bred in Kirmington, because up until recently I always thought of the real town of my birth as a shithole. The truth is I actually arrived in this world in Grimsby, in 1981. I was born in the maternity hospital in Nunsthorpe, the roughest estate in the town. I was, and still am, Guy Martin – no middle name. 

Autobiographies are generally shit, it’s rare to read about a person who’s honest with himself. Most of these stories focus completely on how awesome the dude who wrote the aforementioned story is, which kinda kills the fun.

But not Guy Martin.

If you know bikes, you know Guy Martin, but if you really want to know him, do the following:

1. Take your phone
2. Download the Audible app
3. Sign up for the 30-day free trial
4. You’ll get 1 free book, choose the one in the title
5. Listen

When I was in college, I used to read, a lot. Over the years the number steadily went down. I still read, a lot, but it’s mostly online articles, the problem with which is that it’s a lot of reading about a lot of different things. It’s like a random Attention Deficit Disorder orgy.

A few months ago I downloaded Audible. I had heard about it for years, but never tried it, don’t know why. Even when I got the app and started paying the 800 buck a month subscription fee, I still didn’t use it. Some door got unhinged somewhere last month, and I’m already done with 3 books.

The beauty of audio books, for me, is how easy it is to not distract yourself off of them. If I’m reading a book, a physical book, my mind is constantly thinking about other crap, grocery shopping, next article, condoms, and that isn’t really useful. With Audible, I put on my headphones, lie down, and close my eyes.

It’s just you and the words.

I don’t think I have to tell you Guy Martin’s autobiography kicks ass, it’s basically true by default. It’s like talking to yourself, you understand everything he’s trying to say because it’s being spoken by a mind free of all complications that inflict the human condition.

It also helps that the book isn’t narrated by Guy himself, otherwise you’d need subtitles in a bloody audio book.

The book is all about simplicity, letting yourself get carried away by the wave, but still working hard to do what you want, while having fun. It’s very easy to forget in the current corporate culture that you can live a meaningful life without committing suicide by brain fucking. I don’t understand this mindset that prevails nowadays, the mindset that your level of success in life is measured by how miserable you feel inside, how many of your dreams you shit on to get your bank balance where it is now, how many of others dreams you shit on to get your ego where it is now.

Get the book.