MYTH MAKER OR MYTH BUSTER?
Review: By Brian Burford
::::::: IVAN MAUGER: THE MAN BEHIND THE MYTH by John Chaplin is published by The History Press (£14.99) and is available direct from The History Press, The Mill, Brimscombe Port, Stroud, Glos, GL5 2QG, http://www.thehistorypress.co.uk; or http://www.amazon.co.uk;
www.thebookdepository.co.uk and Waterstones.
Another book on Ivan Mauger; well there's been a few over the years with the Mauger name adorning its cover. This one comes quite soon after his well-received autobiography, The Will to Win, but I'll wager that you haven't read one quite like this before.
Well-known speedway journalist and founding editor of The Vintage Speedway Magazine, John Chaplin, has collected, interviewed and edited a multitude of stories from the Kiwi's family, friends, and the sport's personalities - some famous and others less so - to present an unconventional narrative of talking heads all telling their largely supportive tales of Ivan Mauger.
Having heard a fair bit about this book before its publication, this style surprised me. While Chaplin's prose does appear from time-to-time to link together the various voices, apart from the introduction/foreword, its 160 pages continues with this style throughout. And it works.
This approach makes it an easy and flexible read but, crucially, creates a different and often more accessible work of its subject's complex character than Ivan's own tome.
You can pick it up, read a tale or two and put it back down again without losing the thread of the story, or you can read the whole thing in one go should you prefer. Furthermore, as we're led to believe that the current generation possesses a short attention span, perhaps this style may appeal to younger readers who want to know what all the fuss is about.
During the height of his career, Mauger would strike fear into the hearts of his rivals - part of the myth of the title. It would appear that fear factor is still evident today because I've found it quite amusing to read some ex-riders mostly glowing appreciation of the Kiwi when privately they've been very critical of his ability and, in some cases, his character. One of the contributors once protested angrily to me that 'he wasn't a racer,' yet he's not felt comfortable to express such condemnation in print.
That's not to say that there isn't criticism because there is. Ove Fundin's brief rebuff and the late Neil Street's short but telling sentence: 'Don't talk to me about Ivan Mauger...he's no friend of mine!' says more than a page of explanation would. And this opposition to Ivan is in stark contrast to that of his son-in-law's almost apathetic appreciation and his grandson's admiration.
Mauger is a divisive figure but a lot of the scorn is motivated by jealousy - six individual world titles is more than enough for any racer. Furthermore, his ambition coupled with his determination to make the most out the sport and himself made more enemies than friends, as is illustrated by his exchange with Bob Andrews and threatened court action against Peter Adams.
Sometimes the chronology of the stories doesn't always hang together too well and there are a few that really don't add much and wouldn't be missed (Michanek's clash with Peter Collins in '73 has nothing to do with Mauger) but overall many parts of his personality are explored.
The point of the book is to reveal the real man behind the myth and, mostly, this volume achieves that aim. Anyone who has spent time with him, who wasn't a competitor, will know that at the very least you come away with a renewed respect.
Chaplin strives for perfection, but a project of this size is not without its mistakes and there is one glaring error that should be rectified for the re-print, that being Anders Michanek's World Championship was won in 1974, not '84 as it states. A typing error? Or perhaps Mr Chaplin is just making sure we're paying attention.
There are plenty of photographs spread throughout the book, including a glossy section. The cover photo is a good choice, but why they felt the need to replicate it inside, other than to ram home its irony, is a bit of a mystery; especially as the art work from celebrated motor sports artist, Michael Turner, is relegated to a small reproduction on the title page.
This is an intriguing and insightful read that reveals several sides of Mauger's personality, some good, some bad and some very laudable. You may wonder what the man himself will think of it? The paradox of it is, this book is likely to add more aura to the image of arguably the greatest speedway rider all time. For that alone, I feel that Ivan will take some satisfaction from its presence on the shelves.
:::This review originally appeared in ‘Speedway Star’ and was forwarded by the author John Chaplin.