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Black Noon: The Year They Stopped The Indy 500 (2014)

by Art Garner(Favorite Author)

4.19 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1250017777 (ISBN13: 9781250017772)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Thomas Dunne Books

review 1: Before I bought "Black Noon," I was only mildly familiar with perhaps the most horrifying day the Indianapolis 500 has ever experienced. But it took Art Garner's incredible research to put the entire month of May 1964 into perspective, and do so with the thoroughness of a heart surgeon, producing a heart surgeon-grade dissemination and analysis of the events that led up to the accident that killed veteran Eddie Sachs and rookie Dave MacDonald, killing them in the most awful way Indy (then) could do - fire. Having listened to the radio broadcast back then, I knew where each problem was leading and thus, the outcome, but having Art Garner's carefully-selected words explain and make sense of it all made a big difference. And when you see the Bibliography is 8 categorized and... more detailed pages, you'll understand how serious a book this is.
review 2: On an absolute basis this book would not rate 5 stars, but as a book about auto racing it is probably the best that I have read. It helped that I recall this race very well, as I listened to it while lying on the floor in front of my parents' console radio on that fateful day.Garner does an excellent job of pacing the narrative and of mixing drivers' biographies into the story at various points. He also covers the technical details quite well, as this was an era of almost unlimited innovation with few rules or restrictions, which probably was a factor in why the accident happened. It was a time when someone barely above the level of a "backyard mechanic" could put something together to try his ideas and have a chance of getting into the field. So as well as covering the drivers, he does a good job of covering the owners and inventors such as Mickey Thompson and Andy Granatelli.The best section of the book is the day by day coverage of the month of May, which in those days was entirely consumed by the Indy 500. All of the experimentation, controversies, drivers switching teams, etc. is covered very well while never becoming tedious. By the time the book gets to the race, there is a feeling of inevitability in what is about to happen.This book should be read by every fan of every type of auto racing. less

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