Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1410086
P130 BOOK REVIEW I Leathered is Hopkins's ode to a life lived precariously on the edge. From growing up just out of L.A. and riding the fire trails in the High Desert, ripping through the AMA ranks and joining MotoGP as a 17-year-old, to signing multi- million-dollar contracts in one of the most lucrative times in MotoGP history, Leathered gives the reader a glimpse into a world very, very few will ever experience. However, the motorcycle racing portion of Leathered is secondary to the real story, that of Hopkins' struggle with everything from alcohol to prescription drugs, his battles with the law and his quest to find an inner peace that seem- ingly goes at odds with his tat- tooed, wild as f**k persona. Crashes, injuries, pain and the medication that often followed put an incredible strain on Hopkins, and his addictive character seemed to always find the worst side ef- fects in things that were supposed to make him better. The book is about as honest as you'll ever read, certainly from a professional sportsman's point of view, where one life was lived in front of your TV screen every second Sunday and another very different one when the checkered flag fell. T here are very few people who have lived a life like John Hopkins and are still here to tell the tale. Most, even if they are here, certainly wouldn't want to write a book for the world to read about the ups, downs, good and very bad parts of their lives, but then, John Hopkins isn't most people. a life lived precariously on the edge. From growing up just out of L.A. and riding the fire trails in the High Desert, ripping through the AMA ranks and joining MotoGP as a 17-year-old, to signing multi- million-dollar contracts in one of the most lucrative times in MotoGP history, a glimpse into a world very, very few will ever experience. portion of to the real story, that of Hopkins' struggle with everything from alcohol to prescription drugs, his battles with the law and his quest to find an inner peace that seem ingly goes at odds with his tat tooed, wild as f**k persona. medication that often followed put an incredible strain on Hopkins, and his addictive character seemed to always find the worst side ef fects in things that were supposed to make him better. T here are very few people who J O H N H O