King of the Road: True Tales from a Legendary Ice Road Trucker [Paperback]

Though I have never watched an episode of Ice Road Truckers on the History Channel I have seen the commercials. I was always curious about it but never got around to watching an episode. When I saw this book at the store it caught my attention and I thought this character Alex Debogorski would be a fun guy to get to know. Needless to say before I even finished the book I started searching the History Channel as far as my Direct TV guide would go. I haven't found it yet, so it must be between seasons and reruns. By the time I finished this enjoyable, interesting, amusing, larger than life tale, I decided I will go to the video store and see if I can rent a season. Alex's story is that good! He's a rough and tumble Canadian "Red Neck" who never backed away from anything... whether it made sense to or not. His life story is a John Wayne movie on ice. The portion of Alex's life that describes his fame and stardom out of nowhere on Ice Road Truckers is a very small part of the book... and rightfully so... because his life leading up to it stands above and beyond his recent TV career.

His parents escaped from Poland during the war, and their exploits included, among other things, helping Jews escape, and this of course helped define the man Alex became. His childhood in the frigid Northwest Territories of Canada in routine weather conditions of twenty to forty degrees below zero... along with a family that fixed things themselves... castrated animals... and didn't watch TV... led to a life full of stories expertly told to the reader as if you were sitting on a barstool next to Alex in some freezing wayward town. His teenage and young "adult" car adventures could fuel a movie by themselves. Everything from being hit by a train... to numerous run-ins with the law. The Six-foot-three two-hundred-fifty-pound fist-throwing story-telling-truck-driver-bouncer... takes you along on his riotous-religious-loving... and always hardworking life. Interspersed with these manly maneuvers is the love of his life his wife Louise and his family that eventually grows to I believe (It grows so fast it's hard to keep track of.) ten kids and many, many, grandchildren. Throughout the book there are quotes from family, friends, and working acquaintances that verify the hard to believe stories. His children are raised with the same beliefs in hard work. Amazingly the stories which never slow down... vary from bar brawls... to serious accidents... to Alex babysitting his kids, which he thinks is easy... and within twenty-four-hours of babysitting his house burns down! Then of course there was the high school graduation party which wound up with a death match with trucks running at each other... people being run over... people literally on fire... and at the end of that evening in addition to a now ubiquitous ambulance arrival... **FIFTY-ONE-GRADUATING STUDENTS HAD TO BE TREATED FOR SHOCK!**

I haven't even mentioned the unbelievable reality of what ice road trucking really is. It's so hard to believe and even fathom. First of all an average guy like me never even knew it existed... let alone the constant fear of driving giant trucks and enormously heavy equipment over frozen lakes that can be hundreds of feet deep. To hear an experienced now "infamous" ICE ROAD TRUCKER like Alex say the following will give you a small idea of what's in store for a potential reader: "ON A COLD WINTER NIGHT THE ICE NEVER STOPS TALKING. YOU'LL BE AMAZED AT THE SOUNDS YOU GET FROM A FROZEN LAKE. SOMETIMES IT RUMBLES LIKE THE STOMACH OF THE WORLD'S BIGGEST COW. THEN IT SQUEALS AND CHIRPS AND MOANS. WHEN THE ICE IS HAPPY IT CRACKS WHEN YOU DRIVE A BIG TRUCK ACROSS IT. IF THE LAKE IS CRACKING THE OLD-TIMERS SAYS IT'S "MAKING ICE." EVERY TIME IT CRACKS, IT'S A LITTLE STRONGER. MAYBE THE WATER IS SEEPING INTO THE CRACKS AND FREEZING AGAIN. WHATEVER THE REASON, ICE IS STRONGER AND THICKER WHEN YOU DRIVE BIG TRUCKS ON IT. SO WHEN I'M DRIVING IN A BAD SPOT I'LL SOMETIMES LEAVE THE WINDOW OPEN AND LISTEN FOR THE CRACKING. IT'S NOT JUST SO I CAN ENJOY THE SOUND OF THE ICE, EITHER-IT'S ALSO SO I CAN BAIL OUT THE WINDOW IF NECESSARY. AFTER ALL THESE YEARS I'M STILL NOT TOTALLY COMFORTABLE DRIVING A HEAVY TRUCK ON THE ICE. AND EVEN THOUGH THOSE CRACKING SOUNDS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD, IT'S STILL EERIE LISTENING TO THEM, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S YOUR FIRST RUN OF THE YEAR AND IT'S BEEN SOME TIME SINCE YOU HEARD THE ICE TALKING BACK."

"WITH THE WINDOW OPEN YOU CAN REALLY HEAR IT. LOUD CRACKS LIKE ARTILLERY. THE FIRST TIME THE ROOKIES HEAR IT, THEY THINK IT'S PRETTY TERRIFYING. **I'VE HEARD IT A MILLION TIMES, BUT IT STILL MAKES MY STOMACH FLINCH. I KNOW ALL THAT NOISE IS GOOD. IT MEANS THE LAKE IS MAKING ICE. BUT SOMETIMES YOU HEAR THAT CRACK GO OFF LIKE THUNDER UNDERNEATH THE TRUCK, AND YOU CAN'T HELP THINKING, **OH, BOY, THIS IS IT!**"

What a great, unique, book... and I haven't even mentioned the stories about Alex's **WILD-BROTHER-RICHIE**.

This was my first book on my Kindle, and i am so happy that i read it. I first heard Alex on a radio show promoting his book, I though he sounded interesting and fun. My wife and i stated watching the show and realized there was some depth to these guys. So I couldn't wait to read the book. I almost couldn't put it down. I laughed along the way. Alex is an inspirational man, a tough guy with a heart of gold.

The book is written as a collection of stories that Alex would entertain the other truckers, over the CB, with on late night runs

Best I have read since " Marley & Me " !! would like to read more of Alex's true stories, is that possible Alex ? picked it up, found it hard to put down.!!!!

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