Who would possibly use analogies for motoring and test-driving cars that regard: mouth ulcers, Piers Morgan, monkeys, insects, gardening trousers, and liberal democrats? Well Jeremy Clarkson incorporates these kinds of randomness abundantly with “other off-the-wall” criteria for his columns and reviews.
Clarkson is best known as being a co-presenter on BBC’s massively popular Top Gear, but also he writes columns weekly for The Sunday Times and The Sun which are newspapers in England.
As a motoring journalist, his columns are about car reviews. He has a style that is certainly his own and because of this, you are never going to have a dull read with one of his reviews. You could disagree with every point made by him or be hysterically laughing and entertained, but one thing is certain in that you won't put down the article.
Clarkson, born April 11th, 1960, was raised as a child in Doncaster, South Yorkshire (in England). He attended Hill House Academy in Doncaster up until his adolescent years, then Repton School in Derbyshire, England. There he was actually expelled because of his self-proclaimed “ drinking, smoking, and making a nuisance of himself.”
In the early 1980’s, Clarkson started writing for newspapers such as: The Rotherham Advisor, Rochdale Observer, Wolverhampton Express and Star, Lincolnshire Life, and Associated Kent. Then in 1984, along side Jonathan Gill (another motorist) started the MPA or Motor Press Agency, where the two would road test cars for newspapers and magazines.
Also in addition to being a presenter on the show, Clarkson has been creating columns for Top Gear the magazine since 1993. And to brush off his resume with writing, Clarkson has compiled 13 books of which he has written to be recognized as an accomplished author.
What interested me in profiling Clarkson are a number of things, starting with me being a huge fan of Top Gear the show. Clarkson’s personality and outstanding reviews of automobiles add so much flavor and life to the program. A prime example would be like in episode three of series 13 where he said Mercedes’ inspiration for the seats in their SL65 was quite possibly “a pile of stones” and that it was equally as comfortable.
After watching the show for a while, I read some of his car reviews online; I then began to become even a bigger fan. Seeing analogies appear like this with Clarkson commenting on cheap cars “…Much better than a moped? Give me a break. That’s like saying syphilis is much better than aids.” This just makes me keep reading, not knowing what I’ll see next in one of his reviews.
Clarkson’s writing style is unique, unpredictable, clever, and witty: also he is one of the most entertaining and engaging hosts and writers I’ve ever come across myself.
Clarkson never hesitates to speak his mind and I believe that to be an admirable trait as a journalist. Because of this, I could imagine the amount of negative responses he receives through letters and the media, but this seems to not detour him at all from him giving his two cents on subjects.
Whether I am reading one of his car reviews or watching an episode of Top Gear, I cannot help but to pay attention to whatever material he presents.
And on that bombshell, it’s time to end this column. Goodbye everyone! (A gaff on how he ends each episode of Top Gear ends)
Some articles from Clarkson:
Perhaps the best column from this columnist yet.
ReplyDeleteIt's direct, talks about the columnist in both informative and clever ways, and leaves the reader with a definite picture of this guy.
Literally and figuratively.
Lots of good examples, too, which make this column stand out.
Nicely done - and fabulous choice of photo at the end.