Speed Kings review – a gripping yarn told at a lively pace

Andy Bull’s account of what happened to the competitors in the 1932 Winter Olympics in the ensuing decade brings its subjects to thrilling life

Andy Bull’s enjoyable first work describes itself as a “nonfiction novel”, which is an apt description for a book that, while closely adhering to historical fact, nevertheless allows itself plenty of authorial leeway in presenting those facts.

Following the fortunes of four of the contestants in the 1932 Winter Olympics – the first such event to be held outside Europe – including the dashing Billy Fiske, playboy Clifford Gray, intellectual Eddie Eagan and roguish Jay O’Brien, Bull, an Observer writer, narrates the next decade or so in their lives in unpretentious prose that is unafraid of colourful elaboration.

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