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Hunger: Sean Kelly: The Autobiography
Sean friggin Kelly
320 pages, Hardcover
First published June 27, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 23, 2013
Sean Kelly remains one of the true great sportsmen of the last 40 years, and it's a pleasure to finally hear the story from his own pen (or his ghostwriters).
The book starts with his last great victory - in thr 1992 Milan San Remo - then traces his illustrious career in mostly chronological fashion, ending as he bowed out of the sport in typically modest fashion.
Anyone looking for a warts & all expose of PEDs is going to be very disappointed - Kelly's soigneur Willy Voet, in his book "Breaking the Chain" provides a rather different explanation for a few events in Kelly's career than the sanitised version found here.
And David Walsh's biography of Sean Kelly, one of my favourite ever sporting biographies, actually provides more insight on Kelly's career and even his motivation and development, that this book does.
Nevertheless, well worth a read for an overview of one of the last of the true all-year all-weather all-terrain cyclists, who let his legs rather than his mouth do the talking.
The book starts with his last great victory - in thr 1992 Milan San Remo - then traces his illustrious career in mostly chronological fashion, ending as he bowed out of the sport in typically modest fashion.
Anyone looking for a warts & all expose of PEDs is going to be very disappointed - Kelly's soigneur Willy Voet, in his book "Breaking the Chain" provides a rather different explanation for a few events in Kelly's career than the sanitised version found here.
And David Walsh's biography of Sean Kelly, one of my favourite ever sporting biographies, actually provides more insight on Kelly's career and even his motivation and development, that this book does.
Nevertheless, well worth a read for an overview of one of the last of the true all-year all-weather all-terrain cyclists, who let his legs rather than his mouth do the talking.
October 14, 2025
Hunger: The Autobiography by Sean Kelly is an unflinching, straightforward, and deeply authentic look into the life of one of cycling’s most iconic figures. Known for his quiet intensity and relentless drive, Kelly’s story captures what it truly means to be defined by discipline, endurance, and an unbreakable will to win.
Told with characteristic Irish understatement, Hunger strips away the glamour of professional cycling and lays bare the physical and mental toll behind every victory. Kelly recounts his rise from a rural Irish childhood to becoming one of the sport’s greatest riders, sharing hard-won insights into competition, sacrifice, and obsession. His voice is honest and unsentimental a reflection of the same grit that made him a legend on the road.
More than a sports memoir, Hunger explores the psychology of ambition the price of excellence and the mindset required to stay at the top. It’s an engrossing, no-nonsense narrative that captures both the suffering and satisfaction at the heart of elite performance.
Told with characteristic Irish understatement, Hunger strips away the glamour of professional cycling and lays bare the physical and mental toll behind every victory. Kelly recounts his rise from a rural Irish childhood to becoming one of the sport’s greatest riders, sharing hard-won insights into competition, sacrifice, and obsession. His voice is honest and unsentimental a reflection of the same grit that made him a legend on the road.
More than a sports memoir, Hunger explores the psychology of ambition the price of excellence and the mindset required to stay at the top. It’s an engrossing, no-nonsense narrative that captures both the suffering and satisfaction at the heart of elite performance.
April 25, 2024
King Kelly, you gotta love him! Well at least I certainly do - though I know him mostly as a commentator for GCN & Eurosport.
If you like Kelly, you'll probably enjoy this book. He's a humble man which is very impressive considering his palmares.
Perhaps you, too, will be shocked that his actual first name isn't Sean!
Two niggles:
1) The chronology of the book sometimes distractingly jumps around from chapter to chapter, so, for example, it's a bit weird to read "this was my last Tour stage win" multiple times and then still later see multiple accounts of him contesting for a Tour stage.
2) Quite a few small typos in here, probably like one every few pages. Bit annoying, but nothing that'll cause too much confusion.
If you like Kelly, you'll probably enjoy this book. He's a humble man which is very impressive considering his palmares.
Perhaps you, too, will be shocked that his actual first name isn't Sean!
Two niggles:
1) The chronology of the book sometimes distractingly jumps around from chapter to chapter, so, for example, it's a bit weird to read "this was my last Tour stage win" multiple times and then still later see multiple accounts of him contesting for a Tour stage.
2) Quite a few small typos in here, probably like one every few pages. Bit annoying, but nothing that'll cause too much confusion.
January 31, 2020
An amazing story told straight with little embellishment and wonderful even so. I like the quote from Robert Millar at the end:
No wonder the Belgians adopted him, he was one of those mythical Flandrians you see in black and white photos, covered in mud, growling, being hard. He just happened to be born in Ireland instead of Belgium.
No wonder the Belgians adopted him, he was one of those mythical Flandrians you see in black and white photos, covered in mud, growling, being hard. He just happened to be born in Ireland instead of Belgium.
March 26, 2026
Great hardy cyclist but skirts around the drugs issues .
April 28, 2014
Every cycling fan can enjoy this biography; Sean Kelly was one of the top cyclist ever, top ten in my humble opinion.
He got almost 200 victories through his career, including 9 “monuments”. He wan P-R, San Remo, Liege and Lombardie at least twice each. He only didn't win Flanders among the monuments, but he was second thrice there. And only Merckx, De Vlaeminck and Van Looy won ever the five monuments. Kelly was about to be the first non-Belgium for such an achievement. And he really deserved it.
Besides he won a lot of stage careers such as Paris-Niza (seven times in a row), Basque Country, Tour of Switzerland, Three Days of De Panne or Criterium International. He even won a GT, Vuelta a España in 1988, and was top ten in Tour of France four times (best result, 4th).
Stop with his achievements and back to the book, it begins with his last big victory, the 92' San Remo, and goes on with his whole career since his youth in Ireland until his after-retirement years working as commentator of Eurosport and involved in a cycling academy in Belgium. It's mostly a chronological development, though there are a few jumps in time.
Which I enjoy the most was the description from inside of the main races. Of course you have to be a cyclist fan or you will be a bit confused reading about them. I liked also knowing his youth and beginning in this sport, as well as his opinions about topics like races or rivals.
On the other hand, things I think he could have developed a bit more were related with the latter, for he could have explained more extensively some points like relationships inside the bunch and with 'directeurs sportifs' or all around doping. He speaks barely about this, he tested positive twice during his career but he explains this in a only a few pages and changes of topic quite quickly. He just justifies himself, and he doesn't speak about other cyclists. In these sense it's a very light and white biography. For example his former 'soigneur' Willy Voet has accused him in his own biography of took drugs regularly, and of course Kelly doesn't write about that except for the few pages mentioned earlier in this paragraph.
This “omertá” is a bad habit in cycling, but permanent in many more articles and books, and if we are conscious of that this book is worth of a few hours reading it.
He got almost 200 victories through his career, including 9 “monuments”. He wan P-R, San Remo, Liege and Lombardie at least twice each. He only didn't win Flanders among the monuments, but he was second thrice there. And only Merckx, De Vlaeminck and Van Looy won ever the five monuments. Kelly was about to be the first non-Belgium for such an achievement. And he really deserved it.
Besides he won a lot of stage careers such as Paris-Niza (seven times in a row), Basque Country, Tour of Switzerland, Three Days of De Panne or Criterium International. He even won a GT, Vuelta a España in 1988, and was top ten in Tour of France four times (best result, 4th).
Stop with his achievements and back to the book, it begins with his last big victory, the 92' San Remo, and goes on with his whole career since his youth in Ireland until his after-retirement years working as commentator of Eurosport and involved in a cycling academy in Belgium. It's mostly a chronological development, though there are a few jumps in time.
Which I enjoy the most was the description from inside of the main races. Of course you have to be a cyclist fan or you will be a bit confused reading about them. I liked also knowing his youth and beginning in this sport, as well as his opinions about topics like races or rivals.
On the other hand, things I think he could have developed a bit more were related with the latter, for he could have explained more extensively some points like relationships inside the bunch and with 'directeurs sportifs' or all around doping. He speaks barely about this, he tested positive twice during his career but he explains this in a only a few pages and changes of topic quite quickly. He just justifies himself, and he doesn't speak about other cyclists. In these sense it's a very light and white biography. For example his former 'soigneur' Willy Voet has accused him in his own biography of took drugs regularly, and of course Kelly doesn't write about that except for the few pages mentioned earlier in this paragraph.
This “omertá” is a bad habit in cycling, but permanent in many more articles and books, and if we are conscious of that this book is worth of a few hours reading it.
September 18, 2013
Kelly is one of my cycling idols. So tough but also down to earth. That personality comes through in the stripped down simple writing style of his autobiography.
Unfortunately this stripped down style also made some some parts of this book seem like glorified lists.
Still I would recommend this book to anyone who wanted a good insight into Kelly's career and what life was like in the peloton back then.
Unfortunately this stripped down style also made some some parts of this book seem like glorified lists.
Still I would recommend this book to anyone who wanted a good insight into Kelly's career and what life was like in the peloton back then.
September 28, 2013
Love this book! Especially that Sean Kelly explicitly puts to bed the matter that he is and always has been a Waterford (up the Deise!) not Tipperary man. Born and raised south of the Suir in county Waterford. Only one drawback would be that if you are not completely into pro cycling, the chronology of races may start to seem like a race name salad after a while. However, he does a great job of describing the essence of each race, and their differences for those who are not familiar with them.
September 26, 2021
Ver y good biography, yes after his retirement. Also read KELLY by David walsh years ago when he was in the middle of his career. History , research and advancement mean a lot, even on a subject such as performance enhancing drugs. I believe this guy is someone with a lot of character, integrity and high morals and ethics as well as others , whic makes him a remarkable example of an athlete in a sport which is well known as probably the dirtiest sport in the history of all sports.
February 7, 2014
Great read - I grew up watching Kelly's career blossom and being able to hear him talk about the details has enabled me to put all the pieces of the jigsaw together. Glad he recalled the 1975 Rapport Tour debacle which may have scuppered his and McQuaid's Olympic aspirations but it ended John Curran's career. I guess McQuaid learnt how to be a hypocritical oaf at this point in time!
September 16, 2013
Sean Kelly is a really funny guy. The story was not as intense as I thought it would be, having seen Sean race (on tv) and having followed his career. Any cycling fan will enjoy this book. It's a very matter-of-fact look at how cycling was when Sean was racing.
October 10, 2013
Really really interesting for fans. Kelly is (I think) unintentionally funny in his direct and unvarnished comments and this gives the book an authentic feel. He avoids almost completely the question of doping.
January 15, 2017
Easy to read autobiography of a true legend written in a down to earth, immediate style. Interesting on his rivalry with Roche, and the politics of PDM, and the sale of various classics but disappointingly vague on drug issues.
August 23, 2013
Brilliant insight into the world of pro cycling, it is honest, funny and a great read.
February 4, 2014
A very enjoyable view of the cycling world from a talented, humble individual. Great read.
December 18, 2013
...like the great man in person.....rough demotic style ...a hard man, great sportsman....,-D
June 20, 2015
Very enjoyable book on his life. I'm late to cycling so missed all this but it made it none the less enjoyable. Its hard to only give 3 stars it deserves a bit more, not quite 4 but close.
November 8, 2015
As you might expect, reads very much like an extended interview. Agreeably Kelly-ish.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews