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Up Against the Wall
The secret history of David Hasselhoff and the fall of the Berlin Wall - as told by the Hoff himself.
Autumn, 1989. The waning days of the Cold War. A rogue Stasi colonel has acquired a nuclear bomb and threatens to level Berlin if and when the Wall comes down. CIA Agent Nick Harper is called in to foil the plot. Soon after arriving, however, Harper discovers his identity has been compromised. To stay alive, he must go along with a group of passionate young East Berliners who mistake him for their idol, American superstar David Hasselhoff.
Meanwhile, across the Wall, the real David Hasselhoff arrives in West Berlin to play a sold-out show before a hundred thousand adoring German fans, in the name of freedom. But upon crossing into the East as a tourist, Hasselhoff - who bears a striking resemblance to the US operative - unwittingly finds himself caught up in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse.
When the Hoff fails to show up for his concert, Agent Harper is forced to stand in for his famous doppelgänger while the real Hasselhoff must rely on his acting chops and Knight Rider training to save Berlin...and potentially the world.
Autumn, 1989. The waning days of the Cold War. A rogue Stasi colonel has acquired a nuclear bomb and threatens to level Berlin if and when the Wall comes down. CIA Agent Nick Harper is called in to foil the plot. Soon after arriving, however, Harper discovers his identity has been compromised. To stay alive, he must go along with a group of passionate young East Berliners who mistake him for their idol, American superstar David Hasselhoff.
Meanwhile, across the Wall, the real David Hasselhoff arrives in West Berlin to play a sold-out show before a hundred thousand adoring German fans, in the name of freedom. But upon crossing into the East as a tourist, Hasselhoff - who bears a striking resemblance to the US operative - unwittingly finds himself caught up in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse.
When the Hoff fails to show up for his concert, Agent Harper is forced to stand in for his famous doppelgänger while the real Hasselhoff must rely on his acting chops and Knight Rider training to save Berlin...and potentially the world.
- GenresAudiobookHistorical
Audible Audio
Published February 21, 2019
2 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
About the author
David Hasselhoff
7 books9 followersDavid Michael Hasselhoff, nicknamed "The Hoff", is an American actor and singer, who is best known for his lead roles on Knight Rider and Baywatch. He also crossed over to a successful music career, primarily in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
avoid-like-the-plague
April 24, 2023 What is this and why does it exist?
I almost want to listen to it just for dinner conversation…
‘A book by David Hasselhoff, starring David Hasselhoff, read by David Hasselhoff.’ He must be the only man in the world who’s written fan fiction about himself.
And it costs an entire audible credit…
I almost want to listen to it just for dinner conversation…
‘A book by David Hasselhoff, starring David Hasselhoff, read by David Hasselhoff.’ He must be the only man in the world who’s written fan fiction about himself.
And it costs an entire audible credit…
August 30, 2019
Up Against the Wall is an Audible-only (as far as I can tell) audiobook that I couldn't possibly resist.
David Hasselhoff reading a book by David Hasselhoff about David Hasselhoff.
It's a pretty ridiculous premise, but it doesn't take itself too seriously. In this story, in 1989 the Hoff is wrapped up in a plot by Stasi agents to bomb eastern Berlin to prevent the Berlin Wall from coming down. Hijinks ensue.
It's pretty silly, but a spy is in Berlin to stop things, he gets confused for the Hoff, the Hoff ends up getting pulled into things, everyone grabs their spy-girl, and adventure is had with nuclear proportions!
At one point, Hasselhoff's character literally says, "My brief, but admittedly awesome life flashed before my eyes."
I'm glad it's pretty tongue-in-cheek, but there are moments of pretty bad writing too. One of the spies says to an adversarial spy: "I went to the same spy school as you!"
There was no other name for "spy school?" Was it so covert that's the only thing they're allowed to call it.
This book is also filled (literally so filled) with that actor conceit that because they act and have at one point been a such-and-such, they are now proficient enough in that line of work to pull it off in real life.
In the end, I did enjoy it. It's narrated by Hasselhoff, but he sounds like he's had a stroke or he's heavily intoxicated while he's reading it. I recommend at least 1.25 speed if not 1.5. It makes him sound like his real self.
One of the neater (I can't find a better word that fits this story than that) aspects is that the Hoff lines up real-life events with this story. So, they play short clips of his "Looking for Freedom" song and (slight spoiler) in the end he sings that song on top of the Berlin Wall, which actually did happen. I can only assume he was charting number 1 at the time as well since I lived in Germany and visited homes there and, I kid you not, just about everyone had a visible David Hasselhoff CD somewhere in their house. I also hope you love Knight Rider because there are lots of references.
3.5 out of 5 Stars (lots of fun, recommended)
David Hasselhoff reading a book by David Hasselhoff about David Hasselhoff.
It's a pretty ridiculous premise, but it doesn't take itself too seriously. In this story, in 1989 the Hoff is wrapped up in a plot by Stasi agents to bomb eastern Berlin to prevent the Berlin Wall from coming down. Hijinks ensue.
It's pretty silly, but a spy is in Berlin to stop things, he gets confused for the Hoff, the Hoff ends up getting pulled into things, everyone grabs their spy-girl, and adventure is had with nuclear proportions!
At one point, Hasselhoff's character literally says, "My brief, but admittedly awesome life flashed before my eyes."
I'm glad it's pretty tongue-in-cheek, but there are moments of pretty bad writing too. One of the spies says to an adversarial spy: "I went to the same spy school as you!"
There was no other name for "spy school?" Was it so covert that's the only thing they're allowed to call it.
This book is also filled (literally so filled) with that actor conceit that because they act and have at one point been a such-and-such, they are now proficient enough in that line of work to pull it off in real life.
In the end, I did enjoy it. It's narrated by Hasselhoff, but he sounds like he's had a stroke or he's heavily intoxicated while he's reading it. I recommend at least 1.25 speed if not 1.5. It makes him sound like his real self.
One of the neater (I can't find a better word that fits this story than that) aspects is that the Hoff lines up real-life events with this story. So, they play short clips of his "Looking for Freedom" song and (slight spoiler) in the end he sings that song on top of the Berlin Wall, which actually did happen. I can only assume he was charting number 1 at the time as well since I lived in Germany and visited homes there and, I kid you not, just about everyone had a visible David Hasselhoff CD somewhere in their house. I also hope you love Knight Rider because there are lots of references.
3.5 out of 5 Stars (lots of fun, recommended)
April 2, 2019
This was absurdly awesome.
I mean so cliche, so over the top, and so bad it's just fucking hilarious. I really enjoyed it.
David Hasselhoff as a narrator was good, however it did get painful with the slurred speech far too often. There were times I was questioning whether it was permanent damage, or if he was actually drunk while recording this.
I will gladly listen to the next one. This was truly a fun time.
However, do not turn it into a drinking game as some have suggested. Because if you take a drink every time he says the word Hasselhoff, you will literally die of alcohol poisoning.
I mean so cliche, so over the top, and so bad it's just fucking hilarious. I really enjoyed it.
David Hasselhoff as a narrator was good, however it did get painful with the slurred speech far too often. There were times I was questioning whether it was permanent damage, or if he was actually drunk while recording this.
I will gladly listen to the next one. This was truly a fun time.
However, do not turn it into a drinking game as some have suggested. Because if you take a drink every time he says the word Hasselhoff, you will literally die of alcohol poisoning.
March 14, 2019
Funniest fucking book I’ve listened to for a long time!! Written and read by The Hoff! The story is implausible, fast-paced, action-packed and hilarious. All set to the back drop of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Hasselhoff the actor and singer taking on The Eastern Bloc and fighting for freedom using all the skills he’s learned from years of acting in Knight Rider and Baywatch.
Hasselhoff the actor and singer taking on The Eastern Bloc and fighting for freedom using all the skills he’s learned from years of acting in Knight Rider and Baywatch.
September 17, 2019
Is this the greatest thing you can ever listen to?
I'm saying, "Probably."
This is an Audible exclusive, a novel read by Mr. David Hasselhoff, starring Hasselhoff as himself, as well as a CIA agent who looks like David Hasselhoff.
Listening to Hasselhoff deliver the precisely accurate amount of humor and drama is great fun. He leans into it, chewing scenery just like he does in the "Kung Fury" soundtrack and on "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2."
It takes place in 1989, and Hasselhoff is on his way to perform on top of the Berlin Wall, when action-adventure hijinks ensue. The CIA agent who looks like him takes advantage of that fact to take on some bad guys. The story is so very 80s, and I mean that as the highest compliment.
Hasselhoff has set the bar pretty high for all audio dramas now. This one took me a long time to get through, because it was a challenge to withstand the barrage of Hasselhoffian excellence. At times I felt like I didn't deserve it. But I did. We all do.
I will assume this is a true story, even if told otherwise. Listen now.
I'm saying, "Probably."
This is an Audible exclusive, a novel read by Mr. David Hasselhoff, starring Hasselhoff as himself, as well as a CIA agent who looks like David Hasselhoff.
Listening to Hasselhoff deliver the precisely accurate amount of humor and drama is great fun. He leans into it, chewing scenery just like he does in the "Kung Fury" soundtrack and on "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2."
It takes place in 1989, and Hasselhoff is on his way to perform on top of the Berlin Wall, when action-adventure hijinks ensue. The CIA agent who looks like him takes advantage of that fact to take on some bad guys. The story is so very 80s, and I mean that as the highest compliment.
Hasselhoff has set the bar pretty high for all audio dramas now. This one took me a long time to get through, because it was a challenge to withstand the barrage of Hasselhoffian excellence. At times I felt like I didn't deserve it. But I did. We all do.
I will assume this is a true story, even if told otherwise. Listen now.
March 16, 2019
Up Against the Wall is a first: an audiobook that makes you think, “I’d rather be listening to David Hasselhoff’s memoir.” Until the actor decides to record Don't Hassel the Hoff: The Autobiography, though, this Audible Original will have to do. A promotional video shows Hasselhoff reading the story in a shirt that’s generously unbuttoned to let some of that famous Hoff rug hang out, and you can almost hear the chest hair rustling. I reviewed Up Against the Wall for The Tangential.
March 24, 2019
I was thoroughly entertained by this audiobook. It's basically a cleverly crafted David Hasselhoff fanfiction, and it's glorious. Is it the best thing ever written? No. But it's fun and Mr. Hasselhoff does a fantastic job of voicing the various characters.
November 15, 2019
Zweieinhalb Sterne. Am Anfang war ich überrascht, es begann annähernd kreativ, skurril und Lust machend, doch zur Hälfte wurde es immer langweiliger, einfacher und naiv. Dem Hoff nicht würdig. Seinem Ghostwriter hätte ich Twists und Ideen zugetraut, nicht diese Schulschreibübung. Schade.
December 23, 2019
For the Hoff fans, the story is more like a Knight Rider/ Baywatch at night episode.
January 2, 2021
It was fun, it was terrible, it was over the top. Squashed noses heal miraculously and plenty of people die. The good guys get their girls and the baddies come to a sticky end.
February 21, 2019
When you think about the collapse of the Soviet Bloc and the demolition of the Berlin Wall, David Hasselhoff may not be the first name that comes to mind. Sure, his track “Looking for Freedom” was a hit in a divided Germany in the late 1980s, culminating in him performing on the Berlin Wall on New Years Eve 1989.
Of course, none of us realised that he was a super spy on both sides of the Wall in the lead-up to this historic concert. In a Hasselhoff original audiobook for Audible, written (with David Gordon) and performed by the actor himself, the singular star blends fact with fiction to create a surprisingly satisfying – if self-consciously goofy – spy caper.
The setup is simplicity itself: Hasselhoff is about to embark on a tour of Germany to celebrate his hit single and Knight Rider fame. Meanwhile, CIA Agent Nick Harper is also in town to stop a catastrophic threat. The twist is that Nick is a doppelgänger of the Hoff. So while Nick fends off rabid fans and has to stretch his vocal chops, the real Hoff gets caught up in a spy saga that uses all of his considerable acting talents.
A career memoir remixed as a comedy of errors, Hasselhoff is aware enough to skewer the apotheosis of his fame with good-natured and self-effacing humour. Describing his double as the “shyer, less handsome brother,” the Hoff casts himself as a charismatic egotist who becomes “terrified and only slightly turned on” by the events happening around him. He even references future events, including the mega success of Baywatch, by using a dream sequence foretelling its fame.
Relying heavily on convention, Hasselhoff swings from one romantic encounter to the next. In one moment he’s at the barrel end of a father’s shotgun thanks to a sexual liaison with his daughter, and in the next he’s talking his way out of a low-stakes torture scene. It’s all shenanigans really: rarely does the drama ever take over the loose plotting, and never do we feel like there’s any actual threat to the narrator. Meanwhile, Hasselhoff takes every opportunity to drop in an over-the-top pun. Is it possible to mug the camera on an audiobook? (How’s that for a new badge achievement, Audible?)
At just over 8 hours, this takes you at least four times longer to get through than any equivalent made-for-TV counterpart that might surface. Of course, you wouldn’t be treated to quite so many lovably hammy pieces of dialogue and swashbuckling encounters as we are here. By the end of it, you may actually believe that Hasselhoff is a living hero to the German people.
With a fictional version of Hasselhoff, the writer/actor may have found a way of reliving his glory days without the digital de-ageing that cinema would require to pull this off. Prime for future adventures across world, you don’t even have to rewatch Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. to get your Hoff spy fix. Now try and get “Looking for Freedom” out of your head.
Of course, none of us realised that he was a super spy on both sides of the Wall in the lead-up to this historic concert. In a Hasselhoff original audiobook for Audible, written (with David Gordon) and performed by the actor himself, the singular star blends fact with fiction to create a surprisingly satisfying – if self-consciously goofy – spy caper.
The setup is simplicity itself: Hasselhoff is about to embark on a tour of Germany to celebrate his hit single and Knight Rider fame. Meanwhile, CIA Agent Nick Harper is also in town to stop a catastrophic threat. The twist is that Nick is a doppelgänger of the Hoff. So while Nick fends off rabid fans and has to stretch his vocal chops, the real Hoff gets caught up in a spy saga that uses all of his considerable acting talents.
A career memoir remixed as a comedy of errors, Hasselhoff is aware enough to skewer the apotheosis of his fame with good-natured and self-effacing humour. Describing his double as the “shyer, less handsome brother,” the Hoff casts himself as a charismatic egotist who becomes “terrified and only slightly turned on” by the events happening around him. He even references future events, including the mega success of Baywatch, by using a dream sequence foretelling its fame.
Relying heavily on convention, Hasselhoff swings from one romantic encounter to the next. In one moment he’s at the barrel end of a father’s shotgun thanks to a sexual liaison with his daughter, and in the next he’s talking his way out of a low-stakes torture scene. It’s all shenanigans really: rarely does the drama ever take over the loose plotting, and never do we feel like there’s any actual threat to the narrator. Meanwhile, Hasselhoff takes every opportunity to drop in an over-the-top pun. Is it possible to mug the camera on an audiobook? (How’s that for a new badge achievement, Audible?)
At just over 8 hours, this takes you at least four times longer to get through than any equivalent made-for-TV counterpart that might surface. Of course, you wouldn’t be treated to quite so many lovably hammy pieces of dialogue and swashbuckling encounters as we are here. By the end of it, you may actually believe that Hasselhoff is a living hero to the German people.
With a fictional version of Hasselhoff, the writer/actor may have found a way of reliving his glory days without the digital de-ageing that cinema would require to pull this off. Prime for future adventures across world, you don’t even have to rewatch Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. to get your Hoff spy fix. Now try and get “Looking for Freedom” out of your head.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews