She's good. Plain and simple. The book gets slow in places,but overall she gets at the 'why' of why we ride. It's worth the pricefor the first chapter alone. I'm not thrilled when she gets off on tangents about fear of injury, men, etc. but that's just personal preference. I've given this book to several people who say, "This is dangerous, you could get hurt, why do you do this?" Melissa's reply is more detailed and less cryptic than my standard, "Well, that's sort of the point. It's life lived first hand. Get it?" They usually don't, but this book helps.