Mr. Chichester, whose main occupation is to hurl himself into extraordinary lventures, here undertakes his autobiography and proves himself a master of the elements of prose as well as The Elements. He sure writes good. And he needs a style full of gristle, hard bones and humor to tell his robust story. At eighteen he left England for New Zealand where he ran through job after backbreaking job, as bushwhacker (lumberjack), coal miner, gold prospector, etc. His object: a fortune of 20,000 pounds. After various business schemes, forming his own aviation company, and ten years, he had his fortune and began a series of amazing air flights. He was the first man to fly alone from New Zealand to Australia, and was first man to fly olo from New Zealand to Japan. That he made a spectacular crash upon arriving in Katsuura did not diminish his triumph, but did knock him out of action. During World War II he served in the RAF. Following the War he took up ocean racing and made single-handed trans-Atlantic crossings in record time, then broke his own records. His greatest ocean races were in his sixties and he is keeping right on with them.