HOT CORNER

A consumer’s guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, heard, observed, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it’s in play here. One exception: No products will be endorsed.

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What: “Inside Monster Garage.”

Author: Ken Vose.

Publisher: Meredith Books.

Price: $19.95.

You never know what’s going to turn into a television hit. Who would have thought a show about customizing motor vehicles -- or, actually, transforming them -- would not only attract viewers but also make a motorcycle mechanic a star?

Jesse James, 34, of Long Beach is, first and foremost, a welder. But as the host of the Discovery Channel’s hit show, “Monster Garage,” this onetime high school and college football linebacker is also a bona fide celebrity.

James, who was a guest on Jay Leno’s show last week, is featured in this slick, nicely illustrated 175-page book about his show and its supporting cast. The book explains the rules for the show and how it all works.

In the third chapter, readers learn about the various conversions, or transformations, done on “Monster Garage.” They include a school bus that becomes a pontoon party boat, Kyle Petty’s NASCAR stock car that becomes a street sweeper, a dragster that makes hot dogs, a recreational vehicle that doubles as a skate ramp, an SUV wedding chapel and a sports car that can mow a lawn at 70 mph.

James, who was named after his great-great-great grandfather’s infamous cousin, says in the book that he is trying to keep a low profile.

“The more everybody tells me how great I am,” he says, “the more it makes me want to be by myself working. Just work, that’s my idea. Keep tools in my hands. Stay away from all the hype.”

That may be harder than turning a Chevrolet Impala into a machine for resurfacing ice at rinks, as he once did.

-- Larry Stewart