Tim Falconer

An interesting look at mostly North America's relationship with the car and how our society has essentially become subjugated to the car instead of the car being an instrument of freedom. The author took a road trip from Toronto to California, along the way meeting car enthusiasts, traffic managers and proponents of better development to reduce the impact of urban sprawl and our dependence on the car.

Overall it was an enjoyable read -- it's a topic I'm interested in and the book covers quite a bit of ground (not just the physical distance on the road trip, but subject-wise). One of the people interviewed is Sgt. Cam Woolley of the OPP, with whom Ontarians are very familiar because of the long-weekend enforcement blitzes. He always has amusingly horrifying stories about the dumb things people do on the highway. The book also provides interesting perspectives on the car problem -- it's a health problem because people spend all their time in their cars instead of walking or biking, it's an environment problem because of the pollution and the consumption of arable land, it's a societal problem because people feel disconnected from everyone and the time spent in traffic jams is so unproductive and burns people out. It was also instructive to witness the author's struggles with his relationship with the car: very much love-hate, and that feeling was only deepened by his road trip. It's good that there is no sugar-coating, no easy solution being proposed, because there isn't one.

The only major criticism I would have of this book is the physical descriptions of the people being interviewed; I didn't really find them necessary. I understand that they may have been simply to set the scene, but I don't need to know that this professor is balding or that car enthusiast is portly. It detracted a bit from the book.

Otherwise, I recommend this book if you're interested in the topic. Also check out the road-trip playlist in Appendix A! That was a very fun addition and may inspire you to create your own playlists for future trips in the automobiles you love or hate.… (més)