On the other hand, if you're a cyclist who appreciates the bicycle for the ways it helps to erode the atomization and social mediations imposed by cars, mass media and modern life in general, then you'll find in Byrne's ruminations a kindred spirit and a critical thinker who doesn't stop at the first obvious insight. But his book only reports on cycling conditions in passing, and if you're a fan of bike tech, or any kind of gearhead, this is not the book for you. He starts out in London, where cycling is slowly but surely expanding its presence in the traffic mix (just this April I was surprised at how many more cyclists I saw crisscrossing the city than I'd seen two years earlier). Reading "Bicycle Diaries," I was revisiting cities and even museum exhibitions that I toured in the past few years, apparently missing our hero by only days or weeks. His new book is a personal, thoughtful odyssey across a dozen cities, places that his busy career has taken him, and places that he in turn has taken his bicycle. By David Byrne (Viking 303 pages $25.95)ĭavid Byrne is just a few years older than me, and from his early days with the band Talking Heads to his later work as an international musicologist and producer, he's been a presence in my cultural life.
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