Where the road and the sky collide

About this book

Most Americans have surprisingly intimate relationships with their cars. Nearly everyone drives - at least 140 million of us do - and nearly everyone is frustrated to tears by traffic congestion, aware of the political repercussions of driving (didn't we recently fight a war to keep us mobile?), and increasingly concerned about the car's environmental hazards. "Car biologist" K. T. Berger sets out on an investigative journey to explore just how this dominant life form - part human, part machine - is affecting its vast, complex ecosystem. In an age when ten percent of our arable land and fifty percent of our urban areas are paved over, will the car evolve, or will it continue on its present course of destruction, which can only lead to its extinction (and possibly our own)? Berger searches for answers as he interviews the nation's drivers in this offbeat, on-the-road adventure. He talks to an extraordinary range of car users - from South Dakota to Florida, from Los Angeles to New York - all with personal tales that illustrate just how deeply cars and driving are ingrained in American life. In Los Angeles, Berger finds a former street racer who tells hilarious tales of racing around the city in his custom Porsche with a Corvette engine; in Dallas, a good ol' boy police detective talks about relentlessly chasing thieves whose crimes are, by God, "crimes against the great state of Texas!"; and in New York, Berger meets the classic New York cabbie with more one-liners than Rodney Dangerfield. What are we going to do about the transportation mess? In search of answers to this urgent question, Berger journeys to Detroit to interview automotive executives and engineers. He puts current efforts to reduce gridlock and auto pollution into focus by interviewing urban and regional planners, transportation experts in government and academia, and environmental activists, creating a panoramic and fascinating portrait of America on wheels.