Where the Road and the Sky Collide: America Through the Eyes of Its Drivers

In this amusing, informative, alarming discussion of the effect of the automobile on our society, Berger (coauthor of Zen Driving ) reports on his cross-country random questioning of hundreds of drivers about their feelings toward their cars. Whether the cars are perceived as the Other Self, the Loved One, the Toy, the Grim Reaper, the Polluter or merely Necessary Transportation, most people seemed to agree with the sociologists, transportation experts, uban planners, environmentalists and citizens' groups that there are better solutions to our car-generated problems than continuing to pave over America. Berger discusses the drivers' ideas in the context of the tension between their attachment to the car and their recognition that something must be done about gridlock, pollution, commuting, safety, cost and the rest of it. Figuring prominently among the reports he cites is the sense of need for regional planning that emphasizes development of communities in which work is close to residential areas and suburban sprawl is limited. Alternately funny and passionate, this comprehensive discussion of how we love cars and what to do about them is entertaining, hopeful and full of ideas. (July)