Product Description

Since the early 1980s, David Byrne has been riding a bicycle as his principal means of transportation in New York City. A few years later he discovered folding bikes, and starting taking them with him on music tour overseas, and experienced a sense of liberation as he pedaled around many of the world's principal cities. The point of view from his bike seat has given Byrne a panoramic window on urban life over the last thirty years as he has cycled round cities such as London, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Manila, New York, and San Francisco. From music and the visual arts, to globalisation, politics, the nature of creative work, fashion and art, this book gives the reader an incredible insight into what Byrne is seeing and thinking as he pedals around these cities. Filled with intimate photographs, incredible musical stories and a powerful ecological message, this is a enchanting celebration of bike riding - of the rewards of seeing the world at bike level.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4118 in Books
• Published on: 2009-08-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 208 pages

About the Author
David Byrne was born in Dumbarton, Scotland, in 1952, and attended Rhode Island School of Design and Maryland Institute College of Art. He is primarily known as the musician who co-founded the group Talking Heads (1976-88), and has also been involved in an array of music, theatre, art and film projects, including work with Brian Eno, Thwyla Tharp, Robert Wilson, Jonathan Demme and Bernardo Bertolucci. He currently lives in New York.

Customer Reviews

David Byrne offers much of interest but meanders a little
Byrne is a committed cycling campaigner who takes bikes with him as he travels the world, mainly to the cities where his musical and artistic work takes him. When he has time off, he uses his bike - usually a full-size folding mountain bike he puts in a suitcase to travel on planes - to wander about and explore. It is this aspect of the book which most interested me, because he seems to be a practitioner of the derive, the engaged but directionless wander first proposed by the situationists as a suitable way to move through cities.

As the title suggests, the material for the book evolved in diary form over time, and the structure of the book reflects this. It is right, and true to the material, that this should be so, but it does mean that the various entries are of variable quality. Nevertheless, books of this kind, where an intelligent and engaged observer with a liberal agenda but no particular end in mind takes a close look at localities, are scarce indeed. In the hands of a travel writer, or a journalist, a totally different book would have emerged, but actually, this is the book I wanted.

A great read
This is a great book. Every chapter is about a different city. David Byrne mentions not just his perspective of travelling around the city on a bike but also about the history, archetecture, his performance or the people who live there.
It is a great book and acts like a concise travel guide