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The Perfect Vehicle: What It is about Motorcycles
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.75
EAN: 9780393318098
ISBN: 0393318095
Label: W. W. Norton & Company
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 240
Publication Date: 1998-05
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Studio: W. W. Norton & Company
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Editorial Review:
"From my mother I learned to write prompt thank-you notes for a variety of occasions," Melissa Holbrook Pierson writes. "From Mrs. King's ballroom dancing school I learned a proper curtsy and, believe it or not, what to do if presented with nine eating utensils at the same place setting.... From motorcycles I learned practically everything else." Pierson, an intellectual New Yorker, is open to her own contradictions--she is bold and fearful, a motorcycle-crazed poet with a Ph.D., and these seeming incompatibilities are what make this book so good. She can write equally well about the visceral pleasures of riding and about the pains of heartbreak or her own displeasure with her fears.
This is the motorcycle memoir for those who are sick of memoirs--or motorcycles. It is a book for people who don't know what the big deal is about riding, or why the Guggenheim Museum in New York, in a swirl of controversy, would exhibit motorcycles as works of modern art. "Riding on a motorcycle can make you feel joyous, powerful, peaceful, frightened, vulnerable, and back out to happy again," Pierson writes, "perhaps in the same ten miles. It is life compressed, its own answer to the question, 'Why?'" --Maria Dolan
In a book that is "a must for anyone who has loved a motorcycle" (Oliver Sacks), Melissa Pierson captures in vivid, writerly prose the mysterious attractions of motorcycling. She sifts through myth and hyperbole: misrepresentations about danger, about the type of people who ride and why they do so. The Perfect Vehicle is not a mere recitation of facts, nor is it a polemic or apologia. Its vivid historical accounts--the beginnings of the machine, the often hidden tradition of women who ride, the tale of the defiant ones who taunt death on the racetrack--are intertwined with Pierson's own story, which, in itself, shows that although you may think you know what kind of person rides a motorcycle, you probably don't.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - The Perfect Bike Book
I recently finished The Perfect Vehicle, and I am extremely impressed. Not only is it very well written; the author isn't afraid to talk about things that many people don't mention, such as fear, and the special problems that motorcycling women still face. She is equally lyrical about the joys of riding. I recommend it wholeheartedly, and I've already lent out my copy. After reading this book, I'm looking harder at Moto Guzzis, too (the author's bike).
Rating: - Women rider? New Rider? Seasoned Rider? This works!
Good book. As a seasoned rider who generally only reads technical moto books, I'm learly of the "this is what I think about the motorcycle" type books. Melissa did not just write about it, she lived it and you can tell by the way she writes about it. She took a personal journey that more and more women are taking these days and I hope they read her to see how she did it. New riders shoudl take a look and you seasonsed riders might get a kick out of seeing her develope into a real rider. I did ... Read More
Rating:  - Starts & ends w/5 Stars, but it's 2-3 stars everywhere else
The first writing in this book (the Forward) is worth the price of admission. If it stayed at that level, it'd be "off the charts great" ... up there with "Eat, Pray, Love".
Unfortunately, this is not the case.
In the Forward (and the Postscript, for that matter), her writing is concise, poetic, wonderous ... it is art. And it's about the motorcycle - exactly what the title promises it will be. It is simply awesome.
But from there on, she takes more twists ... Read More
Rating: - Great Read - even if you aren't a motorcycle rider
I really enjoyed this book. I'm not a motorcyle rider and I read it all in a couple of days -- I just couldn't put it down. I like Ms. Pierson's memoir of her personal journey in motorcycling. This is an absolute must for anyone contemplating a motorcycle or knows someone who loves them. Its a great story of personal struggle, and passion for living and riding. I recommend it highly.
If you like this, you may also like "Rebuilding the Indian" by Fred Haefele.
Rating:  - you get more organized info reading forums
The pages from the book to view on Amazon misrepresent the book, as well as the title. It is a disorganized collection of pieces without any common point. I am sorry I bought it and spent time on it.
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