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In this anthology of forty-one short stories and nine poems, one enters a realm where a love for automobiles abounds. In these stories, readers discover automobiles that change and transform lives as well as vehicles with which their owners share a range of emotional attachments. Stories like “Final Frederic” capture the tragedy some vehicles bestow on others. Others, such as “Built to Last,” rely on personification and give the automobiles they feature human emotion. The anthology’s poems also contribute greatly to the collection. Poems like “69 Firebird Convertible” celebrate the freedom and nostalgia vehicles offer their owners. “Chester and the Model T” is a clever narrative poem uplifting the simpler times when vehicles were not synonymous with American transportation, and horses were still the main transportation method for many families.
One of the collection’s standout stories is “The Hitchhiker.” In it, a narrator and a woman named Edith stop to pick up a hitchhiker—a “handsome kid, with shoulder-length black hair” who couldn’t have been more than “sixteen or seventeen.” As the narrator and Edith learn more about the hitchhiker, they begin to understand that the boy has a complicated past. In the brief moments they have with him, the narrator and Edith form a sort of bond with the youth. Even their dog, Sonny, quickly takes to the hitchhiker. However, by the story’s end, the narrator has all but forgotten the boy. The next morning, Edith calls and tells the narrator to turn on the television because a youth, aged 16, had committed suicide by sitting on the train tracks. The story’s emotion culminates in its ending, and the ending reminds readers that small moments of kindness matter because one never knows what another person is going through, dealing with, or contemplating.
“Hot for Elvis” fuses pop culture and a love for automobiles and exemplifies how the two can be nearly inseparable. In this poem, the speaker names a ‘71 Mustang “Angus-Elvis," a car that is “hot, beefy, demon-ridden, white / with black, thick stripes on each side.” However, tragedy befalls Angus-Elvis much like it would eventually befall Elvis Presley. While the speaker enjoys cruising “sizzling roads” while “listening to the razor-sharp song / ‘American Woman’,” they overlook car care necessities like “oil, water, / and general maintenance.” Thus, the poem transforms into a celebration of a beloved car and into a reminder that all good relationships must be carefully maintained.
For automobile enthusiasts all over the globe, there is finally an anthology that commemorates cars of every make and model. In essence, the collection develops the idea that for every moment and every experience one has, there is a car somewhere in the background. However, in this book, automobiles are not simply objects to be bought, driven, and eventually traded or discarded. They are entities with their own stories and memories. Ultimately, too, they are time capsules and pieces of history. For members of automobile clubs, this anthology is a perfect discussion piece. For avid readers who appreciate high speeds and the open road, this book is a memorable one that will make them think about the role of the automobile in their own lives.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review
Marchi is the 2024 Eric Hoffer Book Award Legacy Fiction Runner Up.