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A New Fatherland by Joseph Adler Trafford Publishing
book review by Cynthia Collins
If every country in the world relied more on bicycles and less on cars, there would be fewer problems relating to pollution, traffic congestion, and health problems. Many American cities have bicycle lanes but that pales when compared to other countries with entire highways that do not allow automobiles.
In the effort to promote a worldwide Bicycle Expressway System, the author describes problems cyclists face in various locations ranging from the Amazon Jungle to mountain roads. The problems are explained as if the bicycles are doing the talking. They discuss everything from politics, human beings, society, lawyers, developed countries, and even the World Bank. The book ends with copies of newspaper articles about bicycles and letters from various countries about the proposed expressway.
As the founder and president of the Bicycle Expressway System, the author has done a great deal of research and concludes that such an expressway is entirely possible. He has designed elevated bikeways for major cities throughout the world. This, combined with the copies of articles and letters inserted in the book, indicate it is nonfiction, but that becomes muddied with bicycles talking to each other. Grammar issues are seen throughout the text. A small section of the book is devoted to the difference between bicycles and automobiles. It might make for a stronger case if the book presented the bicycle as an alternative to the automobile, for example: fewer car horns, less exhaust fumes, reduction of high blood pressure, and less road rage and other illnesses.