Matthew B. Crawford is the author of Shop Class as Soulcraft and The World Beyond Your Head. He is a senior fellow at the University of Virginia's Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture. He earned a PhD in Political Philosophy from the University of Chicago, specializing in ancient political thought; he majored in physics as an undergraduate at UC Santa Barbara. Crawford has been working on cars since the age of fifteen and currently drives a 1970 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.
"A thoughtful, entertaining and substantive work about the joys of
driving--and about the attempts by various scolds to relegate that
joy, and similar expressions of independence." -- Wall Street
Journal"Crawford writes ecstatically of driving, evoking the sense
of release and agency of flooring it out of the city as "a shady
country road reels out ahead in rhythmic curves." ... But Why We
Drive is about driving like Moby-Dick is about whaling. ...
Crawford has something important to say." -- San Francisco
Chronicle"Matthew Crawford's heartfelt riposte to a 'smart' future
of driverless cars is persuasive and thought-provoking. ... A vivid
and heartfelt manifesto against the drift of our world, against the
loss of individual agency and the human pleasure of acquired skill
and calculated risk." -- The Guardian"A pleasure to read ... His
thesis demands that he convey the pleasure of driving, and he's up
to the task ... And he addresses some huge, fascinating issues: how
people retain self-respect when computers are deskilling them, and
sovereignty over their lives when computers are spying on them.
Much of modern life raises these questions, but people's
relationship with their cars perhaps best exemplifies them ... an
enjoyable, scenic cruise round a fascinating landscape."
-- Sunday Times (London)"One of the most original and mind-opening
studies of practical philosophy to have appeared for many years."
-- John Gray, UnHerd"Absorbing. ... Why We Drive is about a freedom
that is being lost to the cynics of surveillance.. ... A defense of
felt life against the intrusions of the technocrats. ... Plain
funny. -- New Statesman"A pleasure to read ... Addresses some huge,
fascinating issues: how people retain self-respect when computers
are deskilling them, and sovereignty over their lives when
computers are spying on them. Much of modern life raises these
questions, but people's relationship with their cars perhaps best
exemplifies them ... An enjoyable, scenic cruise round a
fascinating landscape." -- Sunday Times (London)"A biographical,
philosophical inquiry that explores a fascinating paradox: the
whole allure of driving is freedom, but it's also dangerous, so it
has to be regulated. ... This is a lovely book that applies
history, philosophy and literature to one obsessive subject." --
Telegraph (UK)"Fascinating... Crawford skilfully takes us through
the gears as he intelligently, and in a very American way, flies
the flag for individualism over dour corporative determinism." --
Mail on Sunday"Crawford artfully argues ... the case that freedom
of motion is essential to who we are as a species. ... This book is
a celebration of humanity and what we're capable of with the right
tools. And what is a car but a finely evolved instrument? We hope
you read it." -- Road and Track"A passionate appeal to the
importance of the autonomous individual in the face of the
dehumanizing pressure of automation. ... This book will have you
pining for the freedom the open road." -- Kirkus Reviews"The
subcultures Crawford depicts...stand for individual sovereignty
against centralized power's erosions of it." -- Times Literary
Supplement (London)"Perfectly captures the basic instinct that
drives the common gearhead, the need for movement." -- David Booth,
Driving "Why We Drive is a serious cris de coeur for all we find
engaging and good about the act of driving." -- Overland Journal
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