Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Musician David Byrne has a new book out called Bicycle Diaries. It sounds great, and right up the alley of all the bicyclers here in Asheville. Here’s a tidbit from NYFI:
An advanced copy of the book arrived in our mailbox today. At 294 pages, and filled with postcard-like black-and-white photos, Bicycle Diaries is a first-person account of Mr. Byrne’s experiences biking through various cities around the world, from London (chapter 1) to Istanbul (chapter 3) to San Fransisco (chapter 8) and, of course, New York. (It’s worth noting, as the ledes of both the book and his Times review illustrate, that Mr. Byrne likes to point out he’s been riding a bike around New York as his principal means of transportation since the early ’80s. He’s also known to do press ops for bike-oriented Department of Transportation initiatives.)
Here’s what the accompanying press release has to say:
As Byrne pedals through metropolises from Berlin to Buenos Aires … he sees economics revealed in shop fronts and history in door frames. With a highly personal mixture of humor and curiosity, he records his thoughts on globalization, world music, urban planning, fashion, policy, architecture, cultural dislocation, and much more. Byrne explains why efforts to increase bicyle use may solve some of the world’s pressing transportation and energy concerns, and in an appendix, offers tips on bike security, rider safety, and clothing and listings of bicycle activist organizations across the country.
I’ll check it out. Listen to Byrne talk about his book on NPR here.
Also, a reminder that Byrne bicycled around Asheville when he was in town last year. Blog Asheville noted it here. From Byrne’s blog:
A lovely small town with a few schools tucked in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. The sweet pungent smell of North Carolina’s finest filled the air during the concert. The county also harbors a lot of money — a Vanderbilt mansion is open for tours at $47 a head, so we gave that a pass. Instead, a group of us — Natalie, Jenni, Lily, Steven and I — went for a bike ride on a road that goes through Biltmore Forest, passing one large house or mansion after another. A beautiful old one was for sale; we found an open basement window and took a look inside.
