Bicycle Diaries

From Strand Bookstore

Since the early 1980s, David Byrne has been riding a bike as his principal means of transportation in New York City. Two decades ago, he discovered folding bikes and started taking them on tour. His choice was made out of convenience rather than political motivation, but the more cities he saw from his bicycle, the more he became hooked on this mode of transport, and the sense of liberation it provided. An account of what he sees and whom he meets - Berlin, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, San Francisco, Manila, New York, Bicycle Diaries also records Byrne's thoughts on world music, urban planning, architecture, cultural dislocation, and much more. Part travelogue, part journal, part b&w photo album. 288p.

From the Publisher

A musician and visual artist describes his preference for traveling by folding bicycle throughout New York City, a choice that has enabled his discovery of the mode's ensuing sense of freedom as well as his observations on the city's inner workings and rhythms.

From the Publisher

A musician and visual artist describes his preference for traveling by folding bicycle throughout New York City, a choice that has enabled his discovery of the mode's ensuing sense of freedom as well as his observations on the city's inner workings and rhythms.

Review

Steven Rea - Philadelphia Inquirer
"[W]hether you're a cyclist or not, Byrne's insights...are wry, witty, and, more often than not, wise as well."

Review

Scott Indrisek - Time Out (New York)
"[H]e often writes like a shell-shocked alien recently landed on Earth and suffering from a mild case of Asperger's, and I mean that as a compliment...."

Review

Publishers Weekly
"Candid and self-deprecating, Byrne offers a work that is as engaging as it is cerebral and informative."

Review

Andres Viglucci - Miami Herald
"[D]on't let the faux-naif persona Byrne has so ably cultivated in his work fool you. The rock star who sang about burning buildings, highways and life during wartime turns out to be an acute observer of the urban condition, a veritable rolling philosopher. The evidence is in BICYCLE DIARIES...his seventh book, a breezy, loosely threaded compendium of accounts of the places he sees and the people he meets in his urban bike-wanderings."

Review

Nick Ochwar - Los Angeles Times
"Byrne is on a mission. If cities and suburbs can be more bike-friendly, then maybe the people in them will interact on deeper levels as well."

More about the book

Owning a folding bicycle has allowed former Talking Heads singer, solo musician, artist, and author David Byrne to explore many a city on two small wheels. Among others, he's scoped out Sydney, Buenos Aires, Berlin, Detroit--and of course his hometown of New York. This causal little book brings together Byrne's bicycling-inspired musings on everything from urban planning to world music. Fans of his art looking for that particular Byrnesian idiosyncratic style will not be disappointed! Full of thoughtful, honest, humorous, whimsical, and critical thoughts, BICYCLE DIARIES captures something of what it's like to wend your way through an urban environment on a self-powered machine: you catch quick and sometimes slightly more prolonged flashes of sights, sounds, and smells that are beautiful, stinky, funny, frustrating, and invigorating.