“I had always thought about driving a cab, just thought it’d be interesting and different, a good way to make money. But it always seem...
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Jan 30, 2009
thefourthvine
rated it: 
Someone needs to write a book called How to Turn Your Blog into a Real Book, because a lot of the people who get blog-to-book contracts just...can't. Which is not really surprising, and yet. It's sad to read a book and think, "Huh. This would be better as a blog. Oh, wait." Obviously, that's what happened here. This book has all the usual blog-to-book flaws - it's structureless and vaguely empty, without much focus or discussion of events.
Plaut kind of wanders between the More...
Plaut kind of wanders between the More...
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Sep 20, 2007
Catherine
rated it: 
The next time I'm annoyed by a rude driver or am stuck in a traffic jam I'll remember how grateful I am that I don't have to earn my living as a cab driver, particularly in New York City. I certainly don't envy Plaut, but I definitely gained a whole new respect for these brave road warriors. It's no wonder her blog had so many hits. Melissa Plaut's book is full of interesting stories.
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Oct 24, 2007
Christina
rated it: 
In short: Don't buy, borrow. This a library read.
In long: This memoir reveals issues of prejudices and stereotypes typical in most any service industry job. It's unique in that it gives more intimate portrayals of New York City neuroses than most books (say, by bartenders) due to the added tension of being locked in a cab with the nutjobs and vulnerable to their whims.
The author is a likable person & has a voice that will appeal to the well-educated liberal-arts set More...
In long: This memoir reveals issues of prejudices and stereotypes typical in most any service industry job. It's unique in that it gives more intimate portrayals of New York City neuroses than most books (say, by bartenders) due to the added tension of being locked in a cab with the nutjobs and vulnerable to their whims.
The author is a likable person & has a voice that will appeal to the well-educated liberal-arts set More...
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Mar 23, 2008
Lucy
rated it:
At 29, Melissa has been in and out of half a dozen office jobs, and she's sick of them, and sick of trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life. And so she decides to take a step towards adventure, and applies for a license to drive a yellow cab in New York City.
Hack is full of stories about what it's like to drive a cab. Both stories about crazy passengers, other cabbies, and what it's physically like to go through twelve-hour cab shifts. Hack is lively and compulsive More...
Hack is full of stories about what it's like to drive a cab. Both stories about crazy passengers, other cabbies, and what it's physically like to go through twelve-hour cab shifts. Hack is lively and compulsive More...
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Jan 22, 2009
J
rated it: 
it is not a badly written book i suppose but man, way to be the putziest cab memoir ive ever read. granted it's longer than ted rall's cab story or night taxi or whatever the fuck ran in the portland mercury (HEYO) or dude-from-the-internet's stories of hacking but JESUS WHAT A PUTZY MEMOIR. the juxtaposition of the traditionally bad-ass job of cabbie against the reactions that plaut has all like OHHH NOOO I GOT REAL ANGRY WHEN I DROVE CAB OH MAN I WAS STRESSED IT WAS STRESSFUL, BUT YOU KNOW M
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Jul 06, 2010
Dave
rated it:
Hack provides a painfully honest, unfiltered look in to Melissa's life as a female NYC cab driver. It allows us in to see a very frank view of her life both in and out of the cab, and how the two worlds influence each other and occasionally collide.
The stories are entertaining at first, but get more depressed (not depressing) and unorganized as time goes on. You can follow her growth as a person, but only because she is so openly brutal to herself. The narrative you'd expect from More...
The stories are entertaining at first, but get more depressed (not depressing) and unorganized as time goes on. You can follow her growth as a person, but only because she is so openly brutal to herself. The narrative you'd expect from More...
Aug 10, 2009
Sjo
rated it:
The title says it all: "How I Stopped Worrying About What to do with my Life and Started Driving a Yellow Cab." This book is written with an eye toward the Village Voice narcisist, fully emboldened and re-energized by the thought of a transition to a career in simplistic slumming (is the sequel going to focus on her experience at McDonalds?).
Melissa Plaut commits the worst crime--she pursues a taxi driver career, not for pursuit of simplicity or adventure, but so she can w More...
Melissa Plaut commits the worst crime--she pursues a taxi driver career, not for pursuit of simplicity or adventure, but so she can w More...
Oct 24, 2007
Mike
rated it: 
This little book gives great insight into what being a New York City cab driver is about. There are things most of us don't know about the taxi industry, such as the fact that there are huge holding pens for cabs at the airports where cabbies often have to wait an hour or more to get a fare back to Manhattan (then why are the lines at the taxi stand so long?).
Melissa Plaut's narrative is informative, intriguing and utterly interesting from start to finish.
Melissa Plaut's narrative is informative, intriguing and utterly interesting from start to finish.
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Sep 15, 2009
Lizz
rated it:
Finished this in less than 2 days. Some of the taxi stories are funny. As a result of reading this, I will continue to be nice to taxi drivers and tip well. It's a hard living. The book was divided in chapters but the chapters didn't need to be there. It was like the publisher said "Oh another 25 pages have past, let's put a B&W photo of from your taxi and a Number." They weren't defined very well. I found myself skipping over paragraphs because the stories seemed to be so simila
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Feb 04, 2009
Rubenesque
rated it:
The "blog-to-book" trend is getting out of hand! The concept behind this memoir of driving a cab in NYC sounded so promising, but falls short in the execution. The series of stories seem disjointed and few of them are memorable once you've closed the book. Some "blog-to-book" projects are able to retain their casual style of writing with out seeming amateurish ("Julie & Julia" for example), but "Hack" hasn't translated as well. Plaut's writing is frequentl
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Jul 25, 2009
Kelly
rated it:
This book is really a collection of short glimpses into the experiences of driving a cab in New York City. For me it was one of those quick reads between other books. To the extent one driver's experience captures anything about an industry it is interesting enough for a quick view of what goes on in the cab.
As a book, the material could do with better organization and is lacking something to pull everything together. Still I don't think the author makes any pretenses about what t More...
As a book, the material could do with better organization and is lacking something to pull everything together. Still I don't think the author makes any pretenses about what t More...
Mar 01, 2009
Karen
rated it:
This book began as a blog and sounds like one. I'm sure it was a fun blog to read, but in book form the story is shapeless and the writing isn't up to par. Granted, it would be hard to give shape to a series of anecdotes about driving a cab in any case, but the woman who wrote it has difficulty with direction and structure in her life, and it shows in the book. Also, she tries to be "brutally honest" about her anger issues and she just doesn't get me to empathize. She comes off as
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Dec 17, 2009
Aerial Nun
rated it:
This chick is a lot tougher than me.
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Dec 12, 2008
Alli
rated it:
Disclaimer: Yes, Melissa is my friend. And I wanted to buy the book instead of checking it out of the library in case she gets royalties or whatever.
I honestly could not put this book down. There were times when, reading the book on my flight to Florida this week, I laughed out loud and annoyed the hell out of the lady next to me. I also really liked the "on-duty photos" that accompanied each chapter. The only downside is that I never got Melissa as a cab driver. Or Ha More...
I honestly could not put this book down. There were times when, reading the book on my flight to Florida this week, I laughed out loud and annoyed the hell out of the lady next to me. I also really liked the "on-duty photos" that accompanied each chapter. The only downside is that I never got Melissa as a cab driver. Or Ha More...
Jun 10, 2010
Cassy
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jun 28, 2008
george
rated it:
Melissa Plaut has been working one boring office job after another, and when she gets laid off from one she decides to actually go forward and seek adventure by driving a yellow cab in NYC. In Hack, Plaut takes us along her journey, from the endless application paperwork process, to the crazy instructor Frank, then to the streets of New York and all that they hold. She describes her most unusual passengers and crazy stories from other drivers. All along, she tries to find herself.
I More...
I More...
Dec 08, 2011
Erin
rated it:
I meant to get the other Hack taxi book, and this one was kind of disappointing. Pretty repetitious about the fact that she is young and white and female... we get it. It also highlighted how easy it would be to ride and dash and the general masochism young people exhibit at an attempt at an authentic life. Meter's always running.
Dec 28, 2009
Angela
rated it:
I would rate this 3 1/2 stars if I could -- I really liked it, found it humorous and loved the insight into the life of a taxi driver. Reminded me of living in NYC and made me desperate to get back -- at least for a weekend. And I'll make sure to give a great tip to my taxi driver.
Nov 09, 2011
Dan
rated it:
Meh. I'm not sure what I was expecting but this didn't deliver. It would have been better as a blog as a precious reviewer noted. Which is exactly how it started. Sadly it never matured beyond that past getting printed with a cover.
It quickly became repetitive and whiny. From talking about her own lack of direction but never expanding on it or giving anything if depth about herself. The stories all became the same. Either good people or bad people. Anecdotes loosely structure More...
It quickly became repetitive and whiny. From talking about her own lack of direction but never expanding on it or giving anything if depth about herself. The stories all became the same. Either good people or bad people. Anecdotes loosely structure More...
Aug 15, 2008
Angela
rated it:
What I learned from this book? I learned that it mostly sucks to be a cab driver--which didn't come as much of a surprise. I learned that there are almost NO female cabdrivers. I learned that you can enjoy a book while knowing that it will most likely leave no lasting impression on you.
"Hack" is less thoughtful than the subtitle would have you think, but it doesn't necessarily suffer for it. Plaut never touches on more than the surface of WHY she ended up in a cab, but More...
"Hack" is less thoughtful than the subtitle would have you think, but it doesn't necessarily suffer for it. Plaut never touches on more than the surface of WHY she ended up in a cab, but More...
Apr 16, 2010
Phyllis
rated it:
When Melissa lost her advertising job, she had no idea what she wanted to do next. She decided to get her license to drive a taxi in New York and Hack tells of her experiences in her first year as a driver.
Interesting but rather disjointed.
Interesting but rather disjointed.
Dec 21, 2010
Jasminep
rated it:
It was an enjoyable look at life in a taxi cab and a little study of a bit of New York from a different point of view. I look forward to checking out the blog and seeing other things that have happened, or details about the events spoken about in the book.
Aug 08, 2010
Danadoodle
rated it:
i came across this one lone copy at the bargain shelf at barnes and noble, and it was calling to me because i've been thinking of working as a cabbie to make money, set my own schedule, and get out of the house and see the world a little bit. this book made it seem very doable.
it was a fast read even though it wasn't as heart-stopping as its claimed. it was written simply and straight-foward. the drama wasn't there, and kind of ordinary day-to-day for new york. the weekend drunks, s More...
it was a fast read even though it wasn't as heart-stopping as its claimed. it was written simply and straight-foward. the drama wasn't there, and kind of ordinary day-to-day for new york. the weekend drunks, s More...
Sep 07, 2009
Kathrina
rated it:
As an ex-yellow cabbie myself, young white female, this is a pretty honest and humorous account. But cabbies grow quickly tired of cabbie anecdotes. I'm mostly reading it because I already know it (albeit a tamer Midwestern version), not because it's taking me anywhere new. Kudos to the author for getting it down on paper.
Feb 24, 2010
Margaret
rated it:
Fun book detailing the author's adventures as a female cab driver in NYC. She is well-educated so the writing is engaging and nontrivial. A very fun read! (and not just for women)
Jan 01, 2010
Lisa
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An interesting read. Plaut's writing is pretty expository and can be cumbersome at times, but I still really enjoyed reading about her escapades -- and do not envy them one bit!
Feb 27, 2011
Holly
rated it:
Interesting look at life as a female NYC cab driver. Very quick read, not terribly impressive writing, but intriguing perspective.
Jun 18, 2009
Melissa
rated it:
Funny, interesting book...Totally have a new appreciation for cab drivers and I'm definitely going to start tipping better!!
Oct 25, 2009
Elisabeth
rated it:
Very insightful...I have a greater appreciation for cabbies and their daily struggles to earn a living.
