The Immortal Class: Bike Messengers and the Cult of Human Power

published	2002 by Random House Trade Paperbacks
binding	Paperback
isbn	0375760245 (isbn13: 9780375760242)
pages	324
description	Travis Hugh Culley went to Chicago to make his name in its thriving theater scene, yet found in his day job a sense of community and fulfillment—...more [close] Travis Hugh Culley went to Chicago to make his name in its thriving theater scene, yet found in his day job a sense of community and fulfillment—and a brotherhood of like-minded individualists—that he encountered nowhere else. In The Immortal Class, Culley takes us inside the heart and soul of an American urban icon: the bicycle messenger. In describing his own history and those of his peers, he evokes a classic American maverick, deeply woven into the fabric of society—from the pits of squalor to the highest reaches of power and privilege—yet always resolutely, exuberantly outside. Culley’s voice is at once earthy and soaringly poetic—a Gen-X Tom Joad at hyperspeed. The Immortal Class is a unique personal and political narrative of a cyclist’s life on the street. [close]
date added	02-25-07 edit book

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Gil rated it:

09/17/07

Read in June, 2001

recommends it for: bicyclists, the overworked/underpaid, the eco-conscious, the history of Chicago

There is a funny personal story behind this book for me. I met the author- twice. I purchased my copy from a small new/used bookstore on Broadway in Chicago called Afterwords. It's still my favorite bookstore. My copy happened to be autographed- apparently Travis would come in every so often and autograph some books for them. They would up the price slightly and he'd let them keep the difference. For a store like Afterwords every little bit helps if you're to keep a Barnes & Noble or Borders...more There is a funny personal story behind this book for me. I met the author- twice. I purchased my copy from a small new/used bookstore on Broadway in Chicago called Afterwords. It's still my favorite bookstore. My copy happened to be autographed- apparently Travis would come in every so often and autograph some books for them. They would up the price slightly and he'd let them keep the difference. For a store like Afterwords every little bit helps if you're to keep a Barnes & Noble or Borders out of your neighborhood.

The first time I "met" Travis I was biking home at night from the grocery store in the rain, burdened down by a not only a messenger bag full of groceries but three plastic bags distributed around my bike's handlebars. I heard another bicycle behind me and could tell it was going at a pretty fast clip. I pulled to the right so they could pass and the cyclist whizzed by. For whatever reason between the face and the bike I was pretty sure who it was so I yelled out "Hey Travis!" who looked back and waved. I had happened to think the book was great because of advocacy of bicycling as a means of transportation, the history it gave of Chicago, the transportation industry, and its description of the places (and sometimes people) that I knew in the city. He really captured what it was like to use a bike in the city as your main mode of transportation- the places you could go that weren't accessabile by car, the damn near mystical experience of cycling down the lakeshore path in the early dawn when all you can hear is the lapping of waves, singing of birds, and the sound of your chain going around the gear cogs with the Hancock Center and Sears tower in front of you. How lucky you felt to be in a city that where you could always find a place to lock your bike up but knowing they could do more so riding wouldn't be so dangerous. All of the different kinds of people you got to meet and have great conversations with, the nods from the bike messengers (even dude w/ the bmx bike and hockey helmet), the contentment of riding home at 3am after a pub crawl.

The second time was at a Green Party rally at a park on the west side. The daytime featured speakers and information booths. That night featured Eryka Badu and some of the best hip-hop no one has heard of- I still wonder what happened to Medusa, a female MC who SMOKED the mic- but anyway I ran into Travis again. This was the first time I had had a chance to talk to an author of a book I liked one-on one. Had a good conversation, he had lived in Philadelphia for a while (where he was off to in the book) and had come back to Chicago. Great book, cool guy....less

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The Immortal Class: Bike Messengers and the Cult of Human Power

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