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Sep 04, 2011

Brian added it

At what point do you become famous enough to type up random thoughts about your easy life and get them published? David Byrne is not as smart or as interesting as he thinks he is. Instead of spending $15-20 on this book, get a bottle of wine or two, invite over your brilliant friends, ask them about their day.

1 comment like (6 people liked it)

Dec 07, 2011

Jeremy added it

Most of this is only tangentially about bicycling. Byrne is just too interested about too many different things to stick with one topic, and that was fine with me. He bounces giddily between reflections on city planning, geography, history, contemporary art, cultural anthropology, music, etc. The section about Manila and Buenos Aires in particular are extremely interesting, I had no idea about the weird personality cult/pseudo-religion that had developed around the Marcos's, or the bizarre hodge More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 01, 2011

Lcpatricio marked it as to-read

Desde o início dos anos 80, David Byrne tem usado a bicicleta como principal forma de locomoção em Nova York, cidade onde vive. Quando viaja ou sai em turnê, ele sempre leva consigo uma bicicleta dobrável. A princípio, tal decisão foi tomada por mera conveniência. No entanto, quanto mais cidades visitava, mais o músico se tornava adepto desse meio de transporte e da sensação de liberdade que ele proporciona. Ao conhecer novos lugares (ou o próprio lugar onde vive) sobre duas rodas, Byrne percebe More...

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Jan 03, 2011

Kevin rated it:

Byrnes exploration of cities around the world via bicycle seems like a great idea for a book, and it is, those parts of the book that involve a bicycle and the focused attention of an interesting mind. The parts of the book that digress away from the cycle and evolve through Byrnes thinking on art and politics (some passages seem like the most embryonic of ideas that he should have fleshed out or eliminated) are simplistic, unoriginal and unsurprising. I whole heartedly agree with the point of v More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 20, 2010

Sweetman rated it:

I loved this book. It was a quick read, very interesting and now I AM DYING FOR A FOLDING BICYCLE! I know I can pay better attention to life around me and see interesting things in typically boring places. I know I'll be able to find a concrete box building with just one metal door and a lightbulb affixed to the side of it as its only decoration fascinating if I am riding on a folding bicycle. I just know it.
The lovely character of this book is that you feel as though your alongside Mr. By More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Mar 28, 2010

Nat added it

This is a mild-mannered manifesto for bike riding, in the form of reports about riding bikes in Buenos Aires, Berlin, San Francisco, New York, London, etc., with lots of descriptions of pleasant art world hanging out, and some philosophical nonsense, like the following:

"The past is not a prologue to the present; it is the present--morphed a bit, stretched, distorted, and with different emphasis. It's a structurally similar, though very much contorted, version of the present. There More...

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Feb 19, 2010

Elise rated it:

I have a bike in Brooklyn, but am still too chicken to ride it anywhere other than Prospect Park--and only on a warm, sunny day, over the weekend, when the park is closed to vehicle traffic. I wish I were more of a biker, though--the efficiency and environmental friendliness of bike travel definitely appeal to me. So, I was really impressed by and interested in the fact that David Byrne travels everywhere by bike--and by everywhere, I mean he folds his bike into his suitcase whenever he travel More...

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Feb 12, 2010

Splendy rated it:

This book is as much about what defines the culture of cities as it is about bicycling. I’ve read David Byrne’s blog for years, and much of the blog content ended up in the book. He has this way of writing that is amazingly informative without being pretentious. He’s just really, really cool. And that shows in a seemingly effortless way.

This isn’t just another boring travelogue that leaves you feeling frustrated that someone would take the time to explain all the reasons why you shou More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 07, 2010

Stan rated it:

This is a book of David Byrne's musings while riding his bicycle in cities around the world. There is nothing particularly earthshaking here, but it is fascinating to observe this obviously brilliant man's open, active, free-ranging mind as he considers, well, whatever comes to mind. He describes his ride through Detroit as heartbreaking. He argues that what we build says something about who we are, and to some extent shapes what we become. He is saddened that old architecture is being repla More...

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Jan 03, 2010

Bernie rated it:

I ride my bike to work nearly every day that is above 20 degrees and not raining or snowing. I also ride to other places and take long trips on my own or with my wife on our tandem. I LOVE to bicycle! My daughter knows this too, and that it was very thoughtful of her to select this book to give to me as a Christmas present. It was a thought-provoking book whose conclusions gave me pause even when I disagreed with some.

As a bicyclist myself, I like that he focused on the act More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Nov 29, 2009

Jeremy rated it:

Several reviewers have covered elements of this book including...

-its discursiveness (it is indeed, a pastiche of blog-like musings and observations)
-the fact that it is only tangentially about the subject alluded to in the title, the bicycle
-the fact that David Byrne is a liberal Renaissance man whose thoughts are generally more interesting and insightful than those of the average world citizen (sure, fine... I was a Talking Heads fan too, and even a liberal in most sce More...

3 comments like (8 people liked it)

Nov 25, 2009

seth rated it:

I am blown away. Maybe its just the perfect moment for me to have read this book (just finished this morning), but its truly one of the better books I've read in a long time.

Just enjoyable in every way - it hits on many themes that I spend time mulling over and chatting over with friends and associates. The ideas of collective personalities, cities, nations, culture, consequences for actions take on behalf of the collective (looking at you Bush Admin.) The book is not overtly poli More...

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Oct 11, 2009

Keith rated it:

I asked the library to get this book something like half a year ago, as soon as I found out it was coming out. when it finally was released and the library had a copy for me I got it and devoured it. I'm a fan of david byrne, as much or even more of his work after the talking heads, and I'm a fan of bicycles, so a book full of david byrnes musings about riding a bike through a bunch of different cities around the world seemed like a winner to me, and so it was. While it may seem a bit silly.. More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 05, 2009

Alex rated it:

I read a bit of this over the weekend, and to my surprise, I rather liked it. Much as I loved Talking Heads in my formative years and how I appreciate the interface he has been between us and a lot of cool Brazilian music that we might not have otherwise heard, his books to me seem a little over-styled, weighing too heavily on how we love "David Byrne" as opposed to what they actually have to say. This book has a humbler premise - he rides his bike around places and reports insightfull More...

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Aug 19, 2011

Shane rated it:

This is an interesting non-academic book about the author's experiences as a commuter cyclist in various cities around the globe. As the title indicates, this is written in diary format, and any of the chapters could be read as a stand-alone.

Aside from cycling, this book also offer's Byrne's take on art, philosophy, politics and various other topics. As someone who does quite a bit of cycling, this book comes across as having been written immediately following a ride, when the in More...

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Mar 29, 2010

Lisa rated it:

The topics explored in this book are as wide ranging as the author's global travels. When road conditions aren't outright harrowing, bicycling can allow for an observant state of mind that is simultaneously aware of outward surroundings and aware of inner reflection; an optimal frame of mind for a tourist, or a writer. Bicycling is David Byrne's preferred mode of travel, both home in New York City and abroad. In this book he shares a few of the thoughts evoked by the different cities he explore More...

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Nov 22, 2010

Jon rated it:

Good book, written in an easy to read prose. The beginning and ending of the book tend to be the strongest in my opinion, where David Byrne sticks to his subject, the topic of riding bikes in various cities around the world. He starts us off in the USA in a lot of cities, sort of a mini tour, then takes us around the world. After reading the first chapter on the US, it makes me want to move out of this country, what a depressing mess we have created with urban sprawl. At times, and this is why I More...

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Nov 14, 2010

Cade rated it:

The book involves bicycles and is remotely centered around cycling, but really doesn't have that much to do with the bicycle culture or riding. Not nearly as much as I would have thought a book called 'Bicycle Diaries' would have. This is something I sort of knew going in, but still...

Overall, the book is pretty disconnected. It was hard to follow a train of thought. I suppose that in the vein of a diary, entries will vary greatly, but as a published book I would have liked to have More...

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Jan 23, 2011

Anne rated it:

I read this book at about the same time as I read Steve Johnson's Where Good Ideas Come From. I came to Byrne's book via a cycling link, but I found it a lot more about creativity than cycling. Cycling is really only incidental to the book. (Which is okay with me, I'm not really a cyclist).
"Through this window [cycling in cities] I catch glimpses of the mind of my fellow man as expressed in the cities he lives in. Cities, it occurred to me, are physical manifestations of our deepest More...

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Jan 21, 2011

Andrew rated it:

Interesting book this one despite the fact that until the ending I feel it wasn't reallu a book about Cycling but more a travelogue and collection of thoughts.
I had got into the book in hope that it was more cycling heavy to be honest but the Cycling was mainly the glue that linked the various locations allowing Byrne to instead explore his locale and take in various art projects and also reflect on areas and the socio-political context of what he observes on these trips.
The ending i More...

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Sep 02, 2010

Adam rated it:

Simply put, David Byrne's brain is one I like. I like the way he puts sentences together. For the most part, I like the way ideas come out of him. I bet hardcore non-fiction readers wouldn't like the way this is written (I doubt it could be cited in any papers), but it read very naturally to me, topics and anecdotes unfolding in the way they will, not being overly structured or boxed together. A note about ship camouflaging could (and did) appear in the middle of an argument about the necessity More...

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Dec 13, 2009

Marsha rated it:

Most people know David Byrne as lead singer of the New Wave band, Talking Heads, with had many hits in the 1980s, including one of my favorites, "Burning Down the House." Still a good-looking man, now in his late 50s, Byrne was in Austin recently to talk about bicycle riding. He is an advocate for bicycle safety. In "Bicycle Diaries," part travel log and part philosophical book, David shares some of his adventures in the US and abroad on bike. He likes to visit art gallerie More...

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Nov 04, 2009

Rebekah rated it:

What a complete disappointment. I was so looking forward to reading weird random bicycle musings by David Byrne, but alas, his brain these days is less interesting than my own. I guess he's good at putting his thoughts into the ambiguous and metaphorical terms well-suited to song, but when he tries to spell them out in writing and "back them up with supporting evidence," well, he should leave it to those who understand the supporting evidence well enough to say something meaningful a More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jun 14, 2009

Tosh rated it:

A neither or nor type of book for me. A lot of times David Byrne writes about the obvious, and other times he is responding to something that is interesting and he has something to say about it. The title is not really what the book is about. Although there is some bicycle riding stuff - but mostly it is Byrne commenting on pop and political culture of various areas of the world.

On one level it is sort of like getting a post card from a distant land and Byrne is noticing stuff b More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Feb 23, 2011

Anonymous rated it:

What a disappointment. I love me some Talking Heads, and somehow imagined that Byrne would have something interesting to say outside of music. Instead, this book was the equivalent of a middle-aged film star suddenly deciding to record an album - he may secretly dream of being a pop star, but that doesn't mean he should foist that dream on the rest of us. I agree with Byrne that bikes are cool and that riding in cities is scary in current conditions. I agree with him about Bush, and foreign More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 12, 2011

Derek rated it:

An undeniably likable narrative of getting around various cities via bicycle (and meeting an array of awesome/important people along the way), David Byrne's Bicycle Diaries is a nice enough account, but don't go looking for much of a glimpse into the persona of Mr. Byrne. While he spends a good deal of time philosophizing on a variety of topics (architecture and art, mostly), he tends to keep himself at arms' length--he talks a little about his work, but apparently the idea that a diary might be More...

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Nov 23, 2009

Mercedes rated it:

Byrne has been an avid bike rider for decades and these diaries chronicle his riding in major cities throughout the world along with his views on urban planning, art, architecture, music and more. I enjoy hearing positive narratives of urban bike riding and how it's not always just the freedom of the bike but the feeling of civic pride and independence in carving out an alternative healthy transportation. I tried several years to live without a car using a bike and public transportation and thou More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 11, 2012

Meghan rated it:

On the one hand, a rock star wrote a book and posed some good questions about how cities' transportation options influence quality of life. Cut him a break, right? Sure. On the other hand, I was hoping for more. He needed an editor to focus these thoughts. It read like a blog instead of a book.

I did appreciate his articulation of the joy of urban biking:

"It’s the liberating feeling—the physical and psychological sensation—that is more persuasive than any practical ar More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 27, 2010

Tyler rated it:

If you are looking for a book that explictly talks about bicycling and bicycle culture, it might be better to look elsewhere. But, if you are looking for a book that meanders through various topics in the same way a bicyclist might meander through a new city, this is the book for you. Roughly organized into chapters focusing on specific cities around the globe which Byrne has visited (and explored on his bicycle); this book is less a how-to for bicyclists, and more a loose chain of thoughts and More...

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Oct 26, 2009

Ian rated it:

This is not a must-read. And not every section (city) is fascinating. But I love how Byrne thinks.

This is as much a book about art, music, food, philosophy, technology, and anthropology as it is bikes. It starts with his ideas about how cities are built, and how they affect the way we live together (or more likely apart). Having a collapsible bike gives him freedom and quells his anxieties as he travels to different cities around the world. I remember Bonnie Prince Billy saying that More...

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