automotive

When it comes to the love of automobiles, my hub is somewhat of a road warrior. So, when he purchased this book, I must admit I feigned polite interest. After thumbing through pages of classy, glossy dream vehicles--- I was hooked. This was no ordinary book on cars. This was eye candy with all pedals to the metal.

Photographer Lewis relates that ad agencies would urge her to shoot cars in studio setups. But she always preferred to go on location to wait until the dawn sky "radiated a glow that rolls like warm caramel across a car's sheet metal."

That glow rolls through the pages of this sumptuous photographic history of the American motor car. The book starts with the Model T (costing $850 in 1908) and Henry Ford's vow to "build a car for the great multitude." It picks up speed in the '20s with the birth of the U.S. highway and cruises to our current national love affair with SUVs, "two-ton behemoths that swill fuel like hogs at the trough."

The automobiles themselves will be treat enough for car nuts. For the rest of us there is Lewis's affection for Americana. She shoots a '35 Ford pickup, black with red-rimmed wheels, against the bleakness of Two Guns, Ariz.; a ruby red '59 Cadillac Eldorado convertible in the glitter gulch of Fremont Street in Vegas; and a muscle-car legend, the '64 Pontiac GTO, beneath a towering doughnut sign in L.A.

A great gift for car loving guys & gals on Valentine's Day or any day. Warning: The rumble of the road will be calling you!

Lewis captures the epic wonder, strange beauty, and raucous vitality of the American road. Her eye is attracted to the things we often notice, but seldom observe. The text is excellent, offering actual experiences of those who journeyed along these fabled highways in the past. The color photography is mouth-watering and extremely vivid (the neon practically jumps from the page), but the black and white photos are especially haunting. They explore some of the same terrain immortalized by photographers such as Robert Frank and Dorothea Lange. All in all, a splendid book.

...Arranged in chronological order, the seven chapters take us from 1895 through 1999. The pictorial focus is on American iron, largely from the '50s and '60s. Lewis' narration accompanies in a casual tone with dry humor and interesting historical anecdotes, allowing the reader to mentally complete the cross-country journey with ease. I found myself reliving the multiple coast to coast excursions I took in the 1970s and felt the seeds of yet another trip being planted.

...Roadside America is a long-term book. Lucinda Lewis has lovingly recorded historic cars in historic settings with such visual detail that it is impossible to take them all in at one viewing. You will come back time and again. This book evokes all the romance and sense of adventure that early automotive culture has come to mean. Whether you are a fan of beautiful old cars, traveling Americana, automotive culture, or dramatic professional photography of all of the above, Roadside America, The Automobile and the American Dream is for you.