Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle
(OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen)
“Excellent . . . calls to mind Bill Bryson, John McPhee, Rebecca Solnit.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker
The bicycle is a vestige of the Victorian era, seemingly at odds with our age of smartphones and ride-sharing apps and driverless cars. Yet we live on a bicycle planet. Across the world, more people travel by bicycle than any other form of transportation. Almost anyone can learn to ride a bike—and nearly everyone does.
In Two Wheels Good, journalist and critic Jody Rosen reshapes our understanding of this ubiquitous machine, an ever-present force in humanity’s life and dream life—and a flash point in culture wars—for more than two hundred years. Combining history, reportage, travelogue, and memoir, Rosen’s book sweeps across centuries and around the globe, unfolding the bicycle’s saga from its invention in 1817 to its present-day renaissance as a “green machine,” an emblem of sustainability in a world afflicted by pandemic and climate change. Readers meet unforgettable characters: feminist rebels who steered bikes to the barricades in the 1890s, a prospector who pedaled across the frozen Yukon to join the Klondike gold rush, a Bhutanese king who races mountain bikes in the Himalayas, a cycle-rickshaw driver who navigates the seething streets of the world’s fastest-growing megacity, astronauts who ride a floating bicycle in zero gravity aboard the International Space Station.
Two Wheels Good examines the bicycle’s past and peers into its future, challenging myths and clichés while uncovering cycling’s connection to colonial conquest and the gentrification of cities. But the book is also a love letter: a reflection on the sensual and spiritual pleasures of bike riding and an ode to an engineering marvel—a wondrous vehicle whose passenger is also its engine.
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Jody Rosen. (2022). Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle. Unabridged Books on Tape.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Jody Rosen. 2022. Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle. Books on Tape.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Jody Rosen, Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle. Books on Tape, 2022.
MLA Citation (style guide)Jody Rosen. Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle. Unabridged Books on Tape, 2022.
| Library | Owned | Available |
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There are 3 holds on this title.
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- A panoramic revisionist portrait of the nineteenth-century invention that is transforming the twenty-first-century world
“Excellent . . . calls to mind Bill Bryson, John McPhee, Rebecca Solnit.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker
The bicycle is a vestige of the Victorian era, seemingly at odds with our age of smartphones and ride-sharing apps and driverless cars. Yet we live on a bicycle planet. Across the world, more people travel by bicycle than any other form of transportation. Almost anyone can learn to ride a bike—and nearly everyone does.
In Two Wheels Good, journalist and critic Jody Rosen reshapes our understanding of this ubiquitous machine, an ever-present force in humanity’s life and dream life—and a flash point in culture wars—for more than two hundred years. Combining history, reportage, travelogue, and memoir, Rosen’s book sweeps across centuries and around the globe, unfolding the bicycle’s saga from its invention in 1817 to its present-day renaissance as a “green machine,” an emblem of sustainability in a world afflicted by pandemic and climate change. Readers meet unforgettable characters: feminist rebels who steered bikes to the barricades in the 1890s, a prospector who pedaled across the frozen Yukon to join the Klondike gold rush, a Bhutanese king who races mountain bikes in the Himalayas, a cycle-rickshaw driver who navigates the seething streets of the world’s fastest-growing megacity, astronauts who ride a floating bicycle in zero gravity aboard the International Space Station.
Two Wheels Good examines the bicycle’s past and peers into its future, challenging myths and clichés while uncovering cycling’s connection to colonial conquest and the gentrification of cities. But the book is also a love letter: a reflection on the sensual and spiritual pleasures of bike riding and an ode to an engineering marvel—a wondrous vehicle whose passenger is also its engine. - reviews
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- content: More people around the world travel by bicycle than any other form of transportation, says author Jody Rosen. This audiobook is filled with interesting anecdotes about bikes and the people who ride, build, repair, worship, and, sometimes, despise them. (One of Hitler's first acts when he was in power was to smash Germany's bicycle union.) Sean Patrick Hopkins narrates smoothly and enthusiastically as he takes listeners to the many places around the world that have interesting bicycle-related stories. Amanda Carlin and Fred Sanders share the story of two bikers who met on a cross-country ride while celebrating the nation's bicentennial and ended up marrying. If you've ever ridden a bike, you are certain to find this a great listen. J.P.S. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
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September 1, 2022
Told through excerpts from old letters, anecdotes, newspapers, political cartoons, etc., this is journalist Rosen's (White Christmas: The Story of an American Song) vibrant homage to the bicycle. The origin of the bicycle is a matter of national pride. Google "father of the bicycle," and you will find a whole page of results that all attribute the coveted title to a different person, often from a different country than the previous person. The bicycle is indicative of the political and economic history of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its rise coincided with the industrial revolution, mounting class warfare and racial tension, and progress overall. It has adapted and evolved over the decades as countries urbanized and grew more interconnected. Sean Patrick Hopkins's narration and Rosen's writing work well together, making the audiobook a fun and entertaining listen. VERDICT Although the middle section is slightly bogged down by newspaper clippings strung together in a row, and longtime readers of the New York Times might recognize some of Rosen's previous articles reappearing as chapters in here, this is nevertheless a good purchase.--Ammi Bui
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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Starred review from April 4, 2022
This high-flying debut history by New York Times Magazine contributor Rosen captures the allure of riding a bike. Through vivid anecdotes, such as how the design of the bicycle led the Wright brothers to invent the airplane, Rosen makes clear how impactful the invention has been for humankind. Baron Karl von Drais, a minor German nobleman, produced the first bike in 1817, and the design was repeatedly improved upon in subsequent decades. For example, in 1888, Belfast-based veterinarian John Boyd Dunlop replaced the solid rubber tires on his son’s tricycle with “inflated rubber tubes, sheathed in canvas and an additional outer layer of sheet rubber,” leading to the widespread adoption of pneumatic tires. Rosen is equally fascinating in describing the bicycle’s changing status in countries like China, which produces more bikes per year than the world builds cars; the “Great Covid-19 Bicycle Boom” that saw people “converging on bike lanes and patronizing cycle-share systems in unprecedented numbers”; and the archetype of “bright-eyed children, bicycling through idyllic suburbs” seen in movies and TV shows like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Stranger Things. Witty prose, exhaustive research, and Rosen’s contagious enthusiasm ensure that this standout history will appeal to cyclists and non-cyclists alike.
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“Excellent . . . calls to mind Bill Bryson, John McPhee, Rebecca Solnit.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker
The bicycle is a vestige of the Victorian era, seemingly at odds with our age of smartphones and ride-sharing apps and driverless cars. Yet we live on a bicycle planet. Across the world, more people travel by bicycle than any other form of transportation. Almost anyone can learn to ride a bike—and nearly everyone does.
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