Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Plays With Cars

Rate this book
Automotive writer Doug DeMuro is sharing his stories. In “Plays With Cars,” the former Porsche manager covers some of his most ridiculous decisions, like buying an old Land Rover sight unseen, taking a Mercedes AMG station wagon to a rural Georgia dragstrip, and roadtripping across the United States in a Lotus Elise without air conditioning. He’s also reviewed his former cars, which range from a Mercedes G-wagen to a Nissan Cube. Most importantly, he wrote this entire description himself in the third person.

237 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 12, 2013

57 people are currently reading
183 people want to read

About the author

Doug DeMuro

3 books12 followers

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
232 (40%)
4 stars
222 (39%)
3 stars
90 (15%)
2 stars
17 (3%)
1 star
5 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
Profile Image for Jason.
13 reviews
February 24, 2014
I saw the author's columns on Jalopnik and thought they were funny. This book was just $2.99 on kindle so I gave it a try.

I feel very lucky to have found this, It was perfect for me. I like all the same types of cars the author tells stories about and seem to have the same humor and sarcastic way of thinking. There were quite a few times where I laughed out loud. Then, my wife looked at me funny. I tried to explain it to her and even read her a passage, but she didn't get it. It really is about a love for cars, so if you don't share that it might not strike you the way it struck me.

This was a quick read, only took me a couple days. I look forward to more.
Profile Image for Steve E..
18 reviews1 follower
August 5, 2016
DeMuro is laugh-out-loud funny in places - and his style really grows on you, until it doesn't. Poor editing brings it down a star.
Profile Image for Suleyman Sari.
82 reviews
February 15, 2019
I first saw Doug's youtube videos, and really got hooked up to his channel for his "quirky" car reviews. Therefore, his style in this book was quite familiar. I chuckled quite often, but also cringed a lot at the moments where he was making fun of other people whom he met at car events or who somehow made car deals with him.

it doesn't claim to be otherwise, but still need to mention, that this is a very light reading in the form of several car-related personal anecdotes, sprinkled with Doug humor.
Profile Image for Diogo Pereira.
213 reviews2 followers
December 28, 2022
Se o anterior não era sobre carros, este é exclusivamente sobre isto. O Doug é um cronista puro que brilha ainda mais na sua área de especialidade. Histórias incríveis e divertidas, como cruzar os EUA em pleno Verão num Lotus Elise em ar condicionado
11 reviews
July 4, 2020
Very witty and sarcastic, great short stories about cars with very funny analogies and overall humor.
Profile Image for James Scholz.
116 reviews4,210 followers
October 6, 2023
a fun easy read. doug is my favorite youtube channel so it was fun remembering stuff from when he had like 50k subs
288 reviews1 follower
September 3, 2018
DeMuro is a prolific car reviewer on YouTube. This is a breezy read with some amusing anecdotes. I’m currently in a car-interest phase so I enjoyed it.
Profile Image for Anthony.
75 reviews2 followers
August 2, 2013
Doug DeMuro writes at The Truth About Cars and Jalopnik. If you've read his posts there, then you've probably some of the writing here, or stuff that touches on the same themes. It's a good read, though - funny, easy to read, and interesting. There are parts where I wish he went a little more into depth - sometimes it feels like the setup is great but the ending kind of rushes, but maybe that's just because I want more of his hilarious writing. Well worth $3 - this is the book that got me to start using my Kindle.
1 review1 follower
February 17, 2016
As with many others, after seeing the book mentioned at the end of articles on Jalopnik for a while I decided to take a look.

A relatively cheap book with a few short stories echoing Doug's online writing style. The stories made me laugh as much as his ongoing columns do and I enjoyed the short book.

Not a book about cars in the 'working on them' sense, more a book about enjoying experiences in cars. This speaks to my experience and interest in cars greatly. The most I've ever done to my car is checked the oil...
Profile Image for Jack Coleston.
Author 1 book2 followers
February 1, 2017
Doug Demuro provides his usual humour and wit in spades! If you are a regular reader of his Jalopnik column then you'll definitely appreciate this book. If you aren't and you just love cars then you'll certainly find his stories and recollections interesting and at times so hilarious that you'll cry tears of laughter.
My only criticism is that it ended abruptly and there was no information about the author and how you can connect with him or where you can read his columns at the back of the book.
Profile Image for Alastair McRae.
75 reviews
August 4, 2015
It was good; not great. I can't decide if I qualify as a car enthusiast or not though. I spend a very large percentage of my time thinking about, reading about, dreaming about, talking about cars, but I've never owned a single car for pleasure. It's all about utility and necessity and reliability when I make a car purchase. Doug, on the other hand, must be 5 or 6 years younger than me and has owned most of those cars I dream about. It was fun to read about that.
Profile Image for Tomasz Stachewicz.
95 reviews36 followers
September 6, 2015
Like probably all who read this book, I know Doug DeMuro as frequent writer on the Jalopnik and being a fan of his style I decided to buy this book. And was not disappointed! DeMuro has this excellent style which allows him to describe even mundane events (like car, or at least its air conditioning, breaking down in the middle of across-usa road trip) in extremely entertaining way. And his adventures were far beyond "mundane", that's for sure. Wholeheartedly recommending!
8 reviews
February 6, 2017
Good stories, but leaves a lot to be desired.

I loved the stories. The cars were cool, but the repetitive nature of the book was too much. There really wasn't much about the vast majority of stories that were memorable. I hope his other book is better. Fool me once shame on me, fool me twice shame on me.
Profile Image for Rob Warner.
294 reviews4 followers
March 27, 2014
This dude is hilarious! It's a series of short essays on various car-related topics, and every essay is a total crackup. As soon as I finished this book, I bought his other one, and I'll be glued to that as soon as I start!
Profile Image for Alan Thompson.
2 reviews3 followers
December 1, 2015
Ok. I am one of the afflicted too.

A lot to recognize here. Good quick read, but frankly I would have liked more than a collection of brief stories about each car Doug has owned. Shit, could write that book. But Doug is like a writer or journalist or something.
Profile Image for Felix.
184 reviews
November 5, 2021
If you watched Doug's videos and read his articles and enjoyed them, you are going to love this book!

Filled with unbelivable stories, funny thoughts this book is extremely "quirky".

This is "Car Fever" by James May but at a 200Mph pace while doing skids...
19 reviews
April 21, 2014
Car lovers.

A good read for fellow car lovers. Whether you are into sports cars, exotics, daily drivers, foreign or domestic, this a good read from the actual driver.
9 reviews
May 25, 2014
Entertaining read. It's a funny style, but a hair too much like trying to be Jeremy Clarkson. A teeny bit repetitive too. Was still a great read though.
1 review
August 11, 2016
Collection of car stories / reviews. Liked it but you can get the same thing (from the same writer) on Jalopnik.com...
2 reviews
February 11, 2015
Found this book after reading Doug's articles on Jalopnik. The book keeps the same style as his internet pieces and is therefore a pleasure to read.
1 review
March 21, 2015
funny.

Youthful perspective on some cool cars. What is next on the list? I'm totally scared of all British cars now.
8 reviews
July 11, 2016
Fun read for anyone who enjoys all things automotive.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.