Bicycle

Object Lessons

by Jonathan Maskit, Ian Bogost (Series Editor), Christopher Schaberg (Series Editor)

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.

These days the bicycle often appears as an interloper in a world constructed for cars. An almost miraculous 19th-century contraption, the bicycle promises to transform our lives and the world we live in, yet its time seems always yet-to-come or long-gone-by. Jonathan Maskit takes us on an interdisciplinary ride to see what makes the bicycle a magical machine that could yet make the world a safer, greener, and more just place.

Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.

176 pages, Paperback

Published January 25, 2024

Reviews

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short but uneven look at bicycles and their interaction with motorized vehicles. The author is an avid cyclist and philosopher so the book is kind of a mashup of the two. I am sympathetic to the argument that make the world safer and better for cyclists would be good but the book is not really a straightforward case for that. Instead, it is a sort of rumination on how bicycles and their riders have been viewed through time and how culture, law and technology impact this perception and reality. If you are interested in the topic, I am sure you will enjoy the book.

[Paddy Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's short and to the point. Anyone who loves cycling is probably aware of most of the points made in the book, but it's a good, easily accessible starting point for anyone interested in the history of, and current state of affairs of, the bicycle as transport.

Also serves as a quick introduction to social and safety issues such as car-dependency, car-blindness and motonormativity.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was a wonderful exploration of bicycles (per the title), but stitching concepts that were somewhat familiar to me into a lovely afternoon read. It's not a technical volume, but as someone who reads very dense articles very frequently, this felt like a breath of fresh air, and made me want to hop on my bike! I especially found the bicycle diaries section wonderous.