Cars

by George Bowering, Ryan Knighton

It's not where you're going but how you get there ... Everyone's got a good story to tell about a funny fender-bender, a bad cab ride, awkward amorous acrobatics. But the stories we tell about cars tell even more about ourselves. You'll see what we mean in Cars . George Bowering, one of Canada's Grand Prix writers, and Ryan Knighton, a young writer just entering the race, realized that they could tell the stories of their lives and friendship through the automobiles that have driven them. Now, these aren't your ordinary boys-and-cars stories. There's no drag racing or cruising for chicks. In fact, George likes to drive pretty slowly, and Ryan, who is now blind, doesn't drive at all. But they take turns in the literary driver's seat, bantering and fender-nudging so their stories curve and tangle like a BC highway, until what emerges is a poignant, hilarious conversation. Boiling fish in the radiator, jousting with a forklift, cabbing with Doris in one hundred panels (that's fifty each), George and Ryan tell the tales of their friendship, families, friends and loves - all illuminated by the dashboard light. Cars is an auto biography that'll chauffeur you through the intersection of the lives of two of Canada's most interesting writers.

112 pages, Paperback

First published October 19, 1998

About the author

George Bowering was born and brought up in the Okanagan Valley, amid sand dunes and sagebrush, but he has lived in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and Alberta — great sources of hockey stars. Along the way he has stopped to write several books on baseball. He has also picked up Governor General’s Awards for his poetry and fiction, and otherwise been rewarded with prizes for his books, except in his home province of British Columbia. His earlier ECW book, His Life, was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award for 2000. He lives in Vancouver.