Cyclettes

by Tree Abraham

Some people “live to ride”, while others simply ride to live. In Cyclettes , author and designer Tree Abraham documents a meaningful life only discovered and sustained through a two-wheeled lifestyle—one that speaks to those who find home in wanderlust and merge with a flow of like-minded enthusiasts.  For Abraham, Cyclettes began as a list of every bicycle she has ever known—from her first childhood bike to the second-hand purchases and loaners that have propelled her into adulthood and around the world. It grew to include other forms of both literal and conceptual cycling, spanning histories and cultures, all encircled by brief memories and observations from an author compelled to move.  Each cycling vignette in this book is a cyclette—a circumvoluting entry point to Abraham’s musings on the millennial experience. From bicycle brain to the gyroscopic effect, wild rides in Old Delhi to a tofu farm in Nova Scotia, exhilarating climbs and disappointing descents, Abraham makes connections to our habits and habitats no matter how often we ride a bike. In the face of economic, environmental, technological, and philosophical shifts, and at a time when the very notion of how to live has come into question, Cyclettes offers another kind of one that finds stillness in motion.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Essays, LGBT, History, Queer, Canada

224 pages, Hardcover

Published November 1, 2022

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something unique, creative, thought-provoking, interesting, and, well, (even if slightly repetitive) different. Coming to it with no familiarity or expectations, I was very pleasantly surprised.

There's a lot ... OK, so much ... going on here, from the vignette numbering scheme to the mixed media to the temporal dizziness to the seemingly random topical carousel to the introspection and travel.... And, through all of it, almost surprisingly, the prose, the vocabulary, at times, simply sings.

Small and slender as it may be, it caught my eye during a first (and gratifying) visit to a (frankly, impressive) terrific bookstore in a part of time I haven't visited for ages. I'm glad I found, bought, and read it.

Eye of the beholder's riff: Much as I'm drawn to books about bikes (and bike riding, and bike travel, and bike racing (more as a spectator), and cycling and bicycle history, cycling performance and technology, and cycling events and culture and community), the book is a reminder of the inanity, the absurdity, the (comic and oft-glorious) wrongness of the Velominati or Bike Snob or the purist, or anyone who asserts that a bicycle or cycling can (or should) only mean one thing. I have no more in common with the author than the typical recipient (and user) of a World Bike Relief Buffalo Bike (side note: a great not-for-profit, check it out - https://worldbicyclerelief.org/ ): other than an inclination to ride pretty much anywhere (here and abroad), we're not drawn to the same types of bikes, we don't approach riding the same way, we completely disagree on appropriate attire, and we even vehemently disagree on stationary cycling and spin classes (including Soul and Peloton, and I'll throw in CycleBar too). And, in my experience, that simply made the book all the more interesting.

Free association: Having recently read and really enjoyed Raising Hare, I'm increasingly curious if, in the not too distant future, libraries and bookstores will be shelving books on a COVID/Pandemic-themed shelf. To me, this seemed very much one that might be found or should belong on such a shelf.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

CYCLETTES by Tree Abraham is a really interesting book! I really enjoyed this one! It’s a memoir told through cycling. We ride along from her first childhood bike to traveling and many different bicycles along the way. It was great to see the creativity in this book that includes photos and illustrations. I read it quite quickly because it was so fun to turn the page and read a little vignette or see a cool image.

Thank you to Book*hug Press for my gifted review copy!

[n · Rating 5 out of 5]

gorgeously designed & gorgeously written, full of spirals and cycles and curves, made me want to go out and buy a bicycle immediately

[Gisele · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful ode to cycling that lifts the spirits just as the pedaling itself does through a series of vignettes (cyclettes)! Written super creatively challenging the reader to take a different perspective through movement on the page as you traverse each leaf!

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was fortunate enough to read an early draft of Cyclettes and I loved it immediately. The finished product is even better, with imaginative visuals, gorgeous photos, and a love of cycling that leaps off the page. It's honest, funny, sweet, and entirely original.

[Claudette R · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a lovely mix of a travel memoir, ode to a bike intermixed with drawings/pictures that accompany the text. Unique, beautiful little book.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

|| CYCLETTES ||

"If I were to invent a bicycle-related word it would be cervelo: "bicycle brain".

Memoir mixes with travel writing in this wholly original, most interesting read!

I adored this book! Its uniqueness and wonderful blend of visuals, coming-of-age and adventure was a tender read for one of my last of this year.


Gifted by the publisher, opinions are my own.

For more of my book content check out instagram.com/bookalong

[Erik Eckel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cyclettes consists of a series of vignettes, photographs, drawings and diagrams. The collection serves as a sincere and intimate memoir in which designer, illustrator and writer Tree Abraham invites you into her life and mind.

A lifelong cyclist, I enjoyed the author's genuine celebration of the bicycle. The book is particularly compelling due to her rejection of cycling fads, styles, fashion and related Peloton classes. Instead, she proves herself an authentic pedal pusher who's likely ridden more bicycles on more continents more miles than many weekend warriors with their high-end steeds and obsessive Strava posts will ever approach.

An English major, I love the fact she sent me to a dictionary repeatedly while reading. Although I've been reading (and writing) for decades, I appreciate being challenged and she was up to the task with her thoughtful and revealing yet crisp and approachable writing.

This memoir is a rare and unique treasure and one I'm thankful to have found and experienced. She reinforces my conviction I need not be a racer or crazed stationary bike enthusiast to consider the bicycle and cycling a major component of my health, personality and soul. But you need not be interested in bicycles or cycling to enjoy this book. If you enjoy memoirs, travel stories, New York City experiences or sincere works in which the author shares interior thoughts in ways that can also help you better manage life, you will likely rate this work high, too.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cyclettes is a memoir in fragments, largely using the author's relationship with bicycles to reflect on home, wandering, love... Some really striking observations and turns of phrase. Creative, experimental, conversational, especially great for short reading sessions as you can pick it up and put it down without losing track of a longer arc.

Very original.

You don't need to be a bike person to enjoy this, though that would certainly give extra appeal.

Giving a numerical score feels weird but I guess 4.5 rounded up..?

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this little book so much. It’s a life book disguised as a bike book written by a bike person for bike people (or anyone with a soul that craves to wander). I’m a bike person- an unlikely one, as I didn’t ride a bike from age 9 to 29 and was too afraid to ride on the road for nearly a full year. But my bike gets me everywhere- to work, to run errands, to see friends, to explore. I have a wandering soul- always looking for the next adventure, the next place, settling down but never feeling settled. This book scratched that part of me in the most comforting way.

[Mitchell Volk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books threads a careful needle between sharing too much and not sharing enough. Common among “makers of things” is a desire to share everything but at the same time be invisible. Tree orbits that tension here. The short fragmented stories allow you to spend any amount of time with the book, so I found myself reading for 10 minutes here or there, excited to read it again but having a good place to set it down. All the drawings and images are fantastic and I only wish there were more.

[Gaby · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeous and thoughtful memoir that weaves together contemplations of home and longing in words and pictures. Tree Abraham has written and designed a book that feels the same way as riding your bike down a perfectly paved path on a cool summer’s night. I always feel like I’m flying when I’m on a good ride; this book felt like that.

[Raven Greye · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. Abraham uses a wildly creative format to showcase her original ideas and musings— exploring life’s circuitous trajectory, travel, love, through a lifelong connection to bicycles. It’s truly a little triumph.

[Avvai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this little book. Thoughts and life on two wheels. I loved the way the book looked and it was so relatable. Everything I've felt about riding bicycles and travel and existing was captured so well. It made me want to write my own little cyclettes.

[t’Jacques Guillot · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sweet and delightful book that made me nostalgic for a life I never lived. I learned a lot of vocabulary words from it, as well as more worldly artistic and conceptual things (e.g., Indo-Saracen architecture and Kierkegaard’s artistic rotation method)

[Elizabeth Strauch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun format with thought-provoking themes that make me think maybe the world revolves on two wheels.

[Mikey B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

At its best this is whimsical and entertaining with some thoughtful observations. It's vaguely about the author growing up and becoming infatuated with cycling. It also revolves around the authors' personal life. She grew up in Ottawa, Canada, and has visited places around the globe – India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Great Britain…

But I started to skim after reading half of it. It's just too rambling, too personal, with non sequiturs from paragraph to paragraph.

There are lots of illustrations. Overall, there is a lack of unity and purpose

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Her memoir includes lots of places that she traveled, however, her meanderings don't entice me to follow in her footsteps. Her choices in equipment are also not in keeping with safety or efficiency and since she gives no reason for her choices, they are not helpful to others interested in bicycling. But she did have several good points and interesting thoughts sprinkled throughout, making is a worthy read that might be of interest to others.

[Reza Cristian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is for all my bike lovers out there, it’s a beautiful memoir, short stories of the authors life between her childhood to present and how much biking means to her. The short stories are broken up between paragraphs that are numbered and there are images/graphics as well which makes it a quick read.

[Cameron Maveal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this so much I purchased the hardcover before finishing my TPL loaner. Grabbed an extra copy as a wedding gift for some cycling friends too. Perfect little before-bed read for when you may only be able to get a few pages in before nodding off.

Now get me on my bicycle!

[Deborah Mackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this quirky look at cycling and world travel and the pandemic and friendship and science. Filled with drawings and charts and photos. A wonderful book.

[Molly Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed I can’t remember what any of my childhood bikes looked like. Probably they were pink.

[Enid Wray · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am not the reader for this book....

[Sam Prigg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this book up at the LA Times Book Festival and so glad I did! Very interesting read, I really enjoyed it!

[Diana Ruesdii · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're not a cyclist, you will become one :)

[Alex Broughton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Book seems to wander with no point. More like a collection of random social media posts from someone without much to say.

[Matt Heavner · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun snippets on life and on cycling.

[Jon Musser · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unusual book that I was very unsure about when I first started. But largely enjoyable!

[Spencer Mize · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't understand what I just read. Was this a journal? An art project? A manifesto?

🤷

There were good parts. And not-good parts.

[Aiste · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2.5