BikeSnobNYC is a funny blog that pokes fun of bike hipsterism, trying as cleverly as it can to keep bikers connected to the real world, even one that includes fashion. The anonymous author has been dismayed by the bike fads among fresh-faced lads and lasses that push reckless spending and danger. No need!, he says. Think!
Well, he finally came out with a book. And because books need to be “toured” he came out came out. With his name. Too bad. Book tours are lame. I mean, do them if they’re fun for you but I can’t believe they’re necessary. The web woulda given him plenty of buzz. Then again coming out as Eben Weiss was buzz, too. C’mon, isn’t a pen name worth anything anymore? Did Mark Twain go around saying “Yeah, I’m really Sam,” on all his lecture tours?
The book is a dandy, as all Chronicle Books books are. It’s hardcover without a dustjacket. It has nice two-color text and wood-cut “type” graphics throughout, plus a chunk of full-color.
It’s a bit of a weird book in that he says he tries to be nicer than his blog yet still I’m sure he wants to be relevant. He also tries to make it both a beginner’s book and an insider’s book. Really, only insiders are going to buy this book, so he could’ve just skipped all the babytalk. Of course, a sensible look at the basics can be a grownup thing to do. A little bearings-check can’t hurt. I suppose some giftbuyers and kids in libraries will get it to learn about bikes. ? I guess it has a fashionable look and some folks will appreciate that kind of entre’.
There are a lot of awkward references to pop culture in here. Like, his section on how to dress for the various ranges of temperature is just plain nuts. He makes puns on the degree of temp and ties the pun in with the title and theme of a movie. HUH?
References to his own bike childhood and experiences don’t always work either, though they’re trying. Some verge on filler. …And this coming from me, who likes a personalized book over a committeefied one.
Maybe it really is a good book for a hipster who’s thinking of getting hir first fixie. Eben is wanting to rescue them from embarrassment and helping to orient them to the reality of what they’re doing along with giving them a map of the culture they’re entering. They know it’s hip but what to do next? Ah, that might be what this book is for.
Parsing the Biker Types is a good contribution to this part of his map of the culture. He gets it all down pretty well. All the differences and all the cliques in cycling are, indeed, amazing to witness. An argyle sock plus cleated shoe really DOES give special coded info to an onlooker: crosser. Argyle plus loafer: tweeder (…my addition to his map).
It does have a great intro chapter on the history of cycling in NYC. I want to read it again! Set & setting, baby! Anyone who rides in NYC should know how it all came to be.
In general, though the jokes are weaker than in the blog, there’s a lot of good BSNYC to be had.
https://www.amazon.com/Bike-Snob-Systematically-Mercilessly-Realigning/dp/0811869989/
