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 enlarge | Author: Jane Holtz Kay
Publisher: University of California Press
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy Used: $4.65
You Save: $21.30 (82%)
New (19) Collectible (1) from $8.23
Avg. Customer Rating:  26 reviews
Sales Rank: 52891
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 440
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6 x 1.2
ISBN: 0520216202
Dewey Decimal Number: 303.4832
EAN: 9780520216204
ASIN: 0520216202
Publication Date: October 1, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Superb, crisp, clean, unread paperback with very light shelfwear to the covers and publisher's mark to one edge - GREAT!
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| Customer Reviews:
 Long recounting of our auto-dependent culture October 17, 2003
6 out of 11 found this review helpful
I, too, am concerned about the decay of our cities in the name of car culture. Asphalt Nation is a nice light reptitious long read about the problems, how we got here, and a few ideas on how to fix the problems autos have wrought. While clearly written, the author is repetitive, and I think would have had more impact in a 10-20 page article.
 Illuminating , insightful and readable September 18, 2003
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I find it incredible that I have not come upon Asphalt Nation before. I read books on the city and the environment continuously and have consulted the circuit of such writers without exploring this one, or finding its equal. Not only does this book have intelligent values, but it expresses them with elegance and humor. Unlike other books of this nature, it doesn't harangue but uses facts and arguments from lifestyle, the environment, economics and history plus solutions that made clear to me why we are running backwards...with sprawl, pollution, traffic, etc. Hey, and even engaging pictures! I
heartily recommend this book.
Deep and persuasive recounting of the car culture August 28, 2002
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
I had heard of this book and heard the author but didn't realize how compelling and well-written the actual story would be, not only in delivering insights on the way we have become car-dependent but in portraying the root of so many of our environmental and urban ills. Not just a diatribe, this book offers a broad and literary tale of our massive shift to automobility. Both more eloquent and factual than similar books (e.g. "The Geography of Nowhere" and "Fastfood Nation") it is a a good read and influenced my outlook on current events from global warming to farm and forest destruction to being just plain stuck in traffic. I heartily recommend it.
 Nothing new to make this worthwile. June 14, 2002
14 out of 26 found this review helpful
This book is very thorough about describing how cars became ingrained in our lives, but it didn't offer much insight. I'm guessing most people who read this book have some notion of how urban sprawl leads to car dependency and lack of inner-city. This book does little more than re-state that.Additional weak points:
- No presence of counter argument.
- Repetitive
- Not enough attention was payed to the 'taking it back' portion of the title. Roughly 4/5 of the book were taking over America, 1/5 taking it back. No new ideas were presented in the 'taking it back' section.
DO NOT READ THIS BOOK March 18, 2002
9 out of 31 found this review helpful
This is a horrible excuse for a piece of literature. Although her subject matter is occasionally rational, the repetition and horrible alliteration she uses is painful. What should have been written in 3 concise chapters drags on for 18 mind-numbing ones. I reccommend that no one reads this book as it was a waste of a quite a bit of my time, although I do commend her on her efforts to enlight the world on the ever-present environmental problems that we face on a daily basis.
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