aFast Cars, Cool Rides is empirically rich, full of arresting
observations and revealing verbatim quotes.a
--"American Journal of Sociology"
"Best shines a fluorescent street light on young people in high
octane motion, making meaning and community through their cars. . .
. Best's subjects articulate an intricate interplay of class, race,
gender, and identity formation; she's given a great American
institution its props."
--Donna Gaines, author of "Teenage Wasteland: Suburbia's Dead End
Kids"
"Best's insights and observations should help youth workers and
other adults understand this often powerful symbol."
--"Youth Today"
"How pleasantly jarring to be invited to enter Santa Clara
Street, to feel the heat of the summer, to smell the alcohol on the
breaths of the youth, to hear the bottles breaking on the sidewalk
and to, most importantly, be treated to a fine analysis of the
experiences of some of these cruisers."
--Daniel Thomas Cook, author of "The Commodification of Childhood:
The Children's Clothing Industry and the Rise of the Child
Consumer"
"Has the potential to expand our knowledge about young people's
great social power, their contributions to changing culture, and
their influence in marketplace decision-making. . . . A compelling
and thought-provoking read."
--Debra Van Ausdale, author of "The First R: How Children Learn
Race and Racism"
aIn Fast Cars, Cool Rides, Amy Best takes the inside lane on how
and why young people use their cars as a means of cultural
expression. Whether the school parking lot, auto-shop class, or the
San Jose cruising scene, and whether the goal is personal freedom,
racial solidarity, masculine power, or femininerebelliousness, the
car is the vehicle for the job, affording youth the symbolic and
material means to solidify their identities within the context of
global consumer culture. An intelligent, well-written book on kids
and their cars; buckle up and take this ride."
--Laura Grindstaff, author of "The Money Shot: Trash, Class, and
the Making of TV Talk Shows"
"Amy Best once again proves herself a most astute observer of
youth cultures. This exciting study of diverse American car
cultures brims with insight about identity formation,
commodification, and the making of diverse modern selves."
--Janice M. Irvine, author of "Talk About Sex: The Battles Over Sex
Education in the United States"
"Social observers from Tom Wolfe to George Lucas have seen
Californians' car-cruising as emblematic of our larger society and
social structure. Amy Best studied the scene in San Jose. In her
eyes, young people's actions and attitudes toward cars reveal links
among gender, ethnicity, material culture, and contemporary social
structure."
--Joel Best, author of "Damned Lies and Statistics: Untangling
Numbers from the Media, Politicians, and Activists"
Bass booms from custom speakers, pick-up trucks boast lowered
suspensions, chrome rims reflect stoplights, and bare arms dangle
from open windows. Welcome to Santa Clara Street in San Jose,
California, where every weekend kids come to cruise late at night,
riding their cars slow and low. On the surrounding, less-traveled
streets you can also find young men racing customized cars to see
who has the "go," not just the "show." And, in the daylight hours,
in a nearby suburb, you might find a brand new SUV parked in the
driveway, a parents' Sweet 16present.
In Fast Cars, Cool Rides Amy Best provides a fascinating account
of kids and car culture. Encompassing everything from learning to
drive to getting one's license, from cruising to customizing, from
racing to buying one's first car, Best shows that never before have
cars played such an important role in the lives of America's youth
as they do today. Drawing on interviews with over 100 young men and
women, aged 15-24, and five years of research--cruising hot spots,
sitting in on auto shop class, attending car shows--Best explores
the fast-paced world of kids and their cars. She reveals a world
where cars have incredible significance for kids today, as a means
of transportation and thereby freedom to come and go, as status
symbols and as a means to express their identities. But while
having a fast car or a cool ride can carry tremendous importance
for these kids, Best shows that the price, especially when it can
cost $30,000, can be steep as working-class kids work jobs to make
car payments and as college kids forgo moving out of Mom and Dad's
house because they can't pay for rent, car payments, and car
insurance.
Fast Cars, Cool Rides offers a rare and rich portrait of the
complex and surprising roles cars can play in the lives of young
Americans. Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a cool ride.
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
