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Hack: Stories From A Chicago Cab (2011)

by Dmitry Samarov(Favorite Author)

3.43 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0226734730 (ISBN13: 9780226734736)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

University Of Chicago Press

review 1: I stumbled upon this gem at a book fair and am so glad I picked it up. In thoughtful, observant prose, Dmitry Samarov recounts the monotony and absurdity of his job as a cab driver in Chicago. Samarov holds a degree from the Art Institute of Chicago, and his sketches of customers -- some far from flattering -- dot the pages of this slim gem. Like his drawings, the stories themselves are quick studies, but they manage to convey a breadth of human emotion and experience. Samarov describes drunks, PDA-obsessed young (and old) couples, deadbeats, drug dealers, and derelicts with the wary eye of a man who has to take whatever fare climbs into his backseat, no matter their physical or emotional state. But he also bears witness to unexpected moments of human connection and joy, w... morehen the tedium of scanning for the next raised hand or dealing with the labyrinthian policies of his cab company becomes almost worth it.Samarov divides his book into days of the week (plus holidays) to give his readers a sense of the rhythm of a "typical" week. This stylistic device was effective; I truly felt like I was along for the ride. I was surprised by the number of hours he spends waiting -- waiting at the airport for his cue to be sent to the terminal, waiting in the wee hours of the morning for an available cab, waiting for his perennially crappy cab to be outfitted with a new air conditioner or control panel. Samarov reserves special vitriol for the incompetent folks working at the cab warehouse, for bus drivers in their hulking vehicles, and for bicyclists who flirt dangerously with cabs, buses, and traffic controls. However, Samarov's bitterness never overtakes the writing nor does it cast a cynical shadow on the book. Rather, he conveys the irritation that all of us experience to some degree while negotiating a city like Chicago.And what a city it is. I loved reading about the neighborhoods and places I know -- though there were many that were new to me. I kept expecting to see myself or someone I knew in print. And while I didn't, I finished this book with a new respect for the hardworking cab drivers trolling the city streets, just trying to make a buck like the rest of us.
review 2: There's a part of me that has always longed to be able to experience life through other people..that part of me is the writer that identifies with what Samarov is doing. That isn't to say that driving a cab isn't hard, brutal, scary work but to be in the underbelly of Chicago is still a fascinating experience even when terrifying. Dmitry explores all the unique people he meets in what seems like a typical week for him as well as a little about holidays and routine maintenance hell that cab drivers in Chicago have to put up with on a daily basis. I would have liked for a much longer read but this is a decent introduction that hopefully he will be able to write more about later. Even though he admits himself he gets only glimpses into random folk, it's usually enough and between Dmitry's drawings which even with some crudeness capture the essence of the lost souls he encounters and the wry sense of insight he has, he can tell a good story. Of course, this is one case where true life can be stranger than fiction. Dmitry captures the essence of a variety of re-occurring themes here of class, racism, and the games people play with one another with a great wryness. I have a soft spot for him between twitter and seeing him at random indie band shows but my experience in general with cabs outside of him has not been great. Mainly, I experience them from the outside while riding my bike. They never pull over even when there is ample space and it causes dangerous congestion often. The passengers sometimes don't exit curbside like they are supposed to and I've nearly been doored by them. I also have never seen a cab driver ever signal to let me know he's ready to pull out or to pull over. I've even seen a cab driver hit a bicyclist while doing a spontaneous U-turn when he, not the bicyclist who was going through a green light at Milwaukee and Wood, was clearly in the wrong. (The cab driver pulled over and then argued with this bicyclist after he had hit him, which was so astounding considering the cab driver was CLEARLY in the wrong) So, when I read some of the criticisms of bicyclists, I had to remind myself Dmitry is dealing with the dumb messengers who don't look, weave in and out, and make everyone's driving and riding experience a perilous venture into traffic hell. At the same time, some balance to say not all bicyclists are like this would be preferable. Though, I have to say, most cab drivers I've run into are nothing like Dmitry either. I say this because doubtless all cab drivers have one story or another to tell but few go to the lengths Dmitry has to tell it and his experiences are definitely worth reading about. Some favorite quotes: pg. 22-23 "These people, and many others less memorable, serve as signposts all across this town. There's some kinship between them and the hacks who haunt these avenues; these forgotten shades serve as the only constant company on deserted streets at any hour of the day or night. Their presence reaffirms our own, while also reminding us of the merciless repetition of this work."pg. 26 "If cars are fish, then city buses are the whales in the water of the thoroughfare."pg. 37 "Vampire Hours: Hauling up and down empty avenues on winter weeknights can be its own kind of purgatory."pg. 44 "Fog comes in and hides the skyscrapers just as the last of the graying milky daylight fades. Streetlamps light no more than a few feet in any direction before being consumed by murky cotton wadding that now binds all forms together. Streets driven thousands of times bear no resemblance to their former selves, transformed into stage sets for Gothic tales-or slasher flicks depending on one's age and taste."pg. 45 "It just isn't a night for certainty."pg. 105 (Holiday: Stanley Cup) "Working on this night, as with so many other festive nights, sets one necessarily apart from the masses. Climbing onto the bandwagon at this point would've been ludicrous in any case. Hockey just doesn't do a thing for me."pg. 115 "Driving away, I think no apology for the human race would suffice to make this thing right."pg. 119 "A woman weaves wildly in and out of traffic. The cat on her lap has two paws on the wheel. Not certain who's steering.""A drunk girl staggers across the street and asks to be taken to the Hotel Allegory."pg. 121 "We were only friends when she was into irony." less

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