| Riding with Rilke: Reflections on Motorcycles and Books |  | Author: Ted Bishop
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co.
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
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Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 490,640
Media: Paperback
Pages: 272
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.7
ISBN: 0393330745
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9780393330748
ASIN: 0393330745
Publication Date: November 17, 2007
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| Features:
| • | ISBN13: 9780393330748 | | • | Condition: NEW | | • | Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark. |
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Product Description
"Part travelogue, part ode to his bike and part literary criticism...a memoir infused with joie de vivre."—Publishers Weekly In this "joyful book" (Booklist), archive diver and Ducati enthusiast Ted Bishop takes readers on an epic trip from Edmonton to Austin, through the classic landscapes of the American West, and to some of America's and Europe's most famous cities as he considers what it means to be a road dog and a researcher. Whether describing how he came to own a Ducati, debating the merits of D. H. Lawrence's novels, relishing the outlaw thrill of cruising small American towns on his bike, or holding Virginia Woolf's suicide note in the British Library, Bishop "easily blends his love of books and archives with his love of motorcycles and riding...an unusual combination...but one that ultimately works" (Library Journal). A Playboy Best Book of 2006. .
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 10
 terrific read September 3, 2009
Charles B. Clancy III (Morristown, NJ)
This book is uncommonly interesting and well written. Supplementing the motorcycle adventure content the author discusses human interest and literary matters which add a fascinating additional dimension. The book is woven beautifully together by clear, entertaining writing.
 holidelay January 15, 2009
J. Stenzel (san diego)
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
The book arrived in great condition, but it took about two weeks to receive it after ordering online. This was a few weeks before X-mas, so Im not sure how much at fault the seller was for the delay.
Riding to Archives April 24, 2008
Selden Deemer (Atlanta, Georgia)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Disclaimer: I have been a librarian for 35 years, and a motorcycle rider for 46 years, so I can hardly claim to be a typical or neutral reviewer of this book. If Amazon permitted 6 stars, I would award them. It is a rare event indeed to find a work that so lovingly deals with both motorcycle riding and books.
Ted Bishop captures vividly the essence of long distance motorcycle riding, including writing in one's head while riding, and the distraction to a writer to riding in one's head while attempting to write (a considerably less dangerous activity). His words took me back to an 11,000-mile ride that I made two years ago, along many of the same roads.
Equally vivid are his characterizations of librarians and archivists who work in special collections, and of the process by which a scholar mines the books and papers in such collections for insights and publications.
Bishop has a keen eye for irony, and I found myself laughing so hard while reading Riding with Rilke on a plane flight that I fear I was creating a disturbance for my fellow passengers.
Riders who aren't especially interested in books may find too little motorcycle content in this book. Scholars and librarians with little interest in motorcycles may find too little about books and literature (and very little, indeed, about Rilke). For those few who are passionate about both motorcycles and books, Riding with Rilke is a rare treat.
Left a little flat. February 5, 2008
Dennis Duffy (Boulder, CO USA)
When reading RIDING WITH RILKE it is easy to see that Ted Bishop, a good writer, loves books and Ducati motorcycles but for me this book felt a little flat. There are too many pages about minor characters and minor events that add nothing to the story. The book would be helped if the 261 pages were cut back by a quarter. I too love books and ride a motorcycle, a Harley Road Glide, so it gives me no joy not to rave about the book but still, I would recommend it even if you feel like skipping a few pages.
for the dual addicted: literature and motorcycles July 8, 2007
B. Singer (South Florida)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Not a mere travelogue or another bike adventure...Bishop escorts the reader through the very essense of riding in the most spiritual, thoughtful and surprisingly, visceral treat of a book...yes, this little book travels well: I took a ride to New Mexico and there it sat patiently on my nightstands in all the different hotels, motels and inns along the way...then, upon opening the book's pages, it (the book) merrily displayed its well-crafted prose to bring together this joy of riding a motorcycle and the sheer bliss at reading the power and majesty of word after word, woven together into images and concepts of both of these Life-sustaining activities...OK, so it is not for everyone, it is for me and that's what we're talking about here...if you Love either, read it, if you Love both, devour it...if you Love neither, God help you, 'cause you are missing out on Life at its finest and the "Now," the moments...love of riding, love of words, love of Life...another tapestry to bring form and content to our Loves...live on that edge and slip back to write about it...darn, I'm going for a ride now: "four wheel move the body, two wheels move the soul" and I feel the call of the wind...
Showing reviews 1-5 of 10
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