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Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Autokind Vs. Mankind by Kenneth R. Schneider
Bat and Rat by Patrick Jennings
Blue Pills: A Positive Love Story by Frederik Peeters
Bohemians edited by Paul Buhle
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Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl
Clean Sweep! Frank Zamboni's Ice Machine by Monica Kulling
Cupcake Cousins by Kate Hannigan
Desolation Angels by Jack Kerouac
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All the Way Home by Catherynne M. Valente
Good-Bye, Chunky Rice by Craig Thompson
Hamster Princess: Of Mice and Magic by Ursula Vernon
Hunters of Chaos by Crystal Velasquez
I See Kitty by Yasmine Surovec
Little Robot by Ben Hatke
Locke & Key, Volume 1: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill
The Long Utopia by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
My Little Pony: Micro-Series: #3: Rarity by Katie Cook
One Book in the Grave by Kate Carlisle
The Outside Circle: A Graphic Novel by Patti Laboucane-Benson
Sherlock Bones 1 by Yuma Ando
Summer Showers by Kate Hannigan
Three Bears in a Boat by David Soman
Trailer Park Fae by Lilith Saintcrow
Vested Interests: Cross-Dressing and Cultural Anxiety by Marjorie Garber
Wandering Son: Volume 2 by Shimura Takako

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Autokind Vs. Mankind: 04/03/16

Autokind Vs. Mankind by Kenneth R. Schneider

Autokind Vs. Mankind by Kenneth R. Schneider is another stern look at the effects of automobile culture on the American way of life at the start of the gas crisis. The interstate highway system seemed like an unstoppable force and suburban sprawl was choking the countryside.

Like The Endless Pavement by Jacqueline Jackson, Schneider's book contains warnings and condemnations about our willy nilly embrace of the automobile and all its auxiliary machinery (roads, gas stations, factories, mechanics, tire production, motels, fast food, etc.)

Besides being a warning against the excessive consumerism that the automobile industry engenders, it's also a call to action. Schnedier outlines a number of ways that cities can and should be redesigned to put mankind back in charge.

How to redesign the streets

Interestingly we're in a time now where freeway construction isn't given free rein anymore. San Francisco tore down I480, South Pasadena has been fighting against I710, and there's the on-going fight over I69 as shown in Interstate 69 by Matt Dellinger.

Were all of Schneider's dire predictions true? No. He saw a future of endless carhops and fast food replacing all family together time. He saw a growing American neurosis derived from the love/hate relationship with the automobile. He also saw a world where autokind was to the point of self replicating — where all the nation's output is focused on creating more automobiles or automobile related paraphernalia.

You can see my live blogging of the book on Tumblr.

Four stars

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