Greasy Rider Book Giveaway

It’s giveaway time again!  This time we’re giving away a copy of Greasy Rider: Two Dudes, One Fast Food Fueled Car, and a Cross-Country Search for a Greener Future  by Greg Melville.  Special thank to Algonquin Books for graciously sending us a copy of this very interesting read.

Synopsis: 

Is it possible to drive coast-to-coast without stopping at a single gas
pump? Journalist Greg Melville is determined to try. With his college buddy Iggy riding shotgun, he sets out on an enlightening road trip. The quest: to be the first people to drive cross-country in a french-fry car. Will they make it from Vermont to California in a beat-up 1985 Mercedes diesel station wagon powered on vegetable oil collected from restaurant grease Dumpsters along the way? Their trip takes them to the solar-powered Google headquarters; the wind turbines of southwestern Minnesota; one of the first houses to receive platinum certification for leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED); and a so-called “eco-friendly” Wal-Mart.

Part adventure and part investigation of what we’re doing (or not doing) to preserve the planet, Greasy Rider is upbeat, funny, and full of surprising information about the many sustainable measures that are within our reach.

 My Review:

I really enjoyed this book.  I read all 250+ pages in one weekend.  I wanted to follow the journey from Vermont to California and the tales along the way.  If you’re looking for a sequel to On The Road, this isn’t it, but it’s still a funny read.  Two grown men, cramped into a small car, travelling across the country in a 1985 diesel Mercedes.  Iggy and Greg arguing, giving each other the silent treatment, staying in random hotels and with long lost friends or friends of friends – all made the trek fun to read and keep you wanting to hear more. 

Somewhere early in the trip, Iggy and Greg made a bet.  Iggy would give Greg errands to do after the trip – one per day – and if Greg completed them, he’d get $50 from Iggy.  Melville does a great job of interjecting the errands into the sections of their journey in the book.  The errands are so interesting in themselves that you want to read every word, but you also want to get back to the journey to see where they end up next (looking in barrels behind restaurants for WVO along the way).  The first errand was to find the greenest house.  Greg thought that would be easy – let’s just go visit Al Gore in Nashville.  This was before Gore was allowed to retrofit his huge 10,000 sq ft house with solar panels, etc.  The thing was lit up like a Christmas tree in Times Square.  Errand fail   Greg came back home with his tail b/t his legs only to find that not far from his house in Vermont there was a newly built ultra-green 2,500 sq ft abode.  Complete with a solar array and turbine. 

So do Iggy and Greg make it to the Bio-Oasis in San Fran? You’ll have to read the book to find out.  If you don’t win, I still recommend this book.  Go get it at the library or buy it on Amazon.





Leave a comment by 11:59PM CST, April 30, 2009 and one random lucky winner will be picked to receive a the Greasy Rider  by Greg Melville from Algonquin Books. We will not share your email with anyone.