Rating: 
Summary: The Immortal Class--Liked it, Didn't love it.
Review: An interesting insight into the daily life of a bike messenger, and the perils faced daily. The more interesting, yet less developed storyline is about the author's belief that there has to be a better way (in every sense). His observation that all of our economy rests upon the labor of minimum wage slackers is interesting. His aversion to petroleum powered transportation makes me want to sell my car and start biking. A great read, and very exciting...he's a little rough of a writer, but that helps add to the book. Buy it, and you'll be excited (great for the greenie hiding in us all).
Rating: 
Summary: Bikers and their friends must read!
Review: Anyone who rides a bike regularly (or loves someone who does) should read this book!I am a dedicated bike commuter through the varied (but often severe!) climates of urban Minneapolis. The issues of safety, environmental concerns, coexistence in an automobile dominated world, and pure psycho-physical exhiliration of a good ride are dealt with so effectively and are dear to my heart. The writing is engaging. I did not want to put it down and was sad to finish. Travis, I hope we will meet again in our readings!
Rating: 
Summary: Who Would Ever Think.....................
Review: I learned more than I ever expected to learn about bike messengers and then some. Who would ever think there would be so much to write about concerning the daily life & adventures of a Chicago bike messenger. Travis proves there is a lot more excitement than you would think. In addition, he gives a very knowledgeable history of the design & structure of Chicago's multilayered streets, its' subways, and its' landscape. It's really fascinating to learn all about this. The street races they have are told in such an exciting way it's makes you wish you were a messenger yourself. Boy, it must be a real adrenaline rush. You can tell Travis loves to write and in great detail. He is a poetic young man, full of emotion, and wonder, and it really comes through in his writing. Rarely do you meet an author so in touch with his own feelings. He really loves his job. All the experiences that he has in this very special & different type of job is expressed in beautiful & colorful language. I truly enjoyed reading this book. Now I really know what it must be like to be a bike messenger in a large metropolis. A talented new writer races before us! Be prepared to hold on tight. Well-done!!!
Rating: 
Summary: oh my wordy!
Review: I picked this book up by way of desperately needing something, anything, to read. I have to say I totally loved it. I read it knowing nothing prior about bike messengering and I don't pretend to know everything about it now. What I appreciated about the book was the writing. Mr. Culley is skilled in making one feel as if they were on the back of his bike with him, careening down the street. And while I am one of those SUV-driving-type-people (minus the road rage), I would have to say that this book made me want to ride my bike more often. I truly did not want to put this book down, and when it was done I was sad, pouted at the thought of trying to find another book this fun to read, then went to the library. Take this book with a grain of salt (as always) and realize it's one man's take on his former career. If you do you'll enjoy a lively story and excellent writing.
Rating:
Summary: A cyclists confirmation
Review: I read this book while recouperating from a cycling accident in which an automobile and I went head on. The car won, but I'm still waiting for the re-match. This book was a confirmation of the cycling lifestyle, and I can't imagine any cyclist that wouldn't get something from it...Especially one who had had a run-in with a motorist at any point in his or her life.
Rating:
Summary: Bravo ! An EXCELLENT Novel. Very Well Written.
Review: I received this book and could not put it down once I started. Mr. Culley's excellent writing skills pull you through the story, documenting his life as a bike messenger. Along the way, he smashes any pre-conceived notions you may have regarding messengers as punk-no-brains with nothing better to do with their lives. This book brings alive the wonderful sub-culture of cycling. From his first "Critical Mass" ride to the wonderful characters he encounters, the writing is lyrical and precise - you definitely can understand what it's like to be in his place. Ever been "doored" - with this book, you'll know what it's like. I cannot recommend this book enough. It's a great read. The writing is excellent and the subject matter very topical. You may end up questioning your own employment choices. I know I am. All in all - I loved it. Highly recommended. Best Regards, turtlex
Rating: 
Summary: for posers, by a poser
Review: I spent about about 8 years off and on as a messenger. There's a lot to love: freedom and 6% body fat, but by the end of my run, I looked around and saw people my age buying houses and going on vacations, while I was stuck with $20 grand in back taxes and hospital bills. That said, here's my take on this tome. Imagine one of those evolutionary lines where you see Neanderthals at one end and Homo sapiens at the other. Picture four messengers in that line. We all start at one end, and slowly progress, if we're lucky. The first messenger has seen Quicksilver one too many times. He/she lasts anywhere from a week to a month, suddenly dresses "messenger cool" 24/7, stands around in the square conspicuously checking their pager, goes to "messenger bars" at happy hour, gets off on themselves and generally poses. They last until one of the following happens: "hit and quit," their bike falls apart, they realize that they are expected to do hard work (as a rookie, low paying grunt work), or the first rain/snowstorm/cold snap hits. If they stick it out, they turn into... Messenger #2, the worst of the bunch. Stronger, faster, maybe they've modded their bike or gear so they really looks the part. Problem is, they're really just hotdogging most of the time, making us all look bad. Going 25 mph on sidewalks, breaking all traffic laws for kicks, cursing at anyone who dares cross their paths, punching cars, and just being unruly for the fun of it. If you ever see a messenger with a whistle in their mouth, this is messenger #2. Unfortunately, most civilians think this is what being a messenger is. Of course pros break the rules, especially for a bank run, or a court run, or when you're just plain slogged, but most experienced messengers will tell you that riding within the law 85% of the time actually helps keep you alive, out of jail, and sane (blowing red lights doesn't count:). I'm going to skip ahead to the end of the evolutionary line, to the LAST messenger: the "lifer" or "careerier." They are 28-35, with a different bike for every type of weather, they never have their hands stained with grease from roadside repairs, and even their "junker" bike is nicer than anything you have. They are quiet, calm, fast, they ignore you and everyone else, and when they race, they wear baggy shorts just to send a message to the spandex crowd. Aloof and elite. Zen, but with lots of ego and attitude, if that's possible. Messenger 3 is *everyone* else, and about 60% of them fit this mold. They are somewhere in between, in terms of appearance, skills, and attitude. They have been hit enough times to know when to just get out of the way. When somebody flips them off, they say "havagoodone!" You just can't go through life teaching driving lessons to everyone out there. Some are college dropouts, some have Master's degrees, they are triathletes, potheads, ubercyclists on titanium rigs, or just riding Huffys in their jeans. They have identities beyond the bike. These are the cool messengers, the kind you end up hanging out with, if you're lucky. Which brings me back to Travis' book. Flatly put, he is a hotdogger near the beginning of the line, but from reading his book, you'd think he invented the job. To say his prose is purple is an understatement. He goes on for a page and a half about his wide-eyed wonder at someone doing a track skid. His response to his first "Critical Mass" ride was ridiculous: "People just like me!"...like he's an eskimo in the desert. When this book came out, according to a story in the Chicago Reader, he had worked the job for 8 months, dug up everyone's stories under the plan of writing an "anthology," and ended up passing them off as his own. Along the way, he nominated himself the spokesmodel for the angry young proletariat. I realize this book is in the "fiction" category, and an author should be able to take *some* liberties, but it's really more than that. It's about doing $2 runs when the snow is falling, you're sore from taking a spill in a slush puddle, you're soaked and cold, and you still have to keep it up for another 7 hours. Repeat for months or years, until one sunny day, along comes Johnnyboy Hotdog who goes and writes a book about how fun it is to ride in traffic, and how it makes him the Jesus Christ of 21st century America. I, along with a couple other couriers, could hardly read this book without loud violent outbursts. I suppose your take on it all depends where you stand in the lineup. Just my two cents. If you want to read the messenger encyclopedia, check out Rebecca 'Lambchop' Reilly's self-published book "Nerves of Steel." I'll be honest, it's not *like* reading a diary, it IS a diary, all 300+ pages of it. Without the benefit of a good editor, it certainly has its problems, but hey, it was a labor of love. She worked in at least ten cities around the world, and scoped out the courier scene in a bunch more. Her coverage of the cities I worked in was spot-on, and I found friends from ten years back mentioned in it. It does a great job of painting the messenger "scene" in a number of cities, without demanding that you sign on for her epiphanic self-realizations. For some reason, it's not always available on Amazon, but you can still dig it up on the web. Between its transparently staged existence, over-the-top prose, and force-fed values, I'd say skip this one. There are decent photos of some ripped Chicago messengers in there, whose stories were used in some form or another. Too bad they didn't write the book.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping adventure; flawed in places, but worth the trip
Review: The Immortal Class is itself somewhat like a challenging bike ride through the city. The self-conscious prose of the early chapters is something of an uphill battle in winter slush, but once the author settles into his pace, readers will find themselves dashing from page to page with the speed of a big-city bike messenger darting in and out of rush-hour traffic. And just as the bike messenger sometimes find himself upended by the unexpected opening of a car door in his path, sudden expository lumps (especially those when Culley's over-simplified musings on the evils of "car culture" are presented) occasionally send the unsuspecting reader tail over teakettle, upsetting the flow of the narrative. Still, this is an impressive debut; with sharp dialogue, just enough of the jargon bike messengers use amongst themselves, and the author's knowledge of and love/hate relationship with Chicago, Travis Hugh Culley manages to lift this book far above the level of most memoirs, particularly those written by members of his generation. This is not a perfect book, by any means -- but few life stories succeed in giving the reader such a strong sense of BEING THERE. Culley didn't go to Chicago to become a bike messenger OR a writer. Yet his accidental sojourn into the realm of the bike messenger refined and redefined his sense of self, and the transformational nature of his journey comes through in his book; we are fortunate that the author has taken us along for the ride.
Rating:
Summary: High speed adventure
Review: They inhabit most large cities, these two wheeled pests riding suicide machines with a death wish. Here is a look from the inside, of the world of the bicycle messenger. The author, who lives in this world, gives an eloquent and exciting peek into this subculture. Part Outlaw biker, part philosopher, he guides the reader through the busy streets of Chicago at breakneck speed. He is at his best describing in detail, so vivid that the reader can feel the cars closing from behind, the hazards he has experienced. He is not so good when he devotes portions of the book to the foolish trashing of the value of the automobile. These bikers represent what the motorcyclists describe as one percenters. That is, the one percent of the bicycling public which operates in a hazerdous manner. Even so, this book will appeal to all bikers as a chronicle of what we all wish, deep down, we could do. Be sure to read the chapter about the messenger race which the author wins. Well written and entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Rookie Romanticism
Review: This book exhudes rookiness from every page. Culley seems to be the typical newbie messenger, overly impressed with himself and hyper-romanticizing the profession. Still the book is pretty good. His view of cities and history is realistic, and the description of the courier offices and the seemy side of the business is spot on. 157
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