Customer Reviews

Car Living: How to Make It a Successful, Sane, Safe Experience

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I was very disappointed with this book. I had read previous reviews and realised it was not a very large book. So I was not expecting a huge tome, just the basics. This book however failed to deliver in many key areas of car living. Most notably was the complete lack of information on how to safely use your car's electrical system to provide you with power to run appliances.

Page 27 mentions the psychological factors of not having a TV. It suggests a solution is to "keep your eyes open to find a devoted soap fan willing to share his or her television." I would have though it would at the very least indicate that a small television could be run from an inverter. Laundry mats often have TVs in them. Do your laundry when you want to watch TV. Plenty of other places have free TV.

Page 29 states; "If your computer is your favourite thing, take it with you. If it is a laptop you can use it right in your car. You will have to decide how to recharge the batteries, but that should not be too difficult to figure out." It then goes on to mention that you will not be able to use the Internet from your car, but states "I am sure this has been done."

I was appalled by those sentences. If it is not too difficult to figure out, why did the author not figure it out for people and include it in the book instead of writing a cop out sentence? If the author is sure that people have accessed the Internet from in their car, why write that people will not be able to do it? If they are sure it has been done, why not research the details and include them? Admittedly when the book was published in 1999 Wifi was not as available as now, but other wireless technology was. As far back as 1996 I was accessing the Interent wirelessly.

There was no mention of the dangers of using a camp stove in a car. Not only from the aspect of fire, but also for fumes and carbon monoxide.

The recommendations for sleeping in a car during hot weather were worse than useless. Sleeping in a tent could offer serious safety issues and is impractical in suburban areas. It could also result in an illegal camping charge. Fly screens would have been a much easier solution, as would the use of reflective window shades.

The cold weather survival tips were likewise laughable. Go to a homeless shelter was about it. No mention of hot water bottles, rugging up, insulation, reusable heat packs.

Having also read Craig S Roberts Ten consecutive years of living in cars... I'd say it is definitely the better of the two books. It is obvious that he has been there and done that. It may read a little paranoid at times, but the advice is good and ample. He offers practical solutions. Jane's book on the other hand reads too much like a psychology essay based on a limited number of interviews wit people who have lived in cars.

This book measures 8.5 x 5.5 inches and is 72 pages long from title page to last page. It is not much bigger than a thick pamphlet. Ms. Archer tends to repeat herself throughout the chapters, and the contents of this book could've probably been narrowed down to 30 pages. For instance, the index shows that dealing with the police is mentioned once, but I counted at least six places where she wrote about how to work around law enforcement.

It's not that the information in this book in not helpful. I just expected more useful material than the commonsense information such as the importance of bathroom facilities and the necessity keeping warm.

This book is over priced at anything more than 5 bucks.
The information on living in a car is much less than
what you can find just poking around the internet.
http://www.carliving.net/intro.html is a good resource.
There was no mention of cooking using a thermos in your car.
nothing about using extra car batteries for cooking , heat, light, entertainment. I know a lady who washed her cloths in
a ice chess on the way to work.
nothing on using solar cells to keep your car charged.
Nothing about Kmart's that allow for over night parking.
You can set up a satellite link for internet , internet phone,
etc.

This book does not give you bad info.. only info that most of
us would already guess. Too much talking about peoples situations
that have no or little bearing on the topic.
64 pages is too little info for this subject.
Add to that too little specifics and there you are.
Yes I got ripped off by A. J Heim Archer.

Car Living by A.J. Archer is a great book to read if you are contemplating living in your car for any reason. Jane gives you stories about real people who have choosen to live in their cars temporarily or permanantly. She talks about the social stigma of living in your car, how it's just not considered the norm, and how to keep your car living a secret. I couldn't agree more, when I lived in my car by choice and told people at my work all they did was worry and pressure me to make another living choice. Ms. Archer also gives you absolute how to guidelines from storing or eliminating your stuff, to bathroom etiquette, where to park, keeping in touch, and living and traveling in your car. I enjoyed the book so much that I've already read it three times and shared it with two other friends.

I was intrigued by the subject of Car Living and promptly ordered this book from an Amazon MarketPlace seller only to find it vaguely informative and not worth the $15 I spent on it. I read it in an hour and noted how repetitive the chapters were. Very little information was given and the majority of tips were plain common sense. Although the author tried her best to keep the reader interested, she failed. I was considering buying her second book on the subject but have since changed my mind. This one has already been relisted online.

70 pages. 70 pages. 70 pages.

Im not sure what book is worth 15$ for 70 pages. This is not it. If you live in a car you have better things to spend your money on. There are web sites that offer better advice.

there are a lot of eccentric micro publishers on amazon that charge mysterious prices for their pamphlets.

This is one of those rare how-to books that doesn't make rosy promises about the subject matter. Car living is hard! However, if you must do it, this is the book to have in the glove box.