Customer Reviews

Destroy All Cars

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Ok, this book totally rocked my world. I kept cracking up over and over again. I loved being inside of 11th grader James Hoff's world, listening to his rants and watching him pine over several girls. His observations about the world were just too good. This was definitely my kind of book. I felt like I was sort of laughing at how extreme he was but at the same time kind of got him. While he was obviously a lot of talk and not a lot of action I loved where he was coming from and would love to have a friend like that.

While I loved James rants and sort of easier said than done thoughts about the world I could see how he might get on other people's nerves. I really liked the way the book was written, how it was a mix of James rants, journal entries, and conversations with other people. There is an especially insightful essay about nature towards the end of the book which I really liked. I also liked the different relationships he explores with a few girls throughout the book. It was definitely harder for him to be Mr. Tough Guy when he was around Sadie his ex-girlfriend.

It was nice to see how James kind of mellowed out and found a place where he belonged towards the end of the book instead of trying to stand out from everyone as much as he could towards the beginning of the book. I'll definitely be checking out some of author Blake Nelson's other work!

Let me just preface this book by saying that I read a lot of Children's / Young Adult literature and nine times out of ten I love the book. But Destroy All Cars was that one out of ten.

I read this book for a Children's Lit class for our week's topic of Social Activism. Naturally, I was roped in by James' first explosive essay about destroying cars, fixing the environment, and not being oblivious "CONSUMER AMERICANS" (his use of all-caps, not mine). Buuuuut then it just went downhill from there.

The rest of the book is just James being whiny about how he hates ex-girlfriend Sadie, but really he wants her back. His biggest beef with her is that she's not doing enough to save the world, that all of her activist causes are just bandaid solutions -- a canned food drive is not going to solve world hunger, a bike path isn't going to help the polar bears, etc.

Oh yeah, James? Well, last I checked, ranting to your English teacher doesn't do much to save the environment either...

James is just as shallow as everyone else he so vehemently denounces. His only contributions to saving the world are wearing vintage clothing and refusing to let his dad buy him a car. [Hypocritically, however, Mr. I Hate Cars is really annoyed once after school when none of his friends with cars can drive him home so he has to take the bus.] Oh...he also gets signatures for a petition to save a local pond but the only reason he does that is to hook up with Sadie again. Go activism! In his spare time, James frequents the mall with his friends and thinks that he is superior to everyone else because he realizes everyone else is just a CONSUMER AMERICAN.

Get over yourself, James.

If you want to read a book about a teen who tries to save the world AND ACTUALLY TRIES TO LIVE WHAT HE PREACHES, I suggest The Gospel According to Larry (by Janet Tashjian). Granted, TGAL gets a little unbelievable (U2 comes into save the day, "Larry" becomes a national sensation, etc.), but I think that the main character's attempts to adhere to his own principles is a better call to activism than James simply calling the rest of us "lazy-ass Americans" but then doing nothing about it himself.

DAC seems to forget what it started out trying to do. At the end of the book, it's just some typical high school love drama, and then James goes off and works on this website that rants at people to save the world. But still, you can preach all you want, but until you live it, I'm not convinced.

I give this book a D- for completely losing the interesting but inflammatory tone it began with and turning into stereotypical teenage drivel.

Can a book be too funny? I would have said no until I read or made several attempts to read DESTROY ALL CARS. I made two attempts to read the book at night. Both times, I woke my husband up from laughing so hard. So I put book away until one night I knew he'd be up late. I made it three-quarters of the way through before I realized there was no way I was going to be able to go to bed after reading this book. It was making me too excited for nighttime use.

I ended up completing this book in the afternoon. That's a great time for a pick-me-up. I never knew how I felt about the main character, James Hoff, a junior in high school. He definitely had a negative outlook, but the way he expressed it on paper had me doubling over in laughter. The reader got to know him through essays he submitted to is English teacher, Mr. Cogweiller as well as his journal entries.

James is all against Consumer Americans. He believes if we do away with all personally owned vehicles, we could save our planet. There is more going on with James though. He is trying to find his way, but it's pretty hard.

DESTROY ALL CARS is his coming-of-age story. It's endearing, hilarious, and a must read book!

The book introduces the characters right away. It gets you into the plot immediately and makes you want to read more. Although well written, there are really no surprises in the plot. It goes the direction you expect it to. The characters are endearing, but this an average teen novel. It is a good leisure read and I would recommend it to anyone who likes adolescent literature that has a good plot and fun characters to follow.

James is a 17 year old high schooler who feels that the planet is being destroyed by cars and the consumer culture. Rather then working on useless (in his mind) canned food drives and bike path committees like his ex-girlfriend, he spends his time writing angry essays and defacing thrift store clothes to make a statement.

I choose this book because it speaks out against America's consumerist culture and I love books that help people become more aware. The book started out really good. I loved James' essays about why we should destroy all cars and the person who influenced him. I loved his commentary on his teachers and his ex-girlfriend. But as the book went on, James got more and more self-centered. Was he really interested in the state of the world or was he just trying to get attention. He was so against cars but didn't have a problem getting rides in them--but refused to own one himself. I did like the characters voice and I liked the story--I just would have liked to see a little more character growth. In all, a good read.

James Hoff is not an average teenage boy. He likes it that way. James is a bit of a radical whose main goal is to destroy all cars. He believes that cars are what are ruining the earth and that consumer Americans are the cause.

James is one of the few people in his school who worries about the environment. One of the other people is his ex-girlfriend, Sadie Kinnell. Sadie is very goal oriented. She does everything she can to help the environment, the school, and anybody else she can think of. When James first met her he couldn't believe his luck. And when they started dating, he was speechless.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and their relationship didn't last. Now Sadie has just broken up with her latest boyfriend and things between her and James are looking up. James will do anything to get back with Sadie and if it involves helping the environment at the same time, all the better.

While the story to this book was both humorous and realistic, the writing style put me off. The whole book is told in essays and journal entries written by James. The idea is good but some of the entries didn't feel complete to me. I felt like I was left hanging at points.

The essays were my favorite part. James' viewpoints are hilarious. All his essays were very radical and involved quite a bit of profanity. It was also quite funny to read what his teacher's comments were about each essay.

While James is definitely a standout among normal high school boys in his environmental views, he is also very normal in many ways. One of his main goals of the year is to finally have sex and it was always funny to read about his many encounters with different females. The mind of a teenage boy is very clear in this book and I loved that about it.

Blake Nelson did a wonderful job portraying a teenage boy who doesn't really want to fit in, if it means he can't be himself. Overall, I liked the story and James as a character and I would still recommend this book, especially if you are an environmentalist of any sort.

James is anti-consumerism. James is anti-mall. James is anti-cars. James is trying to be anti-Sadie, his ex-girlfriend. Unfortunately the world is filled with things one has to buy and lots of ex-girlfriends. So to get through it James writes his English papers about how much we are destroying the Earth and he writes in his journal about his girl troubles.

So James is a douche. I'm not sure if we're supposed to think he is, but he totally is. James seems to rally against things, only in his writing, and in his refusal to use shampoo. He still hangs out at the mall and rides around in SUVs even though he claims to highly dislike both. Mostly he is a typical angst-ridden teenager, who is starting to form his own beliefs and isn't sure where to place all his energy. So in the beginning I just mostly hated James, he seemed naggy. I liked him a lot better as the story progressed and he started getting over, or at least dealing with his ex-girlfriend issues. She seemed to be the main cause of all his angst, which oozed out into anti-consumerism rants. I really liked the format of this story, how it was journal entries, essays and other random things like that. It made the story very interesting. If you really like to be different and rally against things then maybe you will find James wholly relatable. I think there will definitely be some teens who love this book, it just wasn't for me. I have enjoyed Blake Nelson's previous works though and will probably continue to read him.

First Line:
"We stand at the edge."

Favorite Line:
"Gabe told her that I don't hang out more because I think the world is coming to an end and I'm preparing myself by locking myself in dark rooms and holding my hand over candle flames."

There are very few well written young adult books that deal with political radicalism in a humorous way. This is one of them.

James Hoff is one of the most real characters I have ever encountered in YA fiction. He tells it like it is. His cynicism and idealism co-exist in the way that is only possible in the teenage mind. He is very funny and also heartbreaking. A classic!

Okay, I had no idea what to expect with this book - except for the fact that I am a big fan of "no cars" as much as possible.

Yes, this YA is about banning, or trying to, ban cars, but its alot more than that - its really the thoughts, emotions and (at times) somewhat slithly foolish musings of a young man who seems to have lots of thoughts but a lot less willingness to put it all into action.

The book is a mixture of manifesto and journal entries, sprinkled with conversations and although I was a tad worried about the various formats merging well together, author Nelson does a great job of making it all seamless.

What we end up getting is a funny, sometimes touching picture of a young man who has a cause and isn't afraid to rant about it. However, the most interesting part of this book for me is the message behind the entries - which make me feel as though this book is about much more than just the obvious - but is rather of a young man who is insecure, unsure of himself and chooses to express himself in this somewhat odd manner.

Although some might think this book is militant, it really isn't - because most of the entires are either funny or a tad sad and touching. I especially loved the entry about bowling - when James explains why he dropped the ball....."my ball holes were sticky".... loved it!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.