Customer Reviews

Greasy Rider: Two Dudes, One Fry-Oil-Powered Car, and a Cross-Country Search for a Greener Future

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Take an Eastern liberal with no mechanical aptitude, pair him with a down-to-earth college friend who knows his way around an engine, and put them in a retooled Mercedes for an eight-day trip across the country while begging restaurants for fry-oil fuel -- and you'll have a laugh-aloud read that leaves you longing for French fries. Greg Melville & his pal Iggy travel from Burlington, Vermont to Berkeley, CA in the footsteps of cross-country driving pioneer H. Nelson Jackson, while searching for greener alternatives to everyday life. Not only do they glimpse Al Gore's Tennessee mansion and visit Fort Knox's geothermally-powered complex, they also encounter Hank in Nebraska (and his self-published Jesus screed), endure teeth-chattering cold as they climb the Rockies (the Mercedes' heat stops working when the car exceeds 50 mph), and discover another college pal is gay (his computer log-in is "Two Gay Guys"). Combined with side trips to Google, Dartmouth, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a wind-turbine farm, and the world's first green Wal-Mart, Melville delivers a funny and thought-provoking tale that not only splits your sides, but makes you ponder reducing your carbon footprint.

This book was great! First of all, it was free, so that's always a bonus. But even if I had to pay for it, it would have been worth it.

Greg Melville wants a new truck. His wife wants something greener. Way greener. So he decides to get an old Mercedes with a diesel engine and convert it to run on old cooking oil. Then he gets inspired to take a road trip, using nothing but free recycled oil in his car. He calls up his old buddy Iggy and the two hit the road.

The title alone is a hint that this is bound to have some funny moments. The two friends get on each others nerves and kid each other like teenagers. The car breaks down with alarming regularity. Greg gets peed on by a dog. Stuff happens, and it's pretty funny stuff.

I also enjoyed the 'errands' - side trips that Greg takes to discover what else is being done in the Green Movement to make life on earth a little more sustainable. I felt cheered to see that there are a lot of people dedicated to making a difference, and some of these ideas are practical and affordable.

This was just a fun book and a good read. Way to go, Greg! Here's hoping that everyone who read this is inspired to make a few changes in their own lives.

Interesting story and I did appreciate the author's balanced thoughts. Being a more liberal East coast writer I thought the book might be a bit slanted but in the chapter where he has a look at Al Gore and the man's lifestyle he really rolls with some honest punches.
Good story, good trip cross the old USA!

Greasy Rider: Two Dudes, One Fry-Oil-Powered Car, and a Cross-Country Search for a Greener Future

While I thought the premise was hysterical, and had the "Odd Couple" theme song playing in my head for most of chapter 1, the real hero in this book has to be Iggy. Where does a 35-year old (plus) journalist/dad/environmentalist find a buddy who has the technical skills to make a Deisel engine on alternative fuels work AND install a high-tech sound system? The Kenyon Alumni directory, of course!
I loved this book for the real way the author breaks complex concepts in biology, physics, agriculture and economics down to terms a fellow English major can grasp. I love the way our beautiful country must look when you are myopically focused on signs for burrito joints. I love Greg's wife, and praise her for her restraint when blunt objects were around, as the idea was presented in the kitchen. I felt like I was in the room, and a little bit uncomfortable about it.
In an odd way, though, this is as much a book about buddies as it is a "man(kind) vs. nature" piece. Perhaps because in this one, we want nature to win. It is Nature's turn. Greg shows us how, without killing your television.
If you can't move to Vermont, buy the book.

Like an earlier reviewer, I'm not sure if this book's hook is really true - the supposed first cross-country trip in a car powered only by vegetable oil. Nevertheless, Greg Melville gives us a fairly interesting book in which an underwhelming travelogue combines with half-baked feature journalism to form a pretty useful environmental message. Thanks to the travelogue portions of this book we know that a veggie car creates an inescapable stench all its own, and the lack of veggie-oriented infrastructure leads to some weird encounters for dudes looking for some used canola. On a bet from his roadtrip pal Iggy, Melville also slices up the book with "errands" into environmental reporting, with some useful investigation into fake green ethics at Wal-Mart, Al Gore's imperfections as a carbon neutralist, and the American government's anemic support for true alternative energy research. Melville and Iggy also get into some interesting discussions that illustrate how confounding and imperfect environmental ethics can be.

The roadtrip saga here isn't as fun or dramatic as Melville probably hoped it would appear to the reader, and the interspersed chapters on errands into investigative reporting are disconnected and not fully followed up. But the overall environmental message here is pretty strong, and it really is possible to make a small difference for the environment - one dude at a time. [~doomsdayer520~]

We selected this book for my book club. We all agreed that the book was a great selection for our group. We are a bunch of moms with young children and do not have as much time to devote to reading as we would like. This book was able to keep our interest by being light and humorous while informing us about alternative energy at the same time. This was such a hit with our group, I would definitely recommend it for all book groups out there!

GREASY RIDER by Greg Melville
Published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
ISBN: 978-1-56512-595-7

Take two men, a 1985 Mercedes diesel station wagon, a grease car conversion kit, and the first cross country automobile trip made by H. Nelson Jackson as inspiration, mix it all together and you have a funny, informative, and thought provoking look at the future energy independence of our nation.

One of the things I liked most about this book is that it did not preach any one environmental doctrine. There is never one answer to a problem as complex as the one facing our environment today. This book takes a good hard look at our attitudes and how they work to move us forward or hold as back in the "fossil fuel age". Not only does it give us a very humorous look at two men on a cross country trip and what it takes for them to make it without relying on anything but used fry oil. It also gives us a beautiful snapshot of out vast country and the way one answer in one region most likely is not the answer in another.

It looks at different philosophies from a place of inquiry. Finding the merits of each idea and trying to find a common ground and complete understanding of what a particular environmental philosophy is trying to really say.

The book switches back and forth from the actual road trip memoir to specific tasks designed to learn more about different ways to become more energy efficient. I liked this on the level that everything in the book was very interesting to read. On another level however I sometimes found this distracting and seemed to slow down my reading progress. Overall the information throughout was great. At the end of the book a comprehensive list of sources is offered to learn more about what was discussed in the book.

I would suggest this book to anyone, period. We must make changes in the way we live. We can no longer live with the illusion that life can continue as it presently does at the rate that we are consuming our natural resources. The best thing about this book is that it puts many ideas into perspective and how all of the little pieces fit together. I hope readers will embrace this book for everything that it offers. The more we as citizens of the earth explore what is going on around us the better the outcome for all of us.

Greasy Rider lives up to the kind of expectation created by its clever name: it is an intelligent, funny and stimulating read. Melville is in the right profession all right: he has a way with words, and a knack for finding the humor and interest in real life situations that might otherwise appear to be boring.

I read the book as I considered not IF I should make my next vehicle one that runs on vegetable oil, but in fact, HOW I can do it. In that frame of mind, Mr Melville falls a bit short, in some rather surprising ways.

I can't help thinking I would like Greg Melville if I met him at a Barbecue, or a party. His writing is refreshingly honest and entertaining. But it also reveals a particular kind of narrow mindedness that is neither stupid nor vindictive, but is almost a sort of naiveté. Bear with me, because what follows is truly relevant to the subject of the book.

Melville mentions Christian religious people a few brief times. Once it is a short conversation about how pious people are either hypocritical, or simply don't believe in caring for the planet. Another time he describes an encounter with someone that can only be described as a "religious nut." Melville doesn't comment on this at length, other than to deride the man for his views on homosexuality, and leave us with the underlying message that religious folks are more or less all like that.

Several times he makes derogatory remarks about pot-bellied redneck sports fans, or hunters, or people who wear sunglasses on their hats. He contains himself admirably when it comes to Republicans, and conservatives in general, but he leaves us in no real doubt about what he thinks of such people. Certainly, while he limits the negativity, there are no positives mentioned in connection with that end of the political or social spectrum.

There are two things I wish to point out in connection with these things. First, had Melville made the same sorts of derogatory remarks about any group of people other than Christians and conservatives, he would be rightly accused of bigoted stereotyping. The exact same comments directed at say, blacks, or Jews or Hindus would be met with outrage.

The second thing is this: Melville concludes his book by saying we must all join together and work for change. And yet, these bigoted comments peppered throughout the book send a different message: "you are not welcome unless you behave and think like us." In other words, the overall message is that the environmental movement is basically for liberals, and "everyone coming together" means not that people of diverse backgrounds and beliefs work for a common goal, but rather that everyone first become a liberal.

To be fair, I think Melville's bigotry arises from sheer innocent ignorance. He probably just isn't aware that there many people who are very different from him, and he probably doesn't personally know too many who are. He reveals a bit of this in his comments about how perky and cheerful people seemed in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

I myself am a political conservative. I don't think the government - either Republican or Democrat - has much of a talent for solving problems, and I think history is rather heavily on my side there. I am deeply convinced (for scholarly and intellectual, as well as spiritual reasons) of the truth of the Bible. Because of that, I am a social conservative as well. I also love to fish and hunt, watch football, and yes, I have a small pot belly. But I am also trying to find a way to do exactly what Melville has done - purchase an old diesel car and run it on vegetable oil, and move away from dependence upon fossil fuel. Even so, I doubt very much that I would be welcome in Greg Melville's club. Apparently, he'd be afraid I would either try to convert him, or shoot him. I doubt he has considered that people like me could even exist.

Melville's naiveté extends beyond political and social issues. He seemed to think that just about anyone ought to have the coin to pay $8,000 for a car and conversion kit, plus repairs, plus money and time to take a long road trip, staying in hotels, eating in restaurants, and shopping. In fact, he suggested that the $8,000 he paid for the car was "basically nothing."

Gregg Melville also appears to ignore the evidence in front of his own eyes. He was inspired by the dynamic creators of Grease Car and Google, who have "swung for the fences." He was disappointed by the insipid attitude of the government agency responsible for advancing alternative energies. And yet, in spite of his own experience, he seems to think that government action is the only way to really get things done.

Greasy Rider is well worth reading. It is stimulating and entertaining. However, it does not appear to be deeply considered at a logical, intellectual level. I'd love to see a second book where Melville engages in some challenges to overcome his prejudicial views and negative stereotypes, and finding ways to engage those who are different from himself, but are still interested in helping the environment.

this book is very interesting and it's an easy read. i thought i was going to hate reading it, but i actually enjoyed reading for once.

Ok, the claim in the book is this was the first ever cross country trip fueled by used vegetable oil. There must be thousands of people in the US by now who've converted a diesel car to run on vegetable oil, and SOMEONE must have done it -- they just didn't write a book.

That said, this was an enjoyable read. Between the self-depreciating author who isn't the slightest bit mechanically inclined, and his old college buddy Iggy who could probably fix most things blindfolded but has definite character issues, reading about this adventure is worth your time. Lots of interesting info is conveyed (I personally would have liked a bit more details - so I gave 4 stars instead of 5), but the story moves along swiftly.

Iggy assigns an errand every day to Greg Melville (the author) on topics related to renewable energy that is to be completed after the trip. Melville places the discussion of the errand in the story where it's most appropriate rather than all at the end, which keeps the story flowing. A nice touch.

Whether you're interested in how to stop using gas to run your car, or an armchair traveller, you'll enjoy this book.