An impressively researched and fascinating look at the cars coming to a future near you.
An update on the pioneering state of intelligent automobile technology.
Bentley, a host on The Gadget Show and former executive producer for Top Gear, believes cars are both a significant transportation convenience and a “powerful psychological force,” but he acknowledges that the industry must continually evolve to remain relevant. After a streamlined history lesson and an outline of automation, the author explores modern technological advances in speed, efficiency, and gadgetry. He explains revolutionary “deep-learning” system advancements in autopilot car automation, including facial recognition, self-parking, and sound management technology, and he looks at the advent of robotaxis and the main manufacturing players behind them. While many of these thrilling enhancements look great on paper, the author effectively communicates the constant obstacles facing the visionary developers polishing their ultramodern innovations. This is the case with intuitive brain-to-vehicle technology, whereby electroencephalography transcribes a driver’s brainwaves via a cumbersome skull cap, as well as problematic laser-powered navigation and car-to-car communication technologies. Bentley shares his fascination with electric cars—though they are plagued with sluggish charging times, battery woes, and “range anxiety”—and the long-range potentiality of diesel and hydrogen fuel sources. While the author’s expertise and passion for cars are evident throughout, he doesn’t shy away from discussing the many hurdles of automotive innovation—e.g., job losses for professional drivers, traffic congestion, and compromised security and safety of driverless technology and its vulnerability to hackers. He tosses in plenty of entertaining surprises: fully driverless, remote-controlled freight trucks and taxis, trailblazing solutions to driver distractions, Elon Musk’s “hyperloop pods,” and the astonishing speed and hefty price tags of the hybrid Hypercar line. In nimbly balancing industry developments and challenges—he also includes a chapter on the endangered culture of classic car enthusiasts—Bentley offers an illuminating and spirited report on the technological wizardry of the car automation revolution.
An impressively researched and fascinating look at the cars coming to a future near you.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-78649-635-5
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Atlantic Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 6, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2020
An exquisitely original celebration of American Blackness.
A potent series of “notes” paints a multidimensional picture of Blackness in America.
Throughout the book, which mixes memoir, history, literary theory, and art, Sharpe—the chair of Black studies at York University in Toronto and author of the acclaimed book In the Wake: On Blackness and Being—writes about everything from her family history to the everyday trauma of American racism. Although most of the notes feature the author’s original writing, she also includes materials like photographs, copies of letters she received, responses to a Twitter-based crowdsourcing request, and definitions of terms collected from colleagues and friends (“preliminary entries toward a dictionary of untranslatable blackness”). These diverse pieces coalesce into a multifaceted examination of the ways in which the White gaze distorts Blackness and perpetuates racist violence. Sharpe’s critique is not limited to White individuals, however. She includes, for example, a disappointing encounter with a fellow Black female scholar as well as critical analysis of Barack Obama’s choice to sing “Amazing Grace” at the funeral of the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who was killed in a hate crime at the Mother Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. With distinct lyricism and a firm but tender tone, Sharpe executes every element of this book flawlessly. Most impressive is the collagelike structure, which seamlessly moves among an extraordinary variety of forms and topics. For example, a photograph of the author’s mother in a Halloween costume transitions easily into an introduction to Roland Barthes’ work Camera Lucida, which then connects just as smoothly to a memory of watching a White visitor struggle with the reality presented by the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. “Something about this encounter, something about seeing her struggle…feels appropriate to the weight of this history,” writes the author. It is a testament to Sharpe’s artistry that this incredibly complex text flows so naturally.
An exquisitely original celebration of American Blackness.Pub Date: April 25, 2023
ISBN: 9780374604486
Page Count: 392
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2023
A heartfelt if somewhat unsurprising view of old age by the former president. Carter (Living Faith, 1996, etc.) succinctly evaluates the evolution and current status of federal policies concerning the elderly (including a balanced appraisal of the difficulties facing the Social Security system). He also meditates, while drawing heavily on autobiographical anecdotes, on the possibilities for exploration and intellectual and spiritual growth in old age. There are few lightning bolts to dazzle in his prescriptions (cultivate family ties; pursue the restorative pleasures of hobbies and socially minded activities). Yet the warmth and frankness of Carter’s remarks prove disarming. Given its brevity, the work is more of a call to senior citizens to reconsider how best to live life than it is a guide to any of the details involved.
Pub Date: Oct. 26, 1998
ISBN: 0-345-42592-8
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1998
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