Destroy All Cars |  | Author: Blake Nelson
Publisher: Scholastic Press
List Price: $17.99
Buy New: $5.80
as of 11/7/2009 22:40 CST details
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New (34) Used (9) from $4.95
Seller: flyhigher88
Rating:  35 reviews
Sales Rank: 405914
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Reading Level: Young Adult
Pages: 224
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9
ISBN: 0545104742
EAN: 9780545104746
ASIN: 0545104742
Publication Date: May 1, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
James Hoff likes to rant against America's consumerist culture. He also likes to rant against his ex-girlfriend, Sadie, who he feels isn't doing enough to change the world. But just like he can't avoid buying things, he also can't avoid Sadie for long. This is a fantastic, funny, sexy, cool masterpiece from one of the best YA writers at work today, an anti-consumerist love story that's all about idealism, in both James's relationship with the world and his relationships with the people around him.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 35
 A moving saga October 20, 2009
Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
Blake Nelson's DESTROY ALL CARS tells of James, who likes to rail against America's consumer culture and his ex-girlfriend who wants to just build more bike paths. It's as much about James' evolving, controversial choices with his girlfriend as it is about his environmental concerns in this moving saga.
 Serendipity Book Reviews: Destroy All Cars September 29, 2009
Serendipity Book Reviews (Henderson, KY USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I tried hard to like this book. Really, I did.
Characters: I really disliked the characters. When the character, James, isn't whining about "the general lameness of all other people besides him"/being a hypocrite/being antisocial, he's obsessing over his ex-girlfriend, Sadie- who I wasn't particularly fond of, either. They all seemed flat, limited, and completely unreal- along with annoying the heck out of me.
Writing: The writing was pretty repetitive and kind of dull- it didn't hold my interest at all. What I did like, however, was how it included essays by James- which I'll admit were really funny at times.
Plot: A typical love story, repetitive, and didn't have much of an impact- nothing significant happened.
Start/ending: Right from the start, it annoyed me, with said whining. The ending wasn't very... I don't know how to describe it- it wasn't really enough. It felt like Nelson got tired of writing, or was too close to his deadline and wasn't finished or whatever. It wasn't really satisfying.
Overall: Not very remarkable or memorable, it is not a book I'd recommend.
 A Ticking Time Bomb with No Ka-Boom August 21, 2009
Captain Insanity (NY)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Dear Mr. James Hoff,
As I was reading your manuscript something occurred to me.
Something disturbing.
Even though I was enjoying your somewhat misanthropic, albeit thoroughly amusing ravings,
even though your passion for the subject is evident in every word of your tirades & essays against
malls, frivolous consumerism, oil companies, gas guzzling, environment destroying automobiles, useless petitions,
the new kid at school who everybody thinks is so amazing because of his small acts of civil disobedience, etc.,
even though I'm sure you realize the irony of needing those things to attain every high school boys fantasy ... a high school girl
In your case Sadie Kinnell. The girl who got away.
Something very important was missing from your tale.
As I was scratching my scalp down to the skull, the missing ingredient exploded between my ears.
Conflict.
There was never any conflict.
All this steam kept mounting to..... acceptance? complacence?
It was like a Rottweiler with dentures.
All bark, no bite.
Please keep that in mind for any future manuscripts you might hand in.
Sincerely,
Mr. Cogweiler
MORAL OF THE STORY:
C+
Harmony Book Reviews July 23, 2009
Harmony Book Reviews
This book was LOL funny but also gave me some things to think about and in general, I like books that make me think. It's definitely a one-of-a-kind book and I loved that.
However, I wasn't too big of a fan of the narrative. It got on my nerves a lot of the time. This could be in part because it was told from the POV of a male and I'm not used to that but I just found it irritating and at times, that took away from the story. I also want to note that this is for older readers only. There is some...sexual references? I guess you could say, that young readers shouldn't be seeing. Even I would have preferred for them not to be there but it does hold to the authenticity of the book and it's just my personal opinion.
Overall, I recommend this one to mature readers. It wasn't the perfect book for me but I'm sure others will enjoy it much more than I did.
The best book I have read in a long time. July 18, 2009
The Rothwells (Irwin, PA United States)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I am an avid reader. I am currently reading six books. Destroy All Cars is the best book I have read in a long time. I love James and his somewhat radical views. Everything he says is so true. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from beginning to end.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 35
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