Description
In conversations with drivers ranging from veterans of foreign wars to Indigenous women protecting one another, Di Cintio explores the borderland of the North American taxi.
“A taxi,” writes Marcello Di Cintio, “is a border.” Under the familiar roof light of every cab is a space both private and public: accessible to all, and yet, once the doors close, strangely intimate—a space in which two strangers who might otherwise never have met share a five or fifty minute trip. Quotidian themselves, taxis transcend everyday barriers between the wealthy and the working class, white people and people of colour, those who give direction and those who follow, those who speak and those who listen—and yet, though driver and fare are close enough to reach out and touch one another, most trips are characterized by complete silence. In a series of interviews with North American taxi drivers, their backgrounds ranging from the Iraqi National Guard, to the Westboro Baptist Church, to an arranged marriage that left one woman stranded in a foreign country, Marcello Di Cintio seeks out those missed conversations, revealing the untold lives of the people who take us where we want to go.
Praise for Driven
“Driven is an engaging, impeccably investigated, character-driven work of narrative nonfiction, told with Di Cintio’s wonderful dark humour, keen empathy, and rich journalistic eye. The book is a searing testament to the power of untold stories, of people who exist in the margins, of hidden histories, as well as an examination of Canada’s immigration laws. Driven urges us to rethink the enduring toll on those individuals who labour for us and take us where we need to go. A truly fine blend of heart-break, guffaws, and research.”—Lindsay Wong, author of The Woo-Woo and My Summer of Love and Misfortune
Praise for Marcello Di Cintio
“Di Cintio researches his subjects thoroughly, conducts in depth reporting, and writes with vigour and humility.”—Kamal Al-Solaylee, Quill & Quire
“Di Cintio weaves together history with a sense of place and infuses character with dialogue and humor … masterful.”—Selma Dabbagh, The Electronic Intifada
“Illuminating reading from a highly engaged author.”—Kirkus Reviews
