Record Setting Cross-Country Drive Enthralls, Scares Nation
Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 11.16.07 | 9:27 AM ET
Alexander Roy seems like an idiot. But a media-savvy idiot. A month after first revealing to the world that he and his co-driver David Maher teamed to drive from New York City to Los Angeles in 31 hours and 4 minutes in 2006, the media have kept him and his reckless achievement in the spotlight. Wired devoted a big magazine spread and an online package to the road trip this month, and earlier this week National Public Radio weighed in with an 8 minute and 18 second piece on Roy and his epic ride.
NPR listeners, however, scolded the network for not seriously addressing the dangers of Roy’s achievement. One listener said, “When I was 25 I would have found your story fascinating. Now that I am 52, all I could think about as I listened was that my teenage children, my wife and aging parents share the road with your featured driver. Do you really think your story glorifying this behavior was appropriate?”
Appropriate or not, it’s selling. As of this morning, Roy’s book The Driver has an Amazon.com overall ranking of No. 224. NPR has an excerpt.
Related on World Hum:
* Man Drives From New York City to Los Angeles in 31 Hours
* Video: A Cross-Country Road Trip Captured in Time Lapse
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Michael Yessis is the cofounder and coeditor-in-chief of World Hum.
