Your Good, Gritty Fall Read: Hack by Melissa Plaut

I mean I’m just assuming Hack - How I Stopped Worrying About What to Do With My Life and Started Driving a Yellow Cab is going to be good, since I haven’t read it yet. (It just came out today.) But that fantastic Kubrickian title, plus the fact that I have frequently read Melissa Plaut’s blog over the last two years, is surely proof enough. Besides, what’s not to like? You get your reality from the vantage point of a gay, Jewish and female cab driver in New York City. I’m not sure if I could conjure a better perspective.

From the book flap:

“With wicked wit and arresting insight, Melissa Plaut reveals the crazy parade of humanity that passed through her cab – including struggling actors, federal judges, bartenders, strippers, and drug dealers – while showing how this grueling work provided her with empowerment and a greater sense of self. Hack introduces an irresistible new voice that is much like New York itself—vivid, gritty, profane, lyrical, and ineffably hip.”

More advanced praise and info on the book after the jump.

And from a review in Nylon:

“While her adventures as a cab driver will change your backseat perspective, that certainly isn't the most important reason to read it. Plaut's book is a unique take on the cabbie experience -- she is a white woman with a college education, a demographic that comprises less than one percent of the cab driving population.”
- Aya T. Kanai

There’s also a feature about her on USA Today, with a short video and interview and overview. I think it’s pretty safe to add this to our fall reading lists with confidence.