Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne

This is a travel book. It depicts certain places that the author had visited. I guess I was expecting something... different. Instead of being a travel book, I was hoping it would be more adventurous.  Given the fact that I didn't know who David Byrne is, I started this book with different expectations. If I would have realized who he was, then maybe I would have expected some rock star adventures or something similar.

It is a decent book, with an air of nostalgia that you cannot really grasp why. Maybe it is the fact that he depicts derelict neighborhoods from the US or the wall of Berlin. From a New Yorker author and a former rock star, one might expect a certain dose of swearing and a bit of an attitude. The book is neither funny, nor very exciting but I believe that the depictions are quite accurate, given the fact that I had been to some of those places. 

Don't expect a work of art. Don't expect adventure and don't expect much action or talk about bikes. What you should expect is a book about travels, a tame story about cities with their ups and downs. The pictures help clarify the meaning behind the words and the language is neither pompous or harsh. Thing of it more like a photo album with a story for every picture.

It took me a while to finish this book because I had been busy with other things. Having a bike, the title caught my eye but I was hoping more of an adventure than a stroll in the city. This is the best way to describe the book " a stroll through the city".