A Deadly Wandering

July 28, 2014
A deadly driving-while-texting car crash illuminates the perils of information overload in this scattershot saga of digital dysfunctions. New York Times reporter and novelist Richtel (The Cloud) recounts the story of Reggie Shaw, a 19-year-old Utah man who in 2006 swerved into oncoming traffic while texting his girlfriend; the resulting accident killed two other men. Part of the book is a lucid, interesting account of the developing brain science of how we focus our attention and how it is distracted by the addictive flood of information from our always connected wireless devices and our insistently multitasked jobs. (Researchers tell the author that texting impairs ones driving as much as being drunk.) Interspersed is a drawn-out journalistic account of the accident’s aftermath, with grieving families, legal proceedings that explore the growth of jurisprudence on driving and cell phones, and Reggie’s guilt and subsequent rebirth as an anti-texting crusader. The author’s determination to juice up the science with human interest, emotional anguish, and courtroom drama feels overdone—many figures in the book have their back stories ransacked for extraneous episodes of trauma and abuse. Still, when Richtel lets the research speak for itself, he raises fascinating and troubling issues about the cognitive impact of our technology. Agent: Laurie Liss, Sterling Lord Literistic.

September 15, 2014

Richtel (New York Times) expands upon his Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting on distracted driving by presenting the story of Utah teenager Reggie Shaw, who caused a fatal accident as he texted while driving. This unfortunate event resulted in a passionate police officer as well as a victims' advocate collaborating to seek justice in an era in which reliance on--or addiction to--mobile devices is a common factor in vehicular accidents. Alongside this narrative of Shaw's evolution from stubbornly refusing to apologize to becoming an advocate for stricter legislation about distracted driving, Richtel details the work of a group of neurosurgeons as they research the extent to which technology consumes and controls the mind. While these sections are certainly compelling and relevant, they bog down the text at times. Ideally, these would have a more natural inclusion into the broader narrative of the accident and its aftermath. VERDICT Overall, this is a highly accessible and timely work. Readers of popular narrative and scientific nonfiction will certainly find this to be a brisk and important read.--Ben Neal, Richland Lib., Columbia, SC

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 1, 2014
Pulitzer Prize winner Richtel takes a multisided, personal look at what he terms a modern tragedy the consequences of texting while driving. In this case, in Utah in 2006, young Reggie Shaw denied against all evidence that he had been texting, and his advocates stated that people become distracted all the time behind the wheel (eating, changing the radio station, etc.). But Reggie's distraction and subsequent wreck killed young family men James Furfaro and Keith O'Dell, two rocket scientists. In 2006, the U.S. had few laws against cell-phone use while driving, and little evidence was publicly shared that such devices could devastatingly distract drivers. Richtel divides his book into three sections Collision, Reckoning, and Redemption and within these, he focuses not just on Reggie and the families affected by the wreck but also on tenacious and brave victims' advocate Terryl Warner, the lawmakers who fought for change in a conservative state, and various neuroscientists, men and women who work tirelessly to show how the rapid advancements of technology may be more than human brains can handle. A rare combination of science, ability, tragedy, and hope, one that should be read by parents and young adults alike as well as legislators.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)