Yellow Cab - by Robert Leonard (Paperback)

About the Book

The sharp insights of a cab driver into the workings of the hidden world of an American city after dark.

Book Synopsis

In 2001, anthropology professor Robert Leonard began moonlighting as a cabdriver; Yellow Cab is a portrait of the city he found as he drove the streets of nighttime Albuquerque, picking up everyone from business people and drunken college kids to hookers and drug dealers. In this mixed bag of rich vignettes and interludes of poetry, Leonard offers sharp insights into the workings of the hidden world of an American city after dark. "With an ethnographer's eye for fine details and a writer's ear for words, Robert Leonard's portraits of Albuquerque's cabdrivers and their passengers ring every bit as true as the writings of Joseph Mitchell and Joseph Liebling about varieties of life in New York City. Thoughtful, compelling, and irresistibly authentic."--Keith H. Basso, Regents Professor of Anthropology, University of New Mexico "Highly entertaining! . . . Hop aboard a bright yellow Crown Vic and buckle up for a nighttime journey seen through the eyes of a cabbie. You will be the 'fly on the window' as you witness the comical, bizarre, touching, and sometimes painful antics of human nature."--Mike Trujillo, Yellow Cab driver

Review Quotes

"Highly entertaining!...Hop aboard a bright yellow Crown Vic and buckle up for a nighttime journey seen through the eyes of a cabbie. You will be the 'fly on the window' as you witness the comical, bizarre, touching, and sometimes painful antics of human nature."

"With an ethnographer's eye for fine details and a writer's ear for telling words, Robert Leonard's portraits of Albuquerque's cab drivers and their passengers ring every bit as true as the writings of Joseph Mitchell and Joseph Liebling about varieties of life in New York City. Thoughtful, compelling, and irresistibly authentic, "Yellow Cab" invites you to think--and then think again--about things you never knew."

"Wonderfully written, this book captures the essence of human behavior, as seen from the unique perspective of the cab driver."

"A rich collection of anecdotes and observations on city life, the overlooked segments of society, the scope of personal and not-so-personal relationships, and the culture of cabbies."

"This is a great book. It captures the heart and soul of this crazy little city. . . Be polite and pick up this book."

About the Author

A former professor of anthropology at the University of New Mexico, Robert Leonard lives with his wife and children in rural Iowa where he is a partner in an anthropological consulting firm. On occasion, he wanders back to Albuquerque and climbs into a Yellow Cab.