Gear: Book Review: Found

Book Review: Found

By Benjamin Shahrabani
January 23, 2015

The book: Found: The Lives of Interesting Cars & How They Were Discovered

Author: Gregory Long

Pages: 238

Purchase: Click here

Everyone has some sort of car story. Found: The Lives of Interesting Cars & How They Were Discovered dishes out several of them in fictionalized form. Residing in Gregory Long’s self-published novel are short stories about barn finds, threaded together through a relationship between a young car enthusiast, Tanner Hamilton, and an older car collector, Mr. Brant. Their friendship starts when Tanner spots Brant’s 1970 BMW 2800CS in a parking lot, and a friendship borne of a mutual love of interesting old cars is born.

Anyone with a love of cars and literary bent should enjoy this book. It’s fairly easy reading, but Long doesn’t skimp on attention to details. His descriptions and dialogue bring a real sense of life to the situations, the characters, and their growing friendship. Some stories in Found end prematurely however and thus leave you hanging, which a reader might find frustrating. This stylistic foible employed by the author is in fact intentional. For those paying attention to Long’s note at the beginning of the book it’s apparent that it’s part of the plan–Long doesn’t forget about the loose ends he creates in these stories about cars that are lost, and then found again. The reader just has to wait until the last chapter for the payoff.

Do you enjoy “just one more” books? The books where you feel drawn to read just one more chapter or story before putting it down? Found is just that kind of book. Long incorporates many interesting cars from BMWs, Porsches, Ferraris, Hemi Cudas, as well as more off-beat iron like Citroëns, Tuckers, Tatras, and even a 2001 Saab 9-3 Viggen. There is something for everyone, and might very well inspire one to research some of the cars mentioned within, go out, and see what might be hidden away inside an old garage or warehouse, or strike up a conversation with an enthusiast with an interesting car.

Purchase Found.

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Tyson Rock
Tyson Rock
6 years ago

That the best article and your writing skill is so good. i am really interested in online game playing and i have searched a best junction https://heartsgameonline.net for card lovers, there are many exiting games are available in without login.

Greg Long
Greg Long
9 years ago

Hi Bertram… it’s an ‘automotive historical fiction’ book so not everything is true… the cars all are but, well, it’s up to the reader to determine fact from fiction. I’ll give you a hint on the XKSS — do you recall a major fire at the Jaguar factory in the 50’s at Brown’s Lane…

… there’s also a ‘companion’ website that goes with the book that provides input on many of the cars, why they were chosen, and some hints on what’s true. If you want to read the first couple chapters (gears) you can do it there for free… but don’t dig into the website unless you’ve read the book or you’ll ruin the surprise!

Greg

http://www.FoundCarsofCascadia.com

Martin James
Martin James
9 years ago
Reply to  Greg Long

Errr .. yeah … as a matter of fact I know the story behind the XKSS quite well . Fact is none were ever ‘lost’ . They were ‘destroyed ‘ in the fire . Each and every one from the survivors to the ones that did not make it having been fully accounted for and very well documented . Thereby negating the term lost .. when it comes to this conversation .

Beyond that I’m not sure I grasp what the purpose and intent of this book is . It certainly is not in any way , shape or form ‘ history ‘ yet it really isn’t fiction either . And from what I can see it doesn’t exactly … say in the spirit of TC Boyle’s novel ” The Women ” shed any possible light or reveal any potentially true back stories/theories on the subject which is the very raison d’etre of the ‘ Historical Fiction ‘ novel .

But to be honest with you …. and I know this is the reviewers comment , not your own . The single biggest turn off about the book is that it claims to have .. ” something for everyone ” ….Which in literary terms generally means there’s really nothing much there at all .

e.g. I wish you well with it … but it’ll never make it onto my bookshelves .

Bertram Wooster
Bertram Wooster
9 years ago

Nice idea. I’ll probably pick it up…

…however…

…I kind of doubt that any Jaguar XKSS’s were actually ever “lost!”

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