When students read non-fiction book, like Traffic, they assume one of two things. The book is either a biography, or a research paper full of non-senses. Most of the time, it turns out to be one of them. If it is a biography, students just go ahead and assume that it is going to be boring. Who wouldn?t be? It is a book of someone?s life! If it is a research paper, students are going to sigh and say, ?When will I be done?? Well, I was one of the students who sighed. I even regretted picking this book but when I start reading it, it changed my perspective on non-fiction books. Traffic is a book that is well-prepared. And because this is non-fiction book, it is full of facts. It is a book completed by one author, but have works contained by many different professionals. Some are interview, and some are sources. If you look at the back of the book, there are about 100 pages on source that he had used.
Unlike the title of this book, the book is mainly about driving. And by looking at the title, and looking at the picture in the cover, you immediately know it is about driving. The book tells us the reason why we drive the way we do and what it says about us. The best example that I?ve found in the book was ?when a driver is cut off by another driver,? (Line 23, pg.22) and why our gesture become rude as well. He gives a simple problem, an answer. So, for this problem he first gives a common sense problem, and the answer is ?this is called the ?fundamental attribution error,? (Line 21, pg. 23) which means that we misjudge a person based on their first impression. Just by looking at the problem that he is giving us, we can assume that ?when a drive is cut off by another driver, he will either say a bad comment or put a rude gesture on another driver. That?s a common answer that we answer it to ourselves, right? What he gives is not only the answer, but the reason behind answering the questions. He backs his reasoning with three different evidences; physical, psychological, or technical. I have seen him use a lot of physical and psychological reasoning in the book. He has this style that no one can imitate. He can focus on narrow subject such as why drivers honk when getting frustrated and impatient but he can?t a broad topic such as ?driving psychology.? Therefore the book covers many narrow topics. Also, unlike any books that I have read, the book does not exactly have suspense. Beginning of each chapter contains problem and gives a solution on overall topic at the end.
Yes, I know that reading a non-fiction book can be very boring, but not this one. It is full of interesting facts, and I have learned a lot from it. If I were to give a score from 0 a lowest and 10 a highest, I would definitely give 10. If you ever get a chance to read it, be sure to be amazed at facts of driving!