A Deadly Wandering: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention
Matt Richtel, 2014
HarperCollins
416 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780062284075
Summary
A brilliant, narrative-driven exploration of technology’s vast influence on the human mind and society, dramatically-told through the lens of a tragic “texting-while-driving” car crash that claimed the lives of two rocket scientists in 2006.
In this ambitious, compelling, and beautifully written book, Matt Richtel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the New York Times, examines the impact of technology on our lives through the story of Utah college student Reggie Shaw, who killed two scientists while texting and driving. Richtel follows Reggie through the tragedy, the police investigation, his prosecution, and ultimately, his redemption.
In the wake of his experience, Reggie has become a leading advocate against “distracted driving.” Richtel interweaves Reggie’s story with cutting-edge scientific findings regarding human attention and the impact of technology on our brains, proposing solid, practical, and actionable solutions to help manage this crisis individually and as a society.
A propulsive read filled with fascinating, accessible detail, riveting narrative tension, and emotional depth, A Deadly Wandering explores one of the biggest questions of our time—what is all of our technology doing to us?—and provides unsettling and important answers and information we all need. (From .)
Author Bio
• Birth—October 2, 1966
• Where—Los Angeles, California, USA
• Education—B.A., University of California, Berkeley; M.S. Columbia University
• Awards—Pulitizer Prize
• Currently—lives in San Francisco, California
Matt Richtel is an American writer and journalist. He was born in Los Angeles, California, and obtained a bachelor's degree from the University of California at Berkeley and an M.S. from the Columbia School of Journalism.
As a writer for the New York Times, he won a 2010 Pulitizer for his 2009-2010 series on distracted driving—"Driving to Distraction."
He is also the author of the 2014 nonfiction book A Deadly Wandering: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention, which intertwines the story of a car crash caused by a texting driver with a study of the science of attention. The book became a New York Times bestseller and Editor's Choice. It was named one of the best books the year by Kirkus Reviews, Christian Science Monitor, San Francisco Chronicle, Amazon, and others.
Richtel has also authored several mystery/thrillers, including Doomsday Equation (2015), The Cloud (2013) and The Devil's Plaything (2011). His first book Hooked (2007) is about a reporter whose life is turned upside down when he escapes a cafe explosion.
He created and formerly wrote the syndicated comic series Rudy Park under the penname Theron Heir. The strip is now written by its longtime illustrator Darrin Bell.
Richtel lives in San Francisco with his wife, son and daughter. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 9/21/2015.)
Book Reviews
Matt Richtel’s riveting book is narrative nonfiction at its finest.... This book should be placed in every school and legislative chamber in the country.
Jon Huntsman, former governor of Utah
Americans are addicted to their technology, putting us on a modern day collision course with very real consequences. Matt Richtel brilliantly tells the story of the aftermath of a deadly distracted driving crash. His portrait is riveting. I could not stop reading, and neither will you.
Ray LaHood, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation
Richtel gives Shaw's story the thorough, emotional treatment it is due, interweaving a detailed chronicle of the science behind distracted driving. As an instructive social parable, Richtel's densely reported…compassionate and persuasive book deserves a spot next to Fast Food Nation and To Kill a Mockingbird in America's high school curriculums. To say it may save lives is self-evident…Richtel displays admirable empathy for everyone involved but reserves a special place in his heart for Reggie—impassive and forlorn, monosyllabic but tortured, evasive yet sincere. Shaw's conversion is depicted with revelatory precision, his epiphany realistically subdued and painstakingly gradual (An Editor's Choice).
Robert Kolker - New York Times Book Review
Keen and elegantly raw.... Not just a morality tale but a probe sent into the world of technology.... Richtel draws all the characters with a fine brush, a delicacy that treats misery both respectfully and front-on (One of the 10 Best Nonfiction Books of the Year).
Christian Science Monitor.
Each page is... irresistible.... A richly detailed and compellingly readable exploration of the "clash" between our brains and the electronic devices that, for many of us, have become essential to "every facet of life."
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Exhaustively researched.... Richtel brings a novelist’s knack for unspooling narrative conflict to bear on Shaw’s real-life drama (A Best Book of the Year).
San Francisco Chronicle
Intensely gripping, compelling, and sobering... A Deadly Wandering gives the potentially lethal risks of the digital age a very human face—one which we can, if we’re honest, readily see in the mirror (A Best Book of the Year).
Winnipeg Free Press
A deadly driving-while-texting car crash illuminates the perils of information overload.... The author’s determination to juice up the science with human interest...feels overdone.... Still...he raises fascinating and troubling issues about the cognitive impact of our technology.
Publishers Weekly
[T]he story of Utah teenager Reggie Shaw, who caused a fatal accident as he texted while driving.... [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
Library Journal
(Starred review.) A novelist and Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter explores with nearly Javert-ian persistenceone of the early cases of traffic fatalities caused by texting while driving.... Comprehensive research underlies this compelling, highly emotional and profoundly important story (A Best Book of the Year).
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
Also, consider these LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for A Deadly Wandering:
1. Should reading A Deadly Wandering be compulsory in schools across the country as former Governor Jon Huntsman of Utah has said (see book reviews above)?
2. In what way does the author suggest that Reggie Shaw's upbringing played a role in the accident? What about Reggie's family—what role did it play, especially in the immediate aftermath of the crash?
3. Talk about the arc of Reggie Shaw's redemption. He was reluctant at first to admit fault, let alone apologize; what happened to set him on his new path? Can you put yourself in Reggie's shoes? What would it feel like to have caused such devastation for something so trivial?
4. Talk about the scientific findings Matt Richtel presents in his book, especially the evidence that adolescent brains are different from adult brains. In what ways do they differ?
5. Does the author do a good job of leading readers through the science and helping us find answers? Did reading about the many neuroscientific theories and studies, and hearing from numerous scientists, make it difficult to determine which research is more important? Or were you able to arrive at your own assessment?
6. And then there's dopamine...always dopamine. Explain!
7. Discuss the two differing types of attention: top down and bottom up.
8. Richtel suggests that we're distracted because we wish to be. Do you agree? What are your own proclivities for distraction—how easy is it for you to lose yourself in thoughts rather than pay attention to the moment at hand.
9. What about smart phones—how have they added to our already overburdened attention spans? Richtel presents several analogies as a way to explain our attraction to phones and texting—alcohol, drugs, television, video games, slot machines, junk food, and a tap on the shoulder. Which one, if any, do you find most apt?
10. What parts of A Deadly Wandering do you find most powerful and moving?
11. Do you think this book will save lives?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online of off, with attribution. Thanks.)