Short Cuts: Stuff About Cars in Books About Other Things

"Even in the everyday world of the present, an anxiety to survive manifests itself in cars and clothes for far more rugged occasions than those at hand, as thought to express some sense of the toughness of things and of readiness to face them."

From 'A Field Guide To Getting Lost' by Rebecca Solnit, p80 (Solnit also wrote the wonderful book “Wanderlust,” a rich, deep meditation on walking).