"Excellent. . . . Two Wheels Good takes the form of bricolage, blending meticulous historical research, local reporting from bicycle-dependent locales like Bhutan and Bangladesh and personal memories . . . . The book excels across all of them and, in its curious, mingled character, calls to mind Bill Bryson, John McPhee, Rebecca Solnit--obsessives, for whom the material world and their own infinitesimal presence within it constitute the most natural subject of artistic inquiry."--The New York Times Book Review
"Comprehensive . . . [Two Wheels Good] often feels like a leisurely ride, full of spontaneous detours into unexpected delight. But what makes the book essential is its rigorous reporting."--The Atlantic
"[A] complex cultural history. . . . The strength of Two Wheels Good is the journalist's eye [Rosen] brings to a basic technology that has had radically disparate identities at different times and in different parts of the world."--Curbed
"A lively biography of a tool central to the greening of urban spaces. It's also a fascinating, sweeping everyday explainer, moving from the bike's 19th-century origins to its importance globally."--Chicago Tribune
"Encyclopedic. . . . A deeply researched and vastly entertaining history of the bicycle."--Dallas Morning News
"The real feat of this book is that it takes us on a ride--across the centuries and around the globe, through startling history and vivid first-person reporting--offering not just a wry, rich, deeply researched meditation on the bicycle and our relationship to it, but also the headlong rush of cruising on two wheels into the unknown."--Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Empire of Pain
"When I fell in love with riding a bike in New York City, what I found myself craving was a history. But I'm greedy: I wished that whoever wrote this history would find a way to make it personal and ruminative, to bring cities and eras to life. Jody Rosen has written that very book. I got more than I knew I wanted."--Wesley Morris, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, The New York Times
"The best thing I've ever read on a single subject. With curiosity, conscientiousness, and an exquisitely light touch, Rosen makes a convincing case that the story of the bike is the story of modern life."--Lauren Collins, author of When in French
"This is social history as it ought to be written: funny, precise, surprising, anti-dogmatic, and unafraid of following a story, brakes off, to wherever the tale might want to glide."--Adam Gopnik, author of Paris to the Moon
"Wide-ranging and inquisitive, Two Wheels Good is like an entire library of books on the bicycle."--Lucy Sante, author of Low Life
"Eye-opening . . . a lively social history of the bicycle . . . Fans of bicycling and how-the-world-works reportage alike will find this a great pleasure."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Witty prose, exhaustive research, and Rosen's contagious enthusiasm ensure that this standout history will appeal to cyclists and non-cyclists alike."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
