Earl Swift tracks history of ’57 Chevy in Auto Biography
On July 15, 2014 | 0 Comments

Earl Swift

Left Bank Books presents journalist Earl Swift, who will sign and discuss his book, Auto Biography: A Classic Car, an Outlaw Motorhead, and 57 Years of the American Dream (It Books, May 2014), on Sunday, July 20, 3pm, at Left Bank Books (399 N. Euclid).

In March of 1956, an American original was born: Tommy Arney – future bar brawler, outlaw, strip club owner, and proud proprietor of Moyock Muscle car lot. At the same time, half a country away in Cleveland, another American original was roaring to life – the quintessential emblem of postwar brashness, confidence, power and excitement: the 1957 Chevy. In Auto Biography, Earl Swift recounts in rich, heartfelt, deeply researched details the life stories of both man and car as their paths align over five decades.

A starred review from Kirkus Reivews calls Auto Biography “a pleasant surprise…A big, weird, heartfelt book about a badass who could give a damn whether you root for him or not.” Publishers Weekly calls it “Engrossing and entertaining…The narrative tactfully unfolds with deeply human stories of struggle, ambition, hopes, dreams…Swift is a wonderful guide and the stories he relates are engaging in their own right.”

Earl Swift is the author of The Big Roads, a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice; Where They Lay, a finalist for the 2004 PEN/Martha Albrand Award; and Journey on the James. A former Fulbright Fellow, he is currently a resident fellow at the University of Virginia’s Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. His writing has appeared in PARADE, Popular Mechanics, America’s Best Newspaper Writing, and elsewhere. Earl resides in Norfolk, VA, with his fiancé, and has owned 12 cars.