I Enjoy Playing With Questions: A Guest Post by Priya Guns
Paperback $17.00
Your Driver Is Waiting: A Novel
Your Driver Is Waiting: A Novel
By Priya Guns
In Stock Online
Paperback $17.00
This modern-day reimagining of Taxi Driver is just as daring as the film, with even more blistering social commentary. With a rideshare driver struggling to make ends meet and navigating the world as a queer woman of color, this novel explores isolation in the busiest of times. Perfect for fans of Mona Awad and Sarah Rose Etter.
This modern-day reimagining of Taxi Driver is just as daring as the film, with even more blistering social commentary. With a rideshare driver struggling to make ends meet and navigating the world as a queer woman of color, this novel explores isolation in the busiest of times. Perfect for fans of Mona Awad and Sarah Rose Etter.
The film Taxi Driver is thematically rich on the subject of alienation, class, and even protests. There is a lot to unpack and dissect which I find particularly thrilling. I was immediately curious about Travis Bickle’s (the protagonist, played by Robert de Niro) sense of himself in relation to society. Because of his insomnia, he decides to make use of his time by driving. He sees a despicable city with all of the ‘scum’ and has fallen for a woman out of his social class. Bickle is driven by rage. I was curious about his frustrations and the root cause of them. I was intrigued by his supposed act of heroism; a bloody act which did not impact the function of society, therefore did not threaten it towards positive change. If I could imagine a driver today, alienated, lonely and in a city so close to imploding, what would be the root of their rage? How would their alienation and even loneliness differ and what factors would play a role in this? What would be their act of heroism and would they be so honored to be deemed a hero, or terrorist? What would be their heartbreak and how, given the nature of rideshare in late capitalism, would their frustrations differ? Who couldn’t they truly love and why would that be the case? I enjoy playing with questions and as a huge fan of Taxi Driver, had plenty. I felt strangely connected and curious by Travis Bickle and was inspired to explore what it was about this particular character (one of, if not the first depiction of an incel in film) that stuck with me. Writing Your Driver Is Waiting was an exhilarating ride, reimagining another city through Damani, a character I’ve been waiting to meet for a very long time.