Talking Heads singer makes sense on bicycle

BICYCLE DIARIES. By David Byrne. Viking. 304 pages. $25.95.

Part travelogue, part social commentary, part blog collection, David Byrne's wryly written book is fit to burst with facts and opinions about the world from a cyclist's point of view.

Byrne is best known for leading the alternative band Talking Heads through the '70s and '80s. He's the first to admit that bicycling doesn't exactly fit a rock star lifestyle, but he's determined to experience major cities from a saddle, taking a folding bike with him in a suitcase on most trips no matter how uncool he may look.

"Bicycle Diaries" doesn't whitewash the dangers inherent in cycling through a car-centric city. No roadway is completely safe for Byrne as he navigates Berlin, Istanbul, Buenos Aires and other sites his work takes him to.

But he also has an unquenchable passion for pedals, his ride raising him just above the heads of less enlightened citizens. He sees things that might not be spotted from a rushing automobile: strange, shrine-like store front decorations; signs of crime and religious fervor; the sounds and smells of karaoke-mad Manila.

Unhampered by traffic jams and pile-ups, Byrne goes where he wants, stopping to note quirks of architecture, cultural history or politics. Some of these musings threaten to deflate the narrative, but the author always pumps it back up by switching gears and getting back to the point.

That point, made in an eloquent epilogue, is that biking is desirable, even in the most unlikely of places, with a proviso for the future: Cities shouldn't just be safe for cyclists but safe for kids. If paths and rules can be created that allow them to get around on two wheels without risking their lives, then there still may be hope for our urban areas.