Ask Click and Clack: Answers from Car Talk

When I was growing up, my mom used to like to listen to Car Talk, which was a weekly radio program in which two brothers would diagnose the car problems of various people who called in to the show desperate for information on how to fix their cars. When I “caught” my mom listening to it, I wondered how exciting a radio program about car problems could actually be. She assured me that Tom and Ray Magliozzi, the brothers on Car Talk, covered a wide variety of topics and were excessively funny. Before I knew it, my brother and I were listening along with her. She was right. They were funny, funny guys.

The brothers of Car Talk did talk about deep subjects. They covered things like raising teenagers, marital communications, stupidity and brilliance, mostly in regards to relationships. Now, relationships are something that I love to poke fun at. These guys mock interpersonal relationships while talking about the best and worst of vehicles and vehicle maintenance. I find them hysterically funny at times, mostly because they give common sense advice and probably because I don’t know them personally. Not to say that they aren’t nice guys. Just sayin’ that sometimes it’s easier to take advice from popular strangers instead of personal friends. To learn more about their radio program, visit the Car Site website. Then find them on your local radio station. They are hilarious!

Imagine my delight then when I discovered that there was a Car Talk book! (I came to discover that there are a few books out but this is the first I’ve read.) Ask Click and Clack: Answers from Car Talk is a collection of short articles/stories from their biweekly newspaper column of the same title. Each topic is addressed quickly and easily making this book perfect for the person in your life who only has a few spare minutes of reading a day and would like to be amused and entertained. The reader of this book will not only learn about cars but about road etiquette, Tom and Ray’s relationship as they grew up, and the rules for Punch Buggy. Important stuff.

They write with the same style and grace that they do not have. They give very tongue-and-cheek answers to their reader’s questions and I find them laugh-out-loud funny at times. If you ever listened to and liked Car Talk, you are going to enjoy Ask Click and Clack. If you’ve never listened to the radio show, do that and then go buy this book. It’s good for a laugh and some days that is just what you need.

Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books regularly at Reading to Know. She knows absolutely nothing about cars.