Kelly Dessaint

Dispatches from Behind the Wheel Kelly Dessaint

Behind the Wheel was created by longtime zine maker Kelly Dessaint to document his experiences driving for hire in San Francisco. The first two issues chronicle driving for Uber and Lyft, before he goes to taxi school and becomes a bonafide taxi driver in the third, which contains the unexpurgated "I Drive SF," based on his weekly column for the San Francisco Examiner. The fourth issues contains five long-form essays about driving a taxi in San Francisco while living in Oakland, writing for a newspaper, dealing with a complicated marriage, hostile encounters with Uber/Lyft drivers and the prospect of bring a child into a world that's completely out of whack. Combined, this collection presents a vivid, almost voyeuristic tapestry of The City, which is a constant backdrop through the stories - essentially the main star - followed closely by the author himself.