Moving Violations: War Zones, Wheelchairs, and Declarations of Independence

John Hockenberry's Moving Violations is one of the most entertaining, provocative, unexpected, outspoken, and occasionally outrageous books in recent memory. It is a story of obstacles--physical, emotional, and psychic--overcome again, and again, and again. Whether riding a mule up a hillside in Iraq surrounded by mud-stained Kurdish refugees, navigating his wheelchair through intractable stretches of Middle Eastern sand, or auditioning to be the first journalist in space, John Hockenberry, ace reporter, is determined not only to bring back the story, but also to prove that nothing can hold him back from death-defying exploits.

However, he will never be a poster boy for a Jerry Lewis telethon. A paraplegic since an auto accident at age nineteen, Hockenberry holds nothing back in this achingly honest, often hilarious chronicle that ranges from the Ayatollah's funeral (where his wheelchair is pushed by a friendly Iranian chanting "Death to all Americans"), to the problems of crip sex and the inaccessibility of the New York City subway system.

In this immensely moving chronicle--so filled with marvelous storytelling that it reads like a novel--John Hockenberry finds that the most difficult journey is the one that begins at home, as he confronts the memories of his beloved one-armed grandfather, and finally meets his institutionalized Uncle Peter, whose very existence was long a secret buried in the family history.

Moving Violations is a sometimes harrowing but ultimately joyful ride.

Author: John Hockenberry
Publisher: Hyperion Books
Published: 07/01/1996
Pages: 416
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.00w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9780786881628

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 7.7
Point Value: 30
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 70318 / Moving Violations: War Zones, Wheelchairs, and Declarations of Independence


Review Citation(s):
New York Times 08/18/1996 pg. 32
New York Times 12/08/1996 pg. 101
Publishers Weekly 05/20/1996

About the Author
A two-time Peabody Award winner, John Hockenberry spent more than a decade with National Public Radio as a general assignment reporter, Middle East correspondent, and program host. He is now a correspondent for ABC's news magazine show Day One, for which he received an Emmy. He lives in New York City.