Ellen Hawley’s Trip Sheets initially intrigued me because it was supposed to be a very personal story from the mind of a taxi driver. And, in the beginning of the book, Hawley explains exactly this intrigue mentioning how lonely and long the days of a taxi driver can be. However, the story never seems to appropriately explore this mind. Yes, the story is all told from driver Cath’s point of view, but rather than resting and exploring feelings, Cath seems to plod through the story giving each event equal attention before deciding that one event is the culmination of all the others. Even the last scenes of the story seem to hold little significance for this role.
The story is of a Minnesota taxi driver, Cath, who is working her way through young adulthood and coming out. It is the story of a woman learning to negotiate her romantic relationships personally and eventually with family. However, the book reads more like a resume than emotional or revelatory accounts of this journey. Cath goes from one relationship to the next, and at first her lack of emotion makes sense. But then Cath does find her soul mate, and the reader thinks finally, I will see Cath at her most vulnerable. You won’t. Cath’s soul mate is divorced and a single mother. Her soul mate insists that Cath introduce her to family when Cath’s father is on his death bed. Yet, amidst this obvious recipe for heart wrenching and challenging feelings, Cath continues to tell her story with her unnatural sensibility leaving any reader frustrated and bored.
This was a pretty disappointing story to be on display at the Minneapolis Central Library.
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