CAR MA is artist and musician Alison Mosshart's first printed collection of
paintings, photographs, short stories, and poetry. It is a book about cars, rock n'
roll, and love. It's a book about America, performance, and life on the road. It's a
book about fender bender portraiture, story tellin' tire tracks, and the never-
ending search for the spirit under the hood.
?Mosshart imagines the auto body shop like some other Coney Island. And
America's highways- the last great roller coasters. Shows us that the engine on
fire is connected to the guitar feeding back since birth. And the sensation of
walking on stage and facing an audience is like the laugh before the scream in a
car without brakes. She ruminates that automobiles- with their doors and mirrors
and windows, engines and wheels and radios- portray us. Mirror our need to be
in or to exit, our inward reflections and outward visions, our lifetimes of tinkering
with the mysterious heart. That which runs until it doesn't. Throughout history the
car has been a symbol of freedom and hopeful adventure. It stands to reason it is
also a symbol of our subsequent spinning out? over things we never thought
could happen during a song that fucking good with the volume up that fucking
loud.
If you've ever found yourself feeling holy, pulling out of the gas station with a full
tank, like the last beautiful free soul on this planet- This book is for you. In fact it's
probably about you.
Car Ma is Alison Mosshart's first collection in print of her art, photography, and writing. Mosshart is the lead singer for bands such as The Kills and Dead Weather. Her mother was a high school art teacher and her father a used car dealer-both influenced Car Ma's images, poems, and stories. Mosshart describes the book: "It's a book about America, performance, and life on the road. It's a book about fender bender portraiture, story tellin' tire tracks, and the never-ending search for the spirit under the hood."
"Part road diary, part automobile love song, part personal history, Car Ma dives deep into the soul of the American drive."
