A Deadly Wandering: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention

In my opinion, the mark of a good book is that it leaves me changed in some way after reading it, so on that count, it succeeded. I will never even consider texting while driving again and will keep my phone out of sight. I will no longer talk on the phone while driving. The message of this book was loud and clear, and it wasn't the tragedy of the two dead men that drove the point home; it was the neuroscience. We are literally incapable of doing all the things technology entices us to do. So for that reason alone, I think this book is pivotal and should be made required reading for every college student and for every person who gets ticketed for distracted driving.Now for the parts that didn't work for me. The book was disorganized and hard to follow at times. The amount of repetition was exceedingly distracting, sometimes in the same chapter, only two paragraphs apart. This book could have used an editor. And finally, the most disappointing part of this book was the portrait painted of Reggie Shaw by the author. A journalist is supposed to be unbiased, but his affection for Reggie came through. It seemed as though the author was trying to find every excuse - ANY excuse - to cover for Reggie when, in fact, Reggie was a self-absorbed teenager incapable of thinking beyond his needs. He didn't "get it" until far too late. Other characterizations also were trouble. It seemed as though the author went out of his way to come up with a hero vs. villain dynamic. Terryl, for example, was painted as the "big bad" in this story, going after poor virtuous Reggie when, in fact, they were both deeply flawed individuals.That characterization was probably the hardest part I had with this book. The message was clear (if overstated).

You won't be able to get through with dry eyes Matt Richtel's story of Reggie Shaw and the tragedy he caused to happen through behavior millions of people, unfortunately, continue to take daily -- texting while driving. What struck me is the recency of this phenomenon: The accident Reggie caused, by crossing the center line and killing instantly two rocket scientists on a Utah highway, took place just nine years ago ... and it proved to be the first prosecution for such criminally negligent behavior. Back then, very few laws were on the books outlawing this sort of distracted driving. Even in its aftermath, legislators were reluctant to take people's phones away from them while driving.If you have friends or family with teenagers, try to get this story into their hands. And if you're merely interested generally in the science behind how multitasking harms our ability to perform tasks, then you'll find quite a bit of that peppered throughout this very human story.Also know this: Reggie accepted a plea deal and wound up serving just 18 days in jail. He had to perform extensive community service, like sharing his gut-wrenching story with students and rookies of the National Basketball Association, among others. And the judge made him read and write a paper on Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. You may have strong feelings about whether these penalties were enough for causing the deaths of two men. But I'll bet you'll be less sure after reading A Deadly Wandering through to its conclusion.

Reading A Deadly Wandering is like watching Tom Hanks' Apollo 13 or reading Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air - you know what happens from the outset, yet the crafting of the actual events and characters' stories builds powerful suspense and a craving to devour every detail.As a compulsive non-fiction reader, I am attracted to books tackling the human condition and, particularly, those that address how real people persevere and find redemption through tragedy, loss, conflict, confusion, and other troubles. A Deadly Wandering is a top-shelf serving of the human condition, with a heavy dose of caution for our technology age.Richtel masterfully composes A Deadly Wandering by deftly weaving the true stories of the tragic accident, its victims and families, the young man who caused the tragedy and his family, technology and cognitive research, the investigation and eventual trial and, ultimately, the redemption. A Deadly Wandering left me with conflicting feelings: concern for our society and hopefulness that we can improve. If mobile devices, connectivity, and information urgency can reinforce human compulsion, humans can train themselves to resist these urges and to develop positive behavioral habits.A Deadly Wandering MUST be required reading in all drivers' education classes and in all high school health classes. Parents and other adults MUST set an example and never use our devices while driving, and make sure our kids develop this habit. Auto manufacturers MUST stop making cars with mobile-enhanced technology. Mobile and social technology companies MUST do more to create awareness and understanding of risk. And, our lawmakers and leaders, many of whom righteously protect our freedom of individual choice and action, MUST make mobile phone talking and texting while driving as illegal and punishable as DUI.The stakes are too high to do otherwise.