Book Review:
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Title: Lucille's Car Care: Everything You Need to Know from Under the Hood — by America's Most Trusted Mechanic
Author: Lucille Treganowan with Gina Catanzarite
Year: 1996
Publisher: Hyperion
Price: $12.95 US paperback
Review by: Gail M. Burns
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In this increasingly high-tech and specialized world, I often wish that I was more fluent in the different jargon-dialects that have formed. The experience is particularly frustrating when my car breaks down and I find myself face to face with a grease covered mechanic, lacking the basic vocabulary to communicate what I perceive as the problem. I gesture wildly, trying to explain that the thingy that attaches to the whatsit just fell off and now the brakes are making a sound like "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeegarghhhhhhhh"... This is not a dignified moment in my life. Nor is it a particularly fruitful conversation. Put very simply, the mechanic and I do not speak the same language.
Enter Lucille Treganowan, author (with Gina Catanzarite) of Lucille's Car Care: "As seen on 'Oprah' and 'Home Improvement'," a cheerful star burst on the front cover announces. I did see Treganowan on "Home Improvement," and I have caught snippets of her own cable TV show "Lucille's Car Care." To my own chagrin, I confess that I still have trouble envisioning a female auto mechanic — which is probably the root of my own car care related phobias and complexes — but I like that she doesn't address this book to women or to men, but to anyone who is auto repair challenged and jargon deficient like myself.
One thing Treganowan and Catanzarite do well in this book is use analogy. They bridge the jargon gap by comparing the thingy that attaches to the whatsit to a blender or a toilet or some other household item with which I am more familiar and which holds fewer secrets in its modes of construction and operation than the car does. The light bulb goes off over my head and I feel empowered. Now I can go to my mechanic and say, "I understand that the thingy operates like the float in the back of my toilet and what is happening is that it gets stuck in the upright position causing..." Far more dignified.
Treganowan and Catanzarite use plain language and common sense to cover all the bases of car care and maintenance. The book starts out with a review of each system in the car, and then moves on to a "Scouting Trip" checklist which takes you through your vehicle inside and out — a good plan before your next major road trip, especially if you transport cranky children like I do. After that the chapter titles say it all:
- "Advice from a Road Scholar: Quick Fix-It Answers for the Maintenance-Impaired"
- "Take Two Quarts of Oil and Call Me in the Morning: A Maintenance Schedule You Can Live With"
- "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night: Handling Hazards on the Highway"
The chapter "Ahh, Sweet Mystery of Life: Recognizing Symptoms and Understanding Problems" contains sections entitled
- "Shake, Rattle, and Roll"
- "Use Your Common Scents"
- "Do You Hear What I Hear?" with a Sound Effects Checklist
- "Look Before You Leak: Matching Liquids to Their Locations"
- "I Think It's the...or, Maybe the..Uhhh..."
The book concludes with chapters on choosing a repair shop and how to buy a car.
Treganowan bills herself as "an advocate for the education of car owners," and says:
"Here's the bottom line: By understanding the operation of your car you become a better, safer driver. You also save money buy properly maintaining your car. And finally, you will be in control. Wouldn't it be great if, the next time you take your car to the shop, you go in armed with a little auto knowledge?" (pg. 5)
Well, gee, isn't that what I wanted all along? This book delivers that in a simple, straightforward style that even a man could understand!
Order Lucille's Car Care online for only $10.36 from amazon.com.
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