Rodney Kemerer’s Tales From the Garage, designed with the look and feel of an automotive owner’s manual, is far more than just a “car book.” As car enthusiasts Jay Leno and Wall Street Journal columnist Dan Neil have observed, Rodney’s warm and personal tales resonate deeply because everyone has a car story to tell, even if the car is just a springboard for a memory of a certain person or a certain place or even a certain feeling. These thirty stories, originating as essays in a host of publications and now reformatted with entirely new and colorful artwork, are filled with familiar moments that chronicle everything from finding just the right car for your wife (She wants a what? Really? What’s wrong with her?), to an ancient St. Christopher medal hiding at the back of a glove box, to a father’s deathbed pronouncement: “I should have bought Cadillacs.”
Author Rodney Kemerer understands that car stories can be the gateway to every aspect of our lives. His heartfelt book – half memoir, half the memories of others – is truly a pop culture snapshot of modern society told through the lens of the automobile. These tales might appear to be about cars, but they are also tales of an American life and the many objects that embody and reflect it. So pull up a chair and your favorite beverage as you meet a new friend who is happy to share his favorite Tales From the Garage.
Rodney Kemerer’s Tales From the Garage, designed with the look and feel of an automotive owner’s manual, is far more than just a “car book.” As car enthusiasts Jay Leno and Wall Street Journal columnist Dan Neil have observed, Rodney’s warm and personal tales resonate deeply because everyone has a car story to tell, even if the car is just a springboard for a memory of a certain person or a certain place or even a certain feeling. These thirty stories, originating as essays in a host of publications and now reformatted with entirely new and colorful artwork, are filled with familiar moments that chronicle everything from finding just the right car for your wife (She wants a what? Really? What’s wrong with her?), to an ancient St. Christopher medal hiding at the back of a glove box, to a father’s deathbed pronouncement: “I should have bought Cadillacs.”
Author Rodney Kemerer understands that car stories can be the gateway to every aspect of our lives. His heartfelt book – half memoir, half the memories of others – is truly a pop culture snapshot of modern society told through the lens of the automobile. These tales might appear to be about cars, but they are also tales of an American life and the many objects that embody and reflect it. So pull up a chair and your favorite beverage as you meet a new friend who is happy to share his favorite Tales From the Garage.
Rodney Kemerer’s Tales From the Garage, designed with the look and feel of an automotive owner’s manual, is far more than just a “car book.” As car enthusiasts Jay Leno and Wall Street Journal columnist Dan Neil have observed, Rodney’s warm and personal tales resonate deeply because everyone has a car story to tell, even if the car is just a springboard for a memory of a certain person or a certain place or even a certain feeling. These thirty stories, originating as essays in a host of publications and now reformatted with entirely new and colorful artwork, are filled with familiar moments that chronicle everything from finding just the right car for your wife (She wants a what? Really? What’s wrong with her?), to an ancient St. Christopher medal hiding at the back of a glove box, to a father’s deathbed pronouncement: “I should have bought Cadillacs.”
Author Rodney Kemerer understands that car stories can be the gateway to every aspect of our lives. His heartfelt book – half memoir, half the memories of others – is truly a pop culture snapshot of modern society told through the lens of the automobile. These tales might appear to be about cars, but they are also tales of an American life and the many objects that embody and reflect it. So pull up a chair and your favorite beverage as you meet a new friend who is happy to share his favorite Tales From the Garage.
Voices From the Garage
“…chauffeurs us through American automotive culture, mile after charming mile.”
“Car enthusiasts love cars, sort of. In many cases it’s not the machine but the people and stories behind them that we love. [Rodney Kemerer’s] Tales From the Garage chauffeurs us through American automotive culture, mile after charming mile.”
Dan Neil, Wall Street Journal
“…that rare thing in the motoring world – an engaging, literate collection of car stories…”
“Tales From the Garage is that rare thing in the motoring world – an engaging, literate collection of car stories, told by an automobile fan who is also a writer with a sharp eye and a deft way with words. Better yet, he’s no gearhead. The thirty stories in this handsome volume, all decorated with appealing and appropriate artwork, are all personal stories, the human stories behind the cars they loved. This may look like a gift book for the car person in your life, but it will make for engaging reading for anyone interested in people with a passion.”
Charles Fleming, Former Los Angeles Times Automotive Writer
“The perfect read for any car guy or gal.”
“Here’s a good ‘find’ for ya! Tales From the Garage is chock full of short stories about people and their cars. The perfect read for any car guy or gal.”
Jesse Mortensen,
Founder of Barnfinds.com
“Any reader… cannot help but walk away feeling privileged to have been invited into Rodney’s garage.”
“Cars can transport us to destinations both exciting and routine, but they can also reveal our emotions, proclaim our worldviews, or express our individuality. Rodney Kemerer’s Tales From the Garage seizes the opportunity to illustrate these truths by exploring some of the countless ways that drivers and passengers have interacted with their automobiles, and why certain cars have become so important to our collective consciousness. These tales are not only of the cars themselves but of the owners who prize them, the children who adore them, the garages that protect them, the gas stations that fuel them, the toys that echo them, and the junkyards where some are laid to rest. Any reader of Kemerer’s work, whether ardent enthusiast or casual observer, cannot help but walk away feeling privileged to have been invited into Rodney’s garage, to share in these stories of how automobiles can provide us with some of the most unforgettable experiences of our lives.”
Terry Karges, Executive Director, Petersen Automotive Museum
“…I love [this] book so much… And it would be a really bitchen gift.”
“Growing up in Los Angeles in the 1950s, I saw car design blossom into its architectural magnificence. That’s one of the reasons I love Rodney Kemerer’s book Tales From the Garage so much. He not only gives us the sociological influence and significance of design, he also helps us recognize our emotional attachment to cars. They carry our experiences, our joys, our sorrows, and in many cases, our youth. You don’t have to be a car lover to enjoy this book. And it would be a really bitchen gift.”
Laraine Newman, Writer-Performer
“…a vividly and uniquely illustrated collection of enjoyable, emotional, and enticing stories…”
“A car is a car, but its history, or the story it tells, is what draws us in. Over the years what has guided me in my collecting is not just the cars but the stories behind those cars. Some were owned by the rich and famous, some won important races, and some are extraordinary because of their rarity or uniqueness or their association with past memories. But what Rodney understands is that it’s not the car itself but the car’s story that distinguishes it and brings it to life. Tales From the Garage is a vividly and uniquely illustrated collection of enjoyable, emotional, and enticing stories about cars and our personal relationships with them. It’s a perfect collection for anyone who likes to read a well written tale. It’s all about the story.”
Bruce Meyer, Automotive Enthusiast
“…certain to delight and impress all who open its pages…”
“Rodney Kemerer makes history personal with his intriguing and wonderfully woven stories. By sharing tales of the cars and the car people he’s experienced, he adds a new dimension to the readers’ own experiences with the vehicles and the people they have encountered. These stories in Tales From the Garage introduce readers to a wide variety of vehicles and personalities, making the book certain to delight and impress all who open its pages.”
Angelo Van Bogart, Editor, Old Cars
“I love that Rodney knows how to bring life to inanimate objects that represent so much more than what the eye sees.”
“This is a book for people of all ages, not just about cars but about life, memories and the experiences that shape us. I love that Rodney knows how to bring life to inanimate objects that represent so much more than what the eye sees. His Tales From the Garage makes you think about how chance encounters, or a kind gesture, or a simple gift, or a tenacity to own what might seem out of your reach, can result in lifelong memories and experiences that will always be yours to share.”
Terri Toennies, President, LA Auto Show + Automobility LA
“…left me with the feeling that I have just read the best automotive book of my life.”
“Clear your calendar, close your computer and turn off your phone. You will not want any distractions because Rodney Kemerer’s Tales From the Garage will take you on a reading ride as enjoyable as a top down cruise to the beach. The phrase ‘could not put it down’ perfectly describes my experience of reading this book. Every page is a combination of excellent automotive writing and artistic design. You are likely to spend as much time admiring the graphics as reading the pages, and the combination is a blend you will return to again and again. Over the years a few books have left me with the feeling that I have just read the best automotive book of my life. Tales From the Garage is now at the top of that list.”
Lance Lambert, Author, TV & Radio Personality
“…stunning and highly entertaining, humbling and heartwarming.”
“These are some of Rodney Kemerer’s Tales From the Garage, and they are spectacular. Experiences like these have been finding Rodney for decades, and reading about them is stunning and highly entertaining, humbling and heartwarming.”
Don Weberg, Editor and Publisher, Garage Style Magazine
About Rodney Kemerer
Rodney Kemerer is a lifelong automotive enthusiast. His writing has appeared in Garage Style Magazine, Hemmings Classic Car, Rolls-Royce Flying Lady, BMW Roundel, The Petersen Museum Finishline Magazine, Vintage Road and Racecar, Bentley Drivers Club Review, Old Cars Weekly and the Los Angeles Times. He still has all of his childhood model cars as well as (most) of his adulthood actual cars. Rodney lives in Beverly Hills, California.
Recent Essays
by Rodney Kemerer
Falling Into Autumn
Falling Into Autumn by Rodney Kemerer My brain is hardwired to the smells from my childhood. At this time of the year it is the smell of burning leaves. As early as I can remember, growing up in the Midwest and later in Pennsylvania, the smell of burning leaves told my brain that winter was coming. As the first pile of leaves was raked together and then slowly smoldered into flame, the smell permeated the neighborhood. It was the signal to break out the corduroy pants[...]
