Finalist, 2019 Washington State Book Awards

"The key words in this excellent collection of vignettes are 'hivelike microcosm of humanity.' They describe precisely the atmosphere of the most famous, feared, loved, diverse bus route in the city: South Seattle's no. 7. Nathan Vass, a Metro driver on this route, details the cultural experiments that occur daily in this social laboratory on wheels. He describes the riders– often poor, often not white, often going to bad news, often just being in the world– with a prose at once elegant, rhythmical, and clear."

Charles Tonderai Mudede
–Writer, editor, filmmaker, cultural critic

"Nathan Vass is more than a bus driver. He's also an artist, therapist, anthropologist, and lion tamer. Only Nathan would see a young couple in the back of the bus and note with wonder that they remind him of Michelangelo's Pieta. And only on Nathan's bus will you see a potential fight subside into a discussion on the merits of wasabi. Read this beautiful book about junkies and hookers and bankers and lawyers coexisting in the last place in America where they can't avoid each other."

-Paul Currington
​Fresh Ground Stories

"Vass witnesses surprising generosity and bitter conflicts on his daily trips, and he records it all. He's written about race, gender roles, and the changing face of Seattle, and art, and feces, and pretty much everything else you'll find on public transportation."

-Paul Constant
Seattle Review of Books

It's here.

After selling out our first, second, third and fourth runs almost immediately (!!), our fifth print run has arrived! We've been a Seattle bestseller for more than a year now. Latest updates on bestseller status and further thoughts here.

Support local stores! Buy the book online through Elliott Bay Books, here;
Third Place Books, here; or, if you must,
Buy it on Amazon here.

Are you having trouble getting hold of the book? Email my publisher, Chin Music Press at chinmusicpress@gmail.com.

What is it?

The Lines That Make Us is a personal curation of the best stories of this blog.

• The Stranger writes a piece on the book here.  
• Learn more here and here (essays from the time of publication), and
• here (thoughts after launching our third run) and
• here (thoughts on getting the WA State nomination, plus why we held off on Amazon!), and
  
• here (thoughts on the book being selected as Redmond Library's, Microsoft's, and the City of Redmond's choice for their 2020 Summer Reading Program!).
  

Below, KING 5's Michael King quizzes me below. Explore the Press Page for more interviews with Nathan.