A Simple Machine, Like the Lever

Nicholas Allander, 31, carless and careerless, is trying to get his life on track while holding his head high. He s trying to pay off his debt, impress his girlfriend, keep his job, cast off his introversion, and accept the world s imperfections without abandoning his heart. Unsure of what moves to make, though, he considers growing his beard, taking up alcoholism, abandoning scrounging, and owning an automobile, before too much slips by. All the while he clings to his bicycle, a simple machine whose purpose and workings he grasps. Nick s struggle to position his aesthetic within the world is the story of a perfectionist who is far from perfect, who is considerate but clumsy, and who may be invisible. Like Nick, A Simple Machine, Like the Lever is short, toned, observant, generous, purposeful, and brimming with bicycle wisdom.

Evan P. Schneider is the founding editor of Boneshaker: A Bicycling Almanac. His work has appeared in The Normal School, Propeller, False, GER, on the McSweeney s website, and in other publications. He has received a fellowship from KHN Center for the Arts, and in 2006, his poem Traffic was printed as a limited-edition broadside by New Leaves Press. Born in New Mexico and raised in Colorado, Schneider now lives in Portland, Oregon.