'Taking taxis in New York is usually an adventure and occasionally a risk,' says Christina Oxenberg. The hundred or so taxi stories she's collected from both sides of the partition window make that an understatement. 'All the drivers are crazy' seems nearer the mark, like the intellectual who drives in order to subsidize his search for the 'Negative' Scienza Nuova of Giamattista Vico or the immigrant who takes to the wheel because 'it requires no prior experience, no knowledge of English and no familiarity with the geography of New York'. Ms Oxenberg describes another driver as 'the living embodiment of urban paranoia', but judging by some of the celebrities' reactions to her request for stories the tag applies equally well to many passengers. Some of these will be interested to find the exact wording of their refusals here. Fairbanks Junior, Diana Vreeland, Quentin Crisp, Any Warhol and Catherine Oxenberg, whose driver, in a bid to pick her up, promised to get her a spot on Dynasty. This fully illustrated book is as redolent of New York City as the yellow taxi describes. The back of the cab serves as an arena for metaphysical discussion, copulation, homicide, drug abuse and literary quotation. Celebrities apart, the passengers include an incontinent lion cub and Franco Rossilini's puppy Gramophone, who gets slung into a shop window by a demented driver. More often it's your tip that gets slung in your face. As Ms Oxenberg dryly remarks, 'Taxi Driving is not a passive sport.' Sharp observation and a diligent disregard for contributors' requests for anonymity ensure that the place for this book is your bookshelf.

Christina Oxenberg is an award winning author with many published books, a weekly blog and a large loyal readership. Oxenberg was badly educated at too many schools to bother listing, including one highly suspect institution where poker was on the curriculum. School was mostly in England but also Spain, and New York City and the Colorado Rocky Mountains, if only to finish with a flourish. There would be no University. Instead Oxenberg went directly to Studio 54 where she was hired in a Public Relations capacity. This was the 'gateway drug' that introduced her to everyone and everything she would ever need for the rest of her life. A Pandora's Box to be used with great care. The culmination, to date, is a heap of published books, a great deal of wonderful experiences including five magical years in Southern Colombia (not a hostage). Throughout her adventures Oxenberg always wrote.