It’s hard being a single-dad raising a son—especially if your kid is also a 1971 Volkswagen Beetle. There’s nothing more troubling than having your child break down on the side of the road, leaking oil, overheating, and asking tough questions like, “What is death?” and “Why did Mom leave?” But stay calm! Because How To Keep Your Volkswagen Alive is not only a dizzyingly beautiful novel, it’s also a handy manual with useful chapters on “Tools and Spare Parts,” “Valve Adjustment,” “How To Read This Novel,” and, most important of all, “How Works a Heart.” Welcome to Christopher Boucher’s zany literary universe, a place where metaphors shift beneath your feet, familiar words assume new meanings, objects talk, trees attack, and time actually is money. Modeled on the cult classic 1969 hippie handbook of the same name, How To Keep Your Volkswagen Alive is an astonishing tour-de-force that tackles some of life’s biggest questions: How do you cope with losing a parent? What’s the secret to raising a child? How do you keep love alive? How do you get your car to start?

How to work on your volkswagon.

Learn how to rebuild a Volkswagen air-cooled engine! This guide will teach the reader how to troubleshoot, remove, tear down, inspect, assemble, and install Bug, Bus, Karmann Ghia, Thing, Type-3, Type-4, and Porsche 914 engines. All models from 1961 on up are included.

Prepping & Racing Bugs & Buggies The VW Beetle is uniquely suited for off-road use. Its torsion-arm front suspension and lightweight engine and transaxle make it natural. It you didn’t know better, you’d think Dr. Ferdinand Porsche designed the Beetle to race the Baja. Veteran off-road racer, Jeff Hibbard, details the do’s and don’ts of off-road preparation. Whether you build your car for recreation or full-race, this book has a plan for you. Avoid building a cosmetic off-road car. Learn what breaks and how to prevent it from breaking. Learn how to spend your off-road dollars wisely. This book is a must for sedan and buggy off-roaders alike!