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Deciding to See - by  Nathan Vass (Paperback) - 1 of 1

Deciding to See - by Nathan Vass (Paperback)

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About this item

Highlights

  • Deciding to See: The View from Nathan's Bus is an eye-opening, inspiring, and hopeful linked-essay collection recounting the amazing everyday encounters of city bus driver, Nathan Vass whose life's motto is if you give kindness, you'll get kindness.
  • Author(s): Nathan Vass
  • 224 Pages
  • Biography + Autobiography,

Description



About the Book



"Deciding to See: The View from Nathan's Bus is an eye-opening, inspiring, and hopeful linked-essay collection recounting the amazing everyday encounters of city bus driver, Nathan Vass whose life's motto is if you give kindness, you'll get kindness. Vass tests this theory on the roughest nighttime routes in Seattle. The results illuminate the challenges of poverty, homelessness, and crossing class boundaries. Vass intertwines personal stories of trauma from his survival of the 2015 Paris terror attacks, showing that we are all struggling with tragedy. These brief but meaningful encounters foster healing for everyone involved. The ordinary becomes extraordinary when he chooses to see the beauty of each person who steps onto his bus. Come along for the ride."--



Book Synopsis



Deciding to See: The View from Nathan's Bus is an eye-opening, inspiring, and hopeful linked-essay collection recounting the amazing everyday encounters of city bus driver, Nathan Vass whose life's motto is if you give kindness, you'll get kindness. Vass tests this theory on the roughest nighttime routes in Seattle. The results illuminate the challenges of poverty, homelessness, and crossing class boundaries. Vass intertwines personal stories of trauma from his survival of the 2015 Paris terror attacks, showing that we are all struggling with tragedy. These brief but meaningful encounters foster healing for everyone involved. The ordinary becomes extraordinary when he chooses to see the beauty of each person who steps onto his bus. Come along for the ride.



Review Quotes




Replete with kindness, humility, gratitude, and wonder, Deciding to See delivers what only the greatest of memoir can: a polished, sparkling lens. Through it, readers will see both subject and author, and they will observe that Nathan Vass has written an essential guidebook on how to be human--how to live, and perhaps how to die.

--Clayton Page Aldern, author of The Weight of Nature



This book is an antidote to cynicism. Vass weaves personal history--including his experience surviving the terrorist attacks in Paris on 2015, and being listed as missing, presumed dead--and stories from his two decades as a driver on Seattle's most colorful bus route into a moving argument for empathy. As a longtime bus driver, Vass treats even his most troublesome riders--the ones who stumble in drunk, screaming at their kids, or try to climb out the windows--like friends, a radical approach to a job that can breed misanthropy.

In Seattle, as in a lot of cities, fentanyl is causing a new but familiar kind of crisis, and many have chosen to write off its victims as hopeless cases who brought their troubles on themselves. By treating every passenger as someone with dignity and their own human story, Vass shows how kindness (even, sometimes, through gritted teeth) can create connections and improve the lives of people who tend to get written off. I know this, in part, because I rode Nathan's bus at a time when I was visibly struggling, and his friendly, nonjudgmental greeting was often the best thing about my day.
--Erica C. Barnett, author of Quitter: A Memoir of Drinking, Relapse, and Recovery

Dimensions (Overall): 8.3 Inches (H) x 5.5 Inches (W) x 1.0 Inches (D)
Weight: .97 Pounds
Suggested Age: 22 Years and Up
Number of Pages: 224
Genre: Biography + Autobiography
Publisher: Chin Music
Format: Paperback
Author: Nathan Vass
Language: English
Street Date: May 20, 2025
TCIN: 94480878
UPC: 9781634050777
Item Number (DPCI): 247-35-3671
Origin: Made in the USA or Imported
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Shipping details

Estimated ship dimensions: 1 inches length x 5.5 inches width x 8.3 inches height
Estimated ship weight: 0.97 pounds
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Q: What is the main theme of the book?

submitted by AI Shopping Assistant - 5 days ago
  • A: The book explores kindness and empathy through the everyday encounters of a city bus driver.

    submitted byAI Shopping Assistant - 5 days ago
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Q: What is the intended audience for this book?

submitted by AI Shopping Assistant - 5 days ago
  • A: The book is suggested for readers aged 22 years and up, appealing to those interested in personal narratives and social issues.

    submitted byAI Shopping Assistant - 5 days ago
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Q: How does Vass view his passengers?

submitted by AI Shopping Assistant - 5 days ago
  • A: He treats every passenger with dignity, seeing them as individuals with their own stories and struggles.

    submitted byAI Shopping Assistant - 5 days ago
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Q: What challenges does Vass address in his essays?

submitted by AI Shopping Assistant - 5 days ago
  • A: He addresses challenges related to poverty, homelessness, and crossing class boundaries in urban settings.

    submitted byAI Shopping Assistant - 5 days ago
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Q: What experiences does Nathan Vass share in the book?

submitted by AI Shopping Assistant - 5 days ago
  • A: He shares personal stories, including his survival of the 2015 Paris terror attacks and his experiences as a bus driver.

    submitted byAI Shopping Assistant - 5 days ago
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