PUBLICATIONS

I’ve written books. Even more to come.

BEAUTIFUL MACHINES

The Era of the Elegant Sports Car

Released 2019

Start your engines for a grand tour of the most stylish grand motoring automobiles ever created. Evoking an era when elegance, romance, and outright performance defined the automobile—and the fascinating stories that made them icons of the road. From the shark-inspired Maserati Ghibli to the fiery Lamborghini Miura, from European elegance with American firepower such as the Iso Grifo and Facel Vega to the groundbreaking designs of the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale and Renault Alpine and the advanced technology behind the Jensen FF or Porsche 918 Spyder—these cars are less transportation and more testaments to beauty, freedom, ambition, innovation, and speed.

This book was conceived and edited by gestalten. Stories are written by automobile expert Blake Z. Rong with a preface by Classic Driver’s Jan Baedeker and gestalten’s Robert Klanten.

I AM NOT YOUNG AND I WILL DIE WITH THIS CAR IN MY GARAGE

Poems

Released 2021

I Am Not Young And I Will Die With This Car In My Garage is a chronicle of failures. These grandiose failures take place across time and space and distance, from Singapore to Tokyo to Disneyland, and onward to the end of the world. Through these 37 poems Rong alights on our deepest longings, the darkest results of loneliness, and our inability to hold on to the people we love most.

“The speakers in Blake Z. Rong’s gorgeous debut, I Am Not Young and Will Die with This Car in My Garage, inhabit a world emptied of people but haunted by distorted memories of human contact. As Rong writes, ‘The city becomes human in its unraveling.’ This is a poetry of place; the poems span the globe—Singapore, Miami, New York and Dalian—but each place just reminds the reader of what’s missing. Can poetry fill the loss? Read and find out.”

-Joanna Fuhrman, author of To A New Era and other books

“Blake Z. Rong’s debut is a feat—and without a doubt a must-read. Rong’s honesty, tenderness, humor, awe and wonder at the world, and attention to detail come through in a way where the speaker is us—or a friend we’ve known for a long time. For instance, the lines, “Down on the street all you gorgeous bodies/vibrate against each other like/supercharged miracles” are unforgettable and gorgeous. So much of the book is full of lines that are beautiful but also starkly honest, such as “There are no off-world colonies.” The book ultimately leaves me having just enough but always wanting more of these words, this insight.”

-Joanna C. Valente, author of A LOVE STORY and other books

“‘There are particular American cruelties / hard-wired into our veins. Watch me, / just watch me / catch this rubber bullet between my teeth.’ Blake Z. Rong’s debut collection of poems is a visceral, lyrical, and unflinching look at where we are as a country, who we are when we dare to love, and what happens when we fall short. Rong’s collection is a timely, imaginative story of coming of age in the 21st century as young Americans find themselves torn apart by economic strife, imperialism, racism, social isolation, gun violence, and cultural dislocation. And yet, in that dangerous world, the speakers of these poems defy stigma, forge human connections, and love across cultures and histories despite taboos. These speakers are unafraid to embrace their beautiful and contradictory selves, and in doing so, they create a vision for the future that’s startling, original, and sublimely human in its intent. A must-read debut.”

-Rita Banerjee, author of Echo in Four Beats and CREDO: An Anthology of Manifestos and Sourcebook for Creative Writing

THE ITALIANS—BEAUTIFUL MACHINES

Released 2023

Italy is the homeland of “La Bella Macchina” and the cradle of automotive culture. This book celebrates the most iconic cars and visionary designers from the peninsula.

This stunningly illustrated book takes readers on a journey through the history of Italian automotive design, showcasing some of the most iconic and beloved models from the 1920s to the early 2000s.

Delving deep into the craftsmanship and artistry of vintage automobiles, this book explores how Italian car design has been at the center of technology, culture,and creativity—and how Italian designers like Pininfarina, Zagato, Bertone, Giugiaro, Gandini, and Ghia have influenced international car designs and brands.

With striking archival and contemporary images, The Italians – Beautiful Machines reveals the fascinating stories behind some of the most famous cars from Italy and what makes them so desirable. This book uses the lens of automotive design to chart the evolution of culture over the last 100 years. The Italians – Beautiful Machines is an impactful celebration of Italian car design and its lasting influence on design and culture.

THE AMERICANS—BEAUTIFUL MACHINES

Released 2024

The automobile is, undeniably, the backbone of the last 100 years of American society. The likes of Ford, Plymouth, and Chevrolet, defined a new era for the United States, from transcontinental travel to suburban family transportation. From the mass production of the Model T all the way through to the electric age of the Tesla, the automobile has been a staple in American culture for generations.

But these cars were not just practical machines. For many they projected an image of cool, represented a way of life, or was a means to make a living. The great American road trip was born behind a wheel, the Dodge Challenger ripped up the screen in Vanishing Point, and the city of Detroit rose and fell dramatically off the back of the American automobile industry.

The Americans - Beautiful Machines celebrates the likes of the Mustang, Gran Torino, Corvette, and many of the other classic models that put American automobiles firmly into the 20th Century American zeitgeist. It tells the story of the most iconic cars, their makers, and their era. The book also touches upon the art deco elegance of the Cord, post war optimism, the surf and muscle era, and much more, celebrating the most emblematic, visionary, and iconic automobiles in the history of United States manufacturing.