FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A CAB TRADE MAGAZINE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, CALL SIGN REVIEWS A TAXI BOOK VIA THE INTERNET...!

Written by David Gawthorn - Published on-line by Zeus-publications
Approximate UK conversion cost: £3.15

Although Call Sign is put together using computerisation as much as anything, we had never heard of an e-book before. But lo and behold on a quiet April day, the Call Sign Internet provider buzzed into life and less than two minutes later, I was the owner of an e-book sent from Australia: Are You Free? Confessions of a Taxi Driver.
   What's an e-book? Well it's an ordinary book but you order it via the Internet and it arrives attached to an email. Because there is no paper, the price is a fraction of a normal book but you do need a computer to gain access!
   Are You Free? Confessions of a Taxi Driver is a book about Melbourne taxis written by a London-born Melbourne taxi driver, David Gawthorn. According to the book, David was made redundant in 1984 and started driving a cab while looking for something more permanent. Fifteen years on and his 'temporary' career has become permanent, providing him with a wealth of experience and anecdotes on taxis and the travelling public. What this e-book shows is that other than our Knowledge, driving a taxi is the same everywhere.
   This very entertaining e-book is broken into 19 chapters based around various aspects confronting the average Melbourne (but it could so easily be London) taxi driver. The early chapters deal with the daunting task of getting a taxi licence, learning the taxi dispatch lingo and the labyrinth of Melbourne streets and of course dealing with the  

E-BOOK REVIEW
'Are you free? Confessions of a Taxi Driver'

Australian Taxi Driver of the Year
David Gawthorn won the Inaugural State of Victoria Taxi Driver of the Year award in 1989 and part of the e-book tells of the excitement and publicity culminating in his prize of a trip to London and a visit to a radio taxi organisation situated not too far from Woodfield Road! Ah well, you can't win them all...!
   There are references to the human animal - mainly male but some female - in their early twenties, drunk and spewing their way to various wine bar destinations. Rings a bell...?
   Then there is the horrifying experience with a crazed drug addict who threatened to stab him. Luckily David was rescued by other cab drivers that responded to radio calls to assist him.
   There are tales of the pregnant woman about to give birth in the back of his cab, races to beat airline timetables, the gay community, bondage clubs and the Aussi sex industry - you name it and David Gawthorn's e-book has a piece on it.
   I found it to be a very good and