Ride is a novel by the American writer David Walton set in contemporary Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The novel tells the story of Ray Maddas, a man seeking to live a minimalist life by spending his days teaching the mentally handicapped how to Ride the bus.
"His marriage ended, his job lost, Ray has pared his world down to a minimalist existence through a volunteer assignment helping a group of mentally handicapped adults navigate Pittsburgh's mass transit system. Twice a day, Ray shepherds Hugh, Paula, Elliott, and Morris through the requisite fares, transfers, and boardings necessary for the journey between their group shelter and a work program across town. Their world is lived on and for the bus; the bridges they cross, the storefronts they pass, and the nameless pedestrians they GLIMPSE form their universe. And except for a few erstwhile friends, infrequent lovers, and elderly neighbors, Ray's world, too, is reduced to the routines imposed by his hapless charges, whose welfare he defends with poignant compassion. Through a stream-of-consciousness narrative as peripatetic as Ray's bus routes, Walton transforms a graceless metropolis into a tender microcosm of humanity".
