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On the verge of turning forty, Peter Sagal—brainiac Harvard grad, short bald Jew with a disposition towards heft, and a sedentary star of public radio—started running seriously. And much to his own surprise, he kept going, faster and further, running fourteen marathons and logging tens of thousands of miles on roads, sidewalks, paths, and trails all over the United States and the world, including the 2013 Boston Marathon, where he crossed the finish line moments before the bombings.
In The Incomplete Book of Running, Sagal reflects on the trails, tracks, and routes he's traveled, from the humorous absurdity of running charity races in his underwear—in St. Louis, in February—or attempting to "quiet his colon" on runs around his neighborhood—to the experience of running as a guide to visually impaired runners, and the triumphant post-bombing running of the Boston Marathon in 2014. With humor and humanity, Sagal also writes about the emotional experience of running, body image, the similarities between endurance sports and sadomasochism, the legacy of running as passed down from parent to child, and the odd but extraordinary bonds created between strangers and friends. The result is "a brilliant book about running...What Peter runs toward is strength, understanding, endurance, acceptance, faith, hope, and charity" (P.J. O'Rourke).
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
October 30, 2018 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781451696264
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781451696264
- File size: 4285 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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October 1, 2018
The cover of this running memoir may remind many of the jacket that adorned Jim Fixx's best-selling The Complete Book of Running from the 1970s, but, as the title implies, it is a very different kind of book. Sagal, the popular host of NPR's Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me! and a Runner's World columnist, became near-obsessed with running as a teenager, but his participation sputtered to a halt. In 2005, approaching midlife, he ran his first marathon and resumed running regularly, just as his marriage fell apart. With exceptional wit and self-deprecating humor, he shares experiences like participating in the Boston Marathon in 2013, when Sagal crossed the finish line just before the bombings, and 2014, serving as a guide to visually impaired runners. Both recreational runners and competitors will undoubtedly identify with his observations and anecdotes about what draws people to the sport. His reflections on dealing with divorce and charting new beginnings will also engage readers in similar situations. Sagal is a compelling writer, and his story may well rouse some to get off the couch, lace up their sneakers, and get running.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)
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