Synopses & Reviews
The monikers
drunk,
addict,
abuser, and
boozehound were Caleb Daniloffandrsquo;s for fifteen years. Now, the introduction that fits him best is
My name is Caleb and I am a runner.
In Running Ransom Road, Daniloff, many years sober, confronts his past by setting out, over the course of eighteen months, to run marathons in the cities where he once lived and wreaked havoc. Competing from Boston to New York, Vermont to Moscow, Daniloff explores the sobering and inspiring effects of running as he traverses the trails of his former self, lined with dark bars, ratty apartments, lost loves, and lost chances. With each race he comes to understand who he is, and by extension who he was, and he finds he is not alone. There are countless souls in sneakers running away from something, or better, running past and through whatever it is that haunts them.
In this powerful story of ruin, running, and redemption, Daniloff illuminates the connection between running and addiction and shows that the road to recovery is an arduous but conquerable one. Strapping on a pair of Nikes won't banish all your demons, but it can play an important role in maintaining a clean life. For Daniloff, sweat, strained lungs, and searing muscles are among the paving stones of empowerment, and, if he's lucky, perhaps even self-forgiveness.
Review
"[A] beguiling and generous memoir....[Murakami is] a splendidly creative and compassionate writer who lives a disciplined life in order to infuse his fiction with wildness." Booklist
Review
"[R]evelatory...can provide tools for readers to examine and improve their own lives....Highly recommended." Library Journal (Starred Review)
Review
"Enthralling....Throughout this quirky, brilliant gem, Murakami's life lessons unfold with plainspoken power that should prove valuable to a broad readership even those who have no ambitions to write elaborate novels or run grueling races." Time Out New York
Review
"A genuine memoir, filled with gentle minutiae that truly communicates the rhythm of Murakami's daily life and work....Murakami actually offers himself 'whole.'" Paste Magazine
Synopsis
In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later, hed completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and now, after dozens of such races, not to mention triathlons and a dozen critically acclaimed books, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and—even more important—on his writing.
Equal parts training log, travelogue, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and takes us to places ranging from Tokyos Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston among young women who outpace him. Through this marvelous lens of sport emerges a panorama of memories and insights: the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer, his greatest triumphs and disappointments, his passion for vintage LPs, and the experience, after fifty, of seeing his race times improve and then fall back.
By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is rich and revelatory, both for fans of this masterful yet guardedly private writer and for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in running.
Synopsis
By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, this memoir is both for fans of this masterful yet guardedly private writer and for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in distance running.
Synopsis
In this searing and inspiring memoir, a runner, now 13 years sober, confronts his past in a bib number and pair of running shoes, completing seven marathons in a year's time
About the Author
Haruki Murakami was born in Kyoto in 1949 and now lives near Tokyo. His work has been translated into forty-two languages. The most recent of his many honors is the Franz Kafka Prize.
Table of Contents
Prologue: Longfellow Bridge Loopand#8195;xiii
Cambridge, Massachusetts and#8226; March 2008
1. 113th Boston Marathonand#8195;3
Boston, Massachusetts and#8226; Monday, April 20, 2009
2. 21st KeyBank Vermont City Marathon
and Marathon Relayand#8195;35
Burlington, Vermont and#8226; Sunday, May 24, 2009
3. 29th Asics Moscow International
Peace Marathon and 10Kand#8195;61
Moscow, Russia and#8226; Sunday, September 13, 2009
4. 119th Bemis-Forslund Pie Race (4.3 Miles)and#8195;119
Gill, Massachusetts and#8226; Sunday, October 18, 2009
5. 40th ING New York City Marathonand#8195;145
New York, New York and#8226; Sunday, November 1, 2009
6. 2nd Middlebury Maple Run (Half Marathon)and#8195;173
Middlebury, Vermont and#8226; Sunday, April 25, 2010
7. 35th Marine Corps Marathonand#8195;201
Washington, DC and#8226; Sunday, October 31, 2010
Epilogue: Arsenal Bridge Routeand#8195;225
Cambridge, Massachusetts and#8226; June 24, 2011
Acknowledgmentsand#8195;231