About ten years ago, at a time I’d revived my own love of running, I worked my way through a couple of Dean’s early books. I really enjoyed reading abAbout ten years ago, at a time I’d revived my own love of running, I worked my way through a couple of Dean’s early books. I really enjoyed reading about the way he seemed to have reinvigorated his love of life through the act of running. Moreover, it wasn’t just any kind of running, his version was all about taking on extreme, long distance runs. I’d run a couple of marathons but this stuff was hardcore – I didn’t know there was a group of so-called ‘ultramarathon’ runners out there doing this stuff. So intrigued was I that I decided to dabble a bit myself and in due course I took on a couple of these races (at the lower end of the spectrum, I have to say). What an adventure it was, and I have Karno to thank for it.
But coming to this book I did wonder what else the man had to say about his chosen discipline – hadn’t he already said it, several times over. However, I’m pleased to say that he has found a new angle to explore: that of how a mature, seasoned (some might say grizzled) runner can still enjoy the physical and mental challenges of his chosen sport despite being of an age (he’s in his mid to late fifties) whereby he no longer has the legs that used to make him a contender to win such events.
Dean wants to run one more Western States 100 (miles, that is). The event takes place on a trail starting in Olympic Valley, California and finishing in Auburn, California. Competitors have 30 hours to complete the course, running day and night with minimal breaks along the way. It’s a truly gruelling course which climbs some 18,000 feet and descends nearly 23,000 feet. And Dean is somewhat late in making his decision to run, leaving him with precious little time to complete the necessary training for this race.
He takes us through, in some detail, his participation in a 50 mile warm up race and then the big one itself. It’s entertaining stuff as he truly struggles along each of the courses, and such is the level of each challenge that it’s far from certain that he’ll complete either of these runs. His commentary is funny and often self-deprecating as he brings alive the true horror (and I do think that’s the appropriate word) of these undertakings. We meet members of his family, who support him as ‘crew’, and quite a few fellow competitors and volunteers. I thought it was all really well pieced together: highly entertaining account which evoked the real atmosphere and pain of these unrelenting events.
Dean clearly loves running, he’s addicted to it and he’s built a life around it. This book is dripping with his enthusiasm for his chosen sport and reading it I couldn’t help occasionally glancing down at a pair of somewhat worn, and more recently under used, running shoes languishing in a dusty corner. Yes, I really must get out on a decent long run again soon.
Full disclosure: I received a free e-copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review....more
A violent death causes Joan, an unmarried thirty six year old woman, to leave New York City and head for Los Angeles. We’re not initially sure why sheA violent death causes Joan, an unmarried thirty six year old woman, to leave New York City and head for Los Angeles. We’re not initially sure why she’s headed to L.A. in particular, but she’s clearly led a disturbed life and sees this latest incident as simply the final affront - she’s gone from this city. Her parents had died when she was only ten years old, and she was subsequently brought up by an aunt, though in a way that lent her a good deal of freedom. When she had money, she spent it, and though her aunt had been generous and she’d inherited quite a chunk from her parents that’s largely been frittered away now. But she’s on a mission, that much is clear, we just don’t know what that mission is.
In California, she rents a house in the Santa Monica Mountains owned by an odd fish called Leonard and gets friendly with an attractive guy who lives in a yurt close to the house. At a nearby café she gets a job making coffee and serving trendy health food. There’s not a huge cast of people here but we meet the few Joan comes into contact with and gradually learn the story of two men she had relationships with back in NYC, and how events eventually came to the boil.
Joan’s reflections on her relationships with men, her parents, and on life in general include some really great lines. I found myself pausing to re-read some and even write a few down to mull over later. She’s haphazardly promiscuous but clearly looking for something she’s yet to find. Some brief encounters seem almost like random acts of self-abuse. She seems to fall into relationships with men: some who she finds attractive, others seek her out, and though she is to a degree repelled by these men, she uses them to accrue some kind of profit. But it’s difficult to get inside her head - what is it she’s ultimately seeking? Is it a figure to replace the father she lost so early in her life?
Her relationship with her parents was complex, we discover. She loved her father deeply, even if he was a rather stand-offish figure, and admired her mother. The circumstances of their deaths are somewhat mysterious. Their early exit from her life obviously traumatised her, but was it the loss itself or the manner of their passing that’s weighing most heavily on her? The narrative keeps you off balance. The whole picture is never visible. It’s not a complex story to follow, but it’s difficult one to fathom.
As it draws to a close, it seems that Joan has murder on her mind, but is she really contemplating this, or is it just a random boast that she’s playing with? We now start to get some clarity on what actually happened in her early life: some of it is ugly, but Joan clearly took these events and turned herself into a sponger, a spendthrift, and a user. She became a stealer, of things and of people. This is a tale that is thoughtful, sometimes sad, often raw and unsparing, and occasionally brutal. It’s a powerful and unrestrained account of how the events in someone’s life can have a profound effect on their future. It’s one of the most enthralling accounts I’ve read in a very long time, I just couldn’t put it down.
I really enjoyed Lisa Taddeo’s book Three Women, a real life account of the sex lives of three American woman. That was a strong, honest piece of reporting – but this book impacted me more, I think. I really hope this book achieves the success I believe it deserves. It’s a mind-opening tour de force.
My thanks to Avid Reader Press for supplying a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review....more
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