Marathon-A Story Of Endurance And Friendship by Richard Harteis
SUMMARY: Not enough running. Too many intimate details of his gay sex life.
I read this because it is about the author training to run in the New York City Marathon. And since I am currently training to run my first marathon, I thought it would be interesting. However much of the book is spent talking about his non-running life. The author is gay and cares for his “friend” who is recovering from a stroke. I am not sure why he felt the need to put intimate details of his gay sex life in the book. I don’t recall too many of the autobiographical books by straight authors that had such details. If you are homophobic, you will pretty much hate this book. Then there are the bits of poetry interspersed throughout the book. I enjoyed the descriptions of his training, and actually running the NYC Marathon.
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Ain’t life funny? I assume Rob is homophobic. If you hated MARATHON, Rob, you’re gonna really have fun with LEGACY which recounts intimate details of my gay life with my gay friend who finally died this past May. You might look at his poetry in the book that won the National Book Award, EFFORT AT SPEECH, or the previous book, PARTIAL ACCOUNTS which won the Pulitzer Prize. They might expand you horizons. Hope you are still running and clearing your head. Richard Harteis
Comment by Richard Harteis — January 2, 2008 @ 12:55 pm
Mr. Harteis, I am sorry to hear about your friend passing away. No, I am not homophobic. And I never said I hated the book. But with a book titled MARATHON, I would have liked to have had a larger portion be about running.
Sorry, I have never had any interest in poetry.
Comment by Rob — January 2, 2008 @ 5:43 pm
This is how I have replied to Rob’s comment which I include here only because he posted his response to me. I wonder if anyone reads this stuff except me and Rob which is why it is better to keep such commentary personal anyway?
What can I say. Kurt Vonnegut has described the book as, “A delightful literary rarity: a book which accords body and soul exactly equal respectability.” And Amby Burfoot, Executive Editor of Runner’s World where it was excepted calls it, “The best first-person marathon story ever published anywhere.” It will become a full length film in 2008. Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and Kirkus all gave it rave reviews as did Johnny Kelley, our famous southeastern runner son. I can’t remember a single graphic sex scene in my book. And as for your distaste for poetry, this tells me a lot about you. I hope you find pleasure in this art form some day. Thanks for writing, but let’s not take each other’s time this way in the future. Good luck in your training and love of sport. Richard Harteis
Comment by Richard Harteis — January 3, 2008 @ 10:07 pm
The best first-person marathon story ever published anywhere? Hmmmm… Now that is tricky, because there really aren’t that many. My personal favorite running book is Ultramarathon Man by Dean Karnazes, but that isn’t a marathon story. Clarence Demar’s book Marathon is more a lifetime autobiography, and talks about many marathons. So I am not sure if that would count. Same with Don Kardong’s Thirty Phonebooths To Boston and Hal Higdon’s On The Run From Dogs And People. Also Joan Benoit’s Running Tide. But if I were having to name a “best first-person marathon story ever published anywhere”, I might name The Looniness Of The Long Distance Runner by Russell Taylor. If fiction counts, I might name The Long Road To Boston by Bruce Tuckman (actually flipping through it again, I guess this one is not really written in the first person, but I liked it anyway). I am assuming you have read all of these. But what the heck do I know. I am just your average reader and buyer of books.
Comment by Rob — January 4, 2008 @ 8:17 am