Again to Carthage [Hardcover]

Jr. Parker (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Breakaway Books (October 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891369504
• ISBN-13: 978-1891369506
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,643,331 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John L. Parker, Jr. has written for Outside, Runner's World, and numerous other publications. He was the Southeastern Conference mile champion three times, and the United States Track and Field Federation national champion in the steeplechase, and was the teammate of Olympians Frank Shorter, Jack Bacheler, and Jeff Galloway on several championship cross-country teams. A graduate of the University of Florida's College of Journalism as well as its College of Law, Parker has been a practicing attorney, a newspaper reporter and columnist, a speechwriter for then Governor Bob Graham, and editorial director of Running Times magazine. He lives in Gainesville, Florida, and Bar Harbor, Maine.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A worthy sequel, November 21, 2007

By 

James Marsalis "Jim" (New Orleans) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Again to Carthage (Hardcover)

Parker has written a worthy sequel to OAR. While the book stands up well by itself, if you view it as an extension of the original story and read them sequentially, I think it makes the new novel a more meaningful tale.

Parker's eye for detail remains impeccable, and he never loses sight of the fact that Cassidy's journey is about life as much as it is about running.

For the runners out there, be assured that John once again captures the elements of our sport that make it so dear to us. The workouts, the sacrifice and the racing are all there, and the more mature Cassidy is a logical extension of the original character.

The slightly off-kilter wit of JLP has has survived intact, adding to the pleasure of the read.

The wait was long, but I was not disappointed. I recommend this book highly to all of my fellow runners.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Runner, Once Again, February 12, 2008

By 

Kevin Joseph (McLean, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Again to Carthage (Hardcover)

The long-awaited sequel to Once a Runner picks up on silver medalist Quenton Cassidy's life as a thirty-something practicing law in a small Palm Beach firm. While he still runs recreationally, Cassidy seems content to have traded his years of self-denial for a comfortable Hemingway-esque lifestyle of drinking, boating, and skin diving. A series of personal events lead him to re-examine his life, however, forcing a realization that he will never be completely fulfilled unless he is aspiring toward personal improvement, in the way that only a runner committed to serious training can be.

Just as Once a Runner nails the feelings of the competitive schoolboy runner, Again to Carthage captures the mindset of the middle-aged athlete who struggles to come to terms with the inevitability of physical decline. As one would expect, Parker's training and racing scenes are beautifully and convincingly rendered. What's equally impressive, are his descriptions of nature, fishing, and the mountain lifestyle of Cassidy's relatives. If he goes a bit heavy on the details at times, particularly in the middle chapters concerning Cassidy's family, these passages flesh out Cassidy as a person and ultimately reward the patient reader. My only other knocks on the book are the occasional awkwardness of Parker's prose, the inclusion of several plot contrivances, and the penchant for odd, anecdotal humor. Even these shortcomings, though, become kind of welcomely familiar for those of us who love Once a Runner and crave a similar reading experience.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Uneven, but probably worth it., January 18, 2008

By 

A. Bruskin (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Again to Carthage (Hardcover)

As someone who loved OAR (and has read it several times), I was eagerly anticipating reading Again to Carthage. Parker does a great job when he writes about training and racing, but ATC is a literary jumble, with lots of purple prose, extraneous characters that haphazardly come and go, and a rambling storyline. The writing is mediocre (and filled with typos)... until you get to the race description, which is truly awesome. You have to suffer through 300 pages to get there, but it's worth the price of admission. A mixed bag, for sure.