The Miler [Paperback]

Hap Cawood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2003

A Kentucky mountain boy in the 1950s is driven by a recurring dream of a Cherokee runner the century before. An unlikely coach finds the lone runner drained by stress over the decline of his father, and trains him to take on the mystery of his life and the challenge of Time itself.

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Cimarron Books (September 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965907511
• ISBN-13: 978-0965907514
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,604,404 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It was pure enjoyment, April 12, 2004

By 

Ken Woods (Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Miler (Paperback)

I read a lot of books. Primarily for pleasure. First, my opinion about the book then then I'll share the reason I read it. The Miler was not what I expected. I thought it would be more about the physical struggles of training for an event that requires dedication, perseverance, and many, many lonely hours pounding the track or highway. What I got was a sensitive rendition of the major events that affect all of us - life, death, love, competition, winning, losing, happiness, sadness and bunch of other emotions that you'll have to discover for yourself when you read The Miler. There were times when I laughed aloud and moments when I would get tears in my eyes as the full cast of characters created by Hap flowed through this novel. It was pure enjoyment.

Now, why did I read it? I learned of The Miler by Hap Cawood when I saw it mentioned in a college monthly newsletter. I met Hap in 1959 when we were college students at a small Methodist school in the rolling hills of Kentucky. We weren't particularly close friends. I ran track. Hap was a swimmer. When I read of Hap's publication, my first thought was "what in the world does he know about running a mile." Well, I found out that he does know something about running, but more importantly, he knows how to weave a story together about life and about living it so that it keeps your interest to the very end. I finished the book hoping that he's working on a second novel. Thanks Hap for the laughter and the tears.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Old-fashioned storytelling with enduring themes, July 18, 2006

By 

Geoff Pietsch (Gainesville, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Miler (Paperback)

I "discovered" this book when Amazon suggested it as a way to top $25 to earn free shipping for another running book. (Though this is not a running book at all.) I'm glad Amazon recommended it..

From my perspective, the book has some shortcomings: I'm not one for mysticism; I found J.J.'s coach totally improbable (but delightful nonetheless); and I can't imagine any schoolboy of the '50s running several hours a day. (I was a '50s high school miler and we were lucky if we did more than 10 miles most weeks. And no one I knew trained out of season - until I did so my senior year.)

So why do I give The Miler 5 stars? Because it captures a time and place wonderfully, and it makes you really, really care about the people in it. It's so old-fashioned that it has no sex, no drugs, no violence, yet it is still very real. No one rides off into the sunset. There are sad times and disappointments and pain. But, essentially, it a a morality tale about fundamentally good people living in a simpler, gentler time.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Runner's Rite of Passage, December 17, 2004

By 

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

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Miler (Paperback)

This coming-of age tale chronicles the physical and emotional maturation of a Kentucky boy, nicknamed JJ, who takes it upon himself to run the mile and half-mile for a high school that has no track team. While running is the common thread that permeates the story, it's much more than simply a fictionalized running journal. The small mining town setting of 1950s Harlan really comes to life, with well-drawn characters, descriptions of the easy camaraderie of schoolboys, touching passages about childhood crushes and first loves, and the challenges of a family coping with a parent's failing health. There is also an interesting subplot involving a mystical connection between JJ and the spirit of an American Indian runner who once resided in Harlan.

If you're expecting a running novel in which race times and training details are the focal points, then this story may come across as too literary and introspective for you. And some of the meditation-oriented coaching techniques used by Ms. Mira (a dancing instructor who assumes the role of JJ's personal coach) may strike some hard-core runners as kind of peculiar. But I recommend it for those who are interested in exploring the many emotional connections between running and the human condition.

Kevin Joseph, author of "The Champion Maker"