Customer Reviews

Pre: The Story of America's Greatest Running Legend, Steve Prefontaine

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Next to my Mother who raised me Steve Prefontaine is my only hero. For the last 23 years I've been a distance runner and there's been plenty of days when it hasn't been easy. But everytime I pick up this book and read a few pages I'm out the door before I know it. This book isn't just about the greatest distance runner that the US ever produced. It's about believing in yourself and giving all you have no matter what you do in life. I have an old copy that sits on my desk and no matter how many times I read it I'm still inspired. Steve Prefontaine lives on through this book. It tells the story of not only his triumphs on the track but off it as well. His legacy are the people who he touched and embrace what he stood for, courage.

I loved this book and it is very easy to read. This book up to today is still my favorite

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the Gift"--Steve Prefontaine. In his work 'Pre: The Story of America's Greatest Running Legend", author Tom Jordan skillfully weaves this nexus quote, along with numerous other anecdotes and observations from Pre's contemporaries, to form a rich and informative tapestry in words of the life of Steve Prefontaine. Jordan's narrative is a balanced blend of objective race results and the subjective, and at times highly emotional, recollections of the people who knew Pre the best; his friends, family, and, perhaps most importantly, his competitors.

From his humble origins in Coos Bay, Oregon to his untimely death in a 1975 car-crash, the book follows Pre through his workouts and training, his glory days at the University of Oregon, his 4th place finish at the 1972 Munich Olympics, his battle against "shamateurism" and the Amateur Athletic Union, to his work for the then fledgling Nike. In the end, the reader is left with the images of both Steve Prefontaine the runner---spirited, fiery, and driving---and Steve Prefontaine the man---caring, dedicated, energetic, and independent.

This book will be enjoyed by both runners and non-runners alike. As Pre said: "Some people create with words, or with music, or with brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run...it's style...it's being creative." Tom Jordan's work not only captures the essence of the revolutionary Steve Prefontaine but also ultimately measures up to his lofty paradigm.

Tom Jordan's book Pre: the story of america's Greates Running legend Stever Prefontaine, is a very inspiring story of the life, and tragic death of one of the greatest American distance runners ever. The book starts before Steve (as he was called then) even began running. In Jr. High when he saw the High School cross country team runn by he said "What kind of crazy nut would spend two or three hours a day just running?" Soon he became hooked on running. And the story takes off from there.

Tom Jordan's writing in places still gives me chills every time I read parts of the book. The description of Pre's Olympic 5000m final is one of these sections. Even after reading the book over ten times, I still get chills reading the chapter on this race.

if it was possible, I would have rated this book a 15, but the scale only goes up to 10. If you are a runner of any kind, even a sprinter, or someone who jogs evey morning, and could never break 9 minutes for the mile, I would suggest reading this book. Perhaps it will inspire you to run faster, and set a new PR.

I'm going to end this review with the same sentance that Pre used to end talks to children: "To give anythig less than your best is to sacrafice The Gift."

This is a rather slim biography of American distance runner Steve Prefontaine. He died when he was only 24, but he held every American record between 2000 meters and 10,000 meters. He had not yet hit his prime. Even 25 years after his death, he still inspires runners today.

This volume is not so much a biography of his life as it is a recap of his running career. This book was published before either Prefontaine or Without Limits had hit theaters. While examining the career of Pre, we see a much clearer picture of who he was and we see facets of Pre that the films did not show (as well as things that the films got wrong). While he did have problems with the AAU (somewhat glossed over in the book), he did get to race against some of the top international competition that the movies claim he never raced against (except for the 1972 Olympics). In fact, he did race against Viren and other top athletes over in Europe.

This is a short book, less than 200 pages, and I'm not sure it would be interesting to anyone not interested in running already. But for me, a former collegiate cross country runner....i really enjoyed this book.

THE SPIRIT OF STEVE PREFONTAINE CONTINUES TO CAPTURE THE IMAGINATION OF AMERICA'S YOUTH. IT'S BEEN MORE THAN 25 YEARS SINCE PRE DIED TRAGICALLY BUT HE IS STILL THE HERO TO NEARLY EVERY HIGH SCHOOL DISTANCE RUNNER. TOM JORDAN'S BOOK HAS SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE. THE STORY OF PRE'S LIFE READS LIKE A WELL CONSTRUCTED NOVEL. THE TRACK GEEK'S LIKE MYSELF ENJOY THE WORKOUT AND RACE RECREATIONS. MR. JORDAN'S BOOK IS A TREASURE.

This book was rather shallow when it came to learning about the true pre. In some parts of the book, people seem to be like cheerleaders telling about how wonderful pre was and rarely speaking of his faults. Pre was, obviously, one of the dominant athletes when television started to broadcast sports on a regular basis. He helped amateur athletes in fighting for their rights. There is no doubt that he is a key athlete of the century. It just seems to me that this book scratched the surface of his life and ideals. Maybe there isn't enough information for an in-depth biography of his life, but i hope that another author will be able to delve deeper into his life and psyche that lives within those who knew his as well as saw him perform.

First off, I would like to say being a distance runner for my school's cross country and track teams that Steve Prefontaine is my idol. The way he ran with such confidence and finesse, and how he never second guessed going full-out during a race, even though it may have cost him some races at the end was truly remarkable. This guy had guts, and lots of it, he was also a colorful icon in the running world, much like Pete Maravich and Julius Erving were to the game of basketball. He was brash and cocky and was always in a bad mood when he didn't win a race but was also very friendly and became a popular figure in Oregon and later on, in America. Now, about the book, the minute I began reading the first chapter, I felt like I was watching an episode of ESPN Classic's Sportscentury: The Top 50 and Beyond. The way they interviewed people who knew Pre and gracefully described his races stride by stride really made this book hard for me to put down. The book, while short (only 166 pages, and that includes the 25 pages of photos approximately) is nonetheless, sweet and a very good read. However, I would not recommend you waste the [money that] this book costs, unless you are a diehard and just want to add this to your enormous book collection, borrow it from your local library instead, they ought to have a copy of it.

In PRE, Tom Jordan uses common and simple language to chronicle the life of the incredible Steve Prefontaine. Whereas this book does not attempt to be a literary masterpiece, Mr. Jordan has done the reader an enormous favor by putting between covers this heartbreaking story of remarkable human will and spirit, by which we may all feel motivated and empowered and certainly inspired. Of special significance to me, a native Oregonian, is the fact that Steve Prefontaine was a true Oregon boy from a small Oregon town. Steve's characteristics of being independent, hard working, a bit of a rebel, and charismatic all at once, embody the pride and essence of what it means to be a true Oregonian. The story of PRE makes me want to live each day more fully in some way, rather than to simply exist. For the athlete and non-athlete alike, this story is well worth reading. It may even change your life.

I was amazed to find and watch the movie on the runner legend Steve Prefontaine whom I didn't formerly know (are there two movies on him? ; this one had Billy Crudup as Steve); it was a great characterization of the fiercy and passionate personality of Steve and his too short life. However, the book on "Pre" while worth reading too doesn't reach the expressive and experiental peak of the movie; in order to achieve such an intensivity and emotional drive the author shoulod have been a master of the first order (maybe Don DeLillo would have managed); but as it stands the book does well its job - and provides detailed information on the runner hero, his competitions and private life. I am myself from Finland which also had once great long distance runner - like Lasse Viren - but the charm and passion of Pre (about whom I really didn't know almost anything before I happened to see the movie on video) were so awesome that I became immeaditely a dedicated Pre fan and cried while seeing Pre to finish as fourth in Munchen while Viren took it all; and so I cried even more bitterly to see him die tragically in that car accident. There is no other runner to match with Pre - and so I am now establihsing a jogging club which carries his golden name and honors his golden memory: "Steve Prefontaine jogging club" - and the book on Pre is the official code and bible of the philosophy and values of the club.