Racing Odysseus: A College President Becomes a Freshman Again [Hardcover]

Roger H. Martin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 2008

The idea of reliving youth is a common fantasy, but who among us is actually courageous enough to try it? After surviving a deadly cancer against tremendous odds, college president Roger H. Martin did just that--he enrolled at St. John's College, the Great Books school in Annapolis, Maryland, as a sixty-one-year-old freshman. This engaging, often humorous memoir of his semester at St. John's tells of his journey of discovery as he falls in love again with Plato, Socrates, and Homer, improbably joins the college crew team, and negotiates friendships across generational divides. Along the way, Martin ponders one of the most pressing questions facing education today: do the liberal arts still have a role to play in a society that seems to value professional, vocational, and career training above all else? Elegantly weaving together the themes of the great works he reads with events that transpire on the water, in the coffee shop, and in the classroom, Martin finds that a liberal arts education may be more vital today than ever before. This is the moving story of a man who faces his fears, fully embraces his second chance, and in turn rediscovers the gifts of life and learning.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Informed that a deadly cancer will soon end his career as a college president, Martin defies the medical prognosis and then embarks upon an unlikely sabbatical adventure: enrolling in a small liberal-arts college as a 61-year-old freshman. The account of this adventure illuminates the renewing power of education even for a man well past his prime. By watching Martin wrest fresh meaning from Plato and Aeschylus, Herodotus and Thucydides, readers gain a deeper appreciation for the perennial challenge posed by these classical authors. But it is Homer who schools this unusual freshman most profoundly, the bard’s Odysseus furnishing him with an illuminating metaphor for his own circumstances as an aging warrior pursuing an uncertain journey home after a hard-fought victory. Waylaid not by cyclopes and sirens, Martin must vanquish his own anxieties as he struggles to keep up with classmates one-third his age, comparing his intellectual insights with theirs in the classroom and coordinating his physical exertions with theirs on a college rowing team. But beyond Martin’s private insecurities, larger questions emerge about the contemporary significance of the liberal arts in a careerist society. Alternately amusing and poignant, Martin’s personal epic offers a much-needed perspective on cultural dilemmas both ancient and modern. --Bryce Christensen

Review

"An extraordinary memoir."--Times Literary Supplement (Tls)

"Alternately amusing and poignant, Martin's personal epic offers a much-needed perspective on cultural dilemmas both ancient and modern."--Booklist

"An engaging memoir."--Library Journal

"An understated, engaging memoir."--Providence Journal

"Racing Odysseus is not your typical college president's memoir."--Change Magazine

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (September 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520255410
• ISBN-13: 978-0520255418
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,015,588 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing and Uplifting, September 6, 2008

By 

J. F. Kiffer - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Racing Odysseus: A College President Becomes a Freshman Again (Hardcover)

Interwoven themes of mid-life personal growth and recovery, contemporary college education commentary, and snippets of Ancient Greek literary wisdom, with a refreshing and upbeat message! This book has it all, from the serious to the humorous, as a tranformative tale of work, love, mind ,and body. It is uplifting and deftly done. The author describes a personal journey that adds new meaning to being a 'life-long learner'. And, he documents the life force of youth in current culture against a backdrop of literature that spans human history. It seems to me that he has captured the elan vital that exists across the generational divide. And, he shows us a perspective that tears down this divide, like the Fall of the Berlin Wall, to expose a very warm, human story that anyone, of any age, can relate to. It is a refreshing and uplifting read that leaves the reader a better person.
Having visited the St. John's College campus,in Annapolis, Maryland, several times, I can attest to the flawless accuracy of his descriptions of the college setting, activities, and staff.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read!, September 14, 2008

By 

P. F. Howell - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Racing Odysseus: A College President Becomes a Freshman Again (Hardcover)

Martin shares his life as a "Boomer Freshman", complete with rekindling of adolescent problems he had thought were long buried, with humor and candor, and meanwhile gives those of us who feel sheepish about not having actually read the Greek Classics painless synopses set against observations on the geopolitical dramas of today and the author's all-too-real concerns about his own mortality. Amazingly, he's combined all of this in a quick and satisfying read that makes you feel like you've done something to better yourself.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the ride at any age, August 31, 2009

By 

Andrew S. Rogers (Stamford, Connecticut) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Racing Odysseus: A College President Becomes a Freshman Again (Hardcover)

Don't tell my college alumni director, but I've long thought that had I a chance to do my college-admissions process over, I would pay a lot more attention to St. John's College in Annapolis, and might well end up going there. "Racing Odysseus" says a lot about why this interesting, almost unique, college is so distinctive and -- for a certain, probably pretty rare, type of student -- so attractive.

But St. John's, distinctive as it is, is but one element of author Roger Martin's post-cancer re-evaluation of his life, lifestyle, and goals (considering his doctor had told him he'd likely be dead several years before this book was written, it seems uncharitable to call this a "mid-life crisis"). It's also a meditation on the value of a liberal-arts education in an era of career-focused students and parents; an argument for the continuing relevance of dead-white-male classics like the ancient Greek writers Johnnies read in the first semester of freshman year; plus the story of a competitive ex-jock proving he's still able to compete (at some level) against callow youth, despite being about three times older than them and missing part of a lung. It's a lot to fit into one relatively slim book, but I found it an interesting and fast-paced read.

Perhaps Mr. Martin (as they'd call him at St. John's) might consider it disrespectful of his young friends and ersatz classmates, but I finished this book wishing he had written more about his general impressions of this generation of college students, their preparation for higher education, and their general approach to academic and professional success. I was thinking particularly here of Mark Bauerlein's The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don't Trust Anyone Under 30) and his argument that the marketplace of ideas no longer attracts America's young people. Certainly this is one more area where the largely self-selected St. John's student body is well outside the norm. Martin does talk about this to some degree -- particularly in his discussion of collegiate sports -- but I would have enjoyed reading his thoughts on this topic in greater depth.

Still, I can't complain too much about what Roger Martin did write. A book that could have been merely self-indulgent is in fact not only a worthwhile memoir, but also an interesting look at an unusual and important approach to education, and the value of such an education even to people well beyond their "college years."