The Runner's Literary Companion: Great Stories and Poems About Running [Hardcover]

Garth Battista (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1994

Extremely popular collection of running literature.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Among the 24 stories and 25 poems in this fictional overview of a popular sport are surprises from such illustrious names as Evelyn Waugh, Joyce Carol Oates and Walt Whitman-though the more turgid, macho prose of such genre giants as Alan Sillitoe and John L. Parker sets the book's overall emotional tone. The better stories break away from the repetitious variations on the theme of competition: Sara Maitland's "The Loveliness of the Long-Distance Runner," for instance, explores the oppositional thoughts of a woman runner about to enter a marathon and her female, non-athletic lover, who is both attracted and repelled by the nature of her partner's hobby. Oates's "Running" is an unusual, stream-of-consciousness narrative about a nameless woman who, while running in the woods with her lover, perceives a physical threat from a group of men. On the darker side, the title character in James Tabor's "The Runner" is attacked by rednecks in a remote area and decides to fight back, with startling results. This collection should prove indispensable for hard-core road warriors and of significant interest to sports fiction fans in general-and may even contain enough surprises to gratify readers in the mainstream.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Recreational runners have no trouble finding articles and books on how to increase their speed, carbo-load before a marathon, or handle interval training. But try to find a nice short story or poem about running. To answer this running void, so to speak, in sports literature, editor Battista presents more than 20 fictional stories and novel excerpts (of course, there's an extract from Alan Sillitoe's Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner) about running as well as 24 verse selections on the subject. The writers range from the nearly unknown to the well-known and include such moderns as Joyce Carol Oates and Toni Cade Bambara and such classicists as Homer, represented by a selection from The Iliad, and A. E. Housman, with his elegiac "To an Athlete Dying Young." Whether runners will sit still long enough to muse over Rudyard Kipling's or Walt Whitman's verse remains to be seen, but to requests for running stories, this book provides suitable if not always riveting responses. Sue-Ellen Beauregard

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Breakaway Books; September edition (1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155821335X
• ISBN-13: 978-1558213357
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #682,230 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Encompasses all the emotions of running: excellent, February 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Runner's Literary Companion: Great Stories and Poems About Running (Hardcover)

This book should be in the hands of every runner. The short stories are amazing. The different portrayals of running can appeal to anyone, from beginner to advanced. Some of the stories will bring you to your race days and get your adrenaline running as if you are runninf the race. I can only read them one at a time because I get to pumped up and have to relax.

The poems are very eclectic. They capture the crazy thoughts that go through your mind while you are running. They also are beautiful descriptions of a very basic act. I loved them all. Every once in a while I read one before i go run. They make you think, and isn't that what happens on a run. These poems give you good mind fuel.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great collection, August 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Runner's Literary Companion: Great Stories and Poems About Running (Paperback)

I thought this book had a great collection of running stories that just inspired me to just run and help me in my races to keep going. I enjoyed reading this book eminsly and it has something for all ages and all types of runners. I recommend that any runner get this book, especially if you're looking for inspiration

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great collection of stories and poems., January 19, 2009

By 

Shawn E. Herris "shawndo919" (Oceanside, CA - USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Runner's Literary Companion: Great Stories and Poems About Running (Paperback)

I highly recommend this book. I read 1 or 2 stories every day while commuting on the train. I am extremely happy with the decision to buy this book.