Running & Being: The Total Experience [Hardcover]

George A. Sheehan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1998

The book that helped get the world running is back. This New York Times bestseller written by the late runner, doctor, philosopher, Dr. George Sheehan is a timeless classic. It tells of Dr. Sheehan's midlife return to the world of exercise, play, and competition. Focusing on the importance of "play", Sheehan describes his program for fitness and joy, sharing with the reader how the body helps open up our mental and spiritual energies.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Dr. George Sheehan is perhaps our most important philosopher of sport."—Sports Illustrated, 1978

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From the Publisher

By publishing this 20th-anniversary edition of his signature work, the Sheehan family hopes to make George Sheehan's work available to all athletes. We encourage you to read his words, and we hope you find on its pages the inspiration to lead your own athletic journey that might help you become the person you were meant to be.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Second Wind II (NJ); First Edition edition (September 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966631803
• ISBN-13: 978-0966631807
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #645,437 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 47 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The only book in my library I reread!! February 8, 1999

By [e-mail]

Format:Hardcover

For the Sheehan neophyte, let me say this, this is NOT a book to learn how run better. It IS a book to become a better person. Dr. Sheehan is simply one of us; a runner who happens to write. The beauty of this book is that Sheehan doesn't candy coat his stories. He tells running as it is, as he is. You'll read this book and continually say, "My god, that's it, that's what I feel, that's how I am too." Soon, things you'd suspected about yourself, become clearer. Questions like, "Why do you run?", begin to have meaningful answers.

I have read tons about running and if I had to rank them, all Dr. Sheehan's books would be on the top of the list (But "R&B" is the best of his stuff, so start there). If you want the definitive book on all the technical details about running, get Glover's "Competetive Runner's Handbook" (make sure "Competetive" is in the title). If you want or need helping understanding life, read all of Sheehan's stuff. Heck those two books (Sheehan & Glover) are really all you need for years of PR's and spiritual growth.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars enlightening October 15, 1998

By [e-mail]

Format:Hardcover

Sheehan forges new ground in discussing running. Any serious runner will readily identify with his emotional insights and his ability to relate running and life. Truly inspiring at points, Sheehan goes well beyond running to a philosophy of life that can apply to any athlete.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book! February 26, 2009

By Gregshock

Format:Hardcover

I'm not a runner. I'm just not built for it, as I' ve found on the various occasions that I've tried to be a runner throughout my life. So, I walk instead and find a lot of the positive mental and physical benefits from it that runners gain from their pursuit, I think.

Even though I am not a runner I've re-read this book over and over again. It's really that good. It's about much more than putting on running shoes and going out on the streets to pound the pavement. This book, in my opinion, touches on what it really means to be human. To be a member of the species homo-sapiens, in it's physical, mental and spiritual being. Somehow, Sheehan, while he was writing this book, reached some state of genius of insight into the meaning of human existence and managed to put it all down on paper. He tells us what it means to live in a physical body and not to ever neglect that fact in our lives if we want to live trully full existences.

This book is also a complete joy to read and is well worth having and reading over and over again just for the pleasure of Sheehan's prose and style. The man was not only a physician and an athlete, but also a philosopher and a poet. It is truly one of a kind. Five well deserved stars!