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Step by Step: A Pedestrian Memoir

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Several years ago Lawrence Block, author of over 60 mystery novels, told me that he could write a cookbook and it would probably be shelved in the mystery section of bookstores. As a novelist for the past half-century, Block has created some of the greatest mystery series of all time --- from the dark stories involving alcoholic private eye Matt Scudder to the lighter mysteries featuring burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr to the stamp-collecting hit man known as Keller.

But now he has written a memoir that deserves to join his mysteries on the bestseller list, if not the mystery shelf. STEP BY STEP is a memoir, not of the writing life, but of the walking life. It is also the story of an intellectually honest and adventurous man who has struggled to overcome his demons and excel in living. Unlike many recent memoirs, this is not a book about victimization; it is about living a life to the fullest.

Both the journalist and novelist have some personal cover while practicing their craft. The reporter can take refuge behind facts; the novelist behind his imagination. And readers of the latter can discover the writer's voice in his or her style or tone. They can also strive to get glimpses of the author through his characters or the settings in which they exist. At the end of the day, it is, after all, fiction, and any resemblance to those living or dead is, as they say in the movies, purely coincidental. But real life is rarely so simple.

STEP BY STEP is written in the same conversational, graceful style that has made Block the ideal writer to study for those interested in learning the craft. Indeed, his only nonfiction titles before this one were four instructional books for writers, two of them gleaned from his work for many years as the fiction columnist for Writer's Digest magazine.

So how do you write a memoir about walking? Well, this isn't exactly strolling down to the grocery store for a six-pack of beer and newspaper, which I have practiced for many years and am very good at. Much of this book involves racewalking. That is the rather odd-looking sport that definitely is not running. It consists of the stiff knee, leg in constant contact with mother earth, arms swinging at the sides, a sort of rapid propulsion forward. As the Supreme Court once said of pornography, you would know it when you see it.

And Block excelled at it. In 2006, at the age of 68, he competed in 18 races, including six marathons and two 24-hour races, covering a total of 375 miles. Between 2005 and 2007, he took part in 52 races, including 11 marathons and seven "ultras." We learn that ultras are races that can go for 24 hours or even days and cover hundreds of miles. Block covered 70 miles in one 24-hour race.

Indeed, we meet in these pages many highly motivated athletes who take part in the sport. If you walk 100 miles in 24 hours, you become a Centurion. If I did it, I would become a corpse. But to each his own.

Block traces his enthusiasm for walking back to his early years growing up in Buffalo, New York, and his inability to learn how to ride a bike at the age of 10. A boy in Buffalo had to have a bike to get around. So Block started walking instead and grew to love it. He knew early on he wanted to be a writer. And he settled in New York City's Greenwich Village to do it in the late '50s. And while all New Yorkers walk as a matter of everyday necessity and pride, Block had no idea what racewalking was for 21 years. Then after drinking himself out of his first marriage, he walked up to Washington Square Park one day and just took off running.

"I did this in street clothes --- jeans, a long sleeved sports shirt, a pair of leather dress shoes," he writes. "God knows what I looked like. People probably thought I'd stolen something, or perhaps killed someone, and was trying to escape. But they left me alone. It was New York, after all, and why interfere?"

Yet another reason to love New York.

Block began seriously jogging. But the point of jogging is training. And you train for races. For four years, he entered races. He started as a traditional runner until he hurt his knee and became a racewalker. In 1981, at the age of 43, he entered and finished 40 races, including five marathons, covering 374.5 miles.

Then he decided one day that he was "finished" with racing and did not compete for another 22 years. But he was not exactly through walking. In 1991, he and his wife, Lynne, took part in a three-month, 650-mile pilgrimage over the Spanish Pyrenees --- the Camino de Santiago. They did not make the pilgrimage for religious reasons. But Block points out, "There was something transformational in covering vast distances, true geographic expanses, on foot. Who looks at the map of Spain and sees a country it would be possible to walk across? And yet by the time we were done we had done precisely that, one day at a time, one precious step at a time."

What makes this a fun read is the voice of Lawrence Block: witty, acerbic at times, inquisitive and, above all, honest. He writes, "My life, too, has been rich and satisfying, but it hasn't stayed the same over the years. Enthusiasm has come and gone, passions have waxed and waned." His passions could be viewed as compulsions. Block admits that he started his racing career soon after he stopped drinking and has attended many "meetings" with "like-minded" people over the years. Perhaps AA? And he gives Lynne a reason for participating in a 24-hour marathon in his late 60s: "Given the choice, I'd rather be hospitalized for exhaustion than depression."

The book takes a poignant turn toward the end as he realizes that age is slowing him down and racing now involves serious pain from his feet to his back. And he admits that his fictional characters might be reaching the end of the line. Publicly, of late, he has talked about retiring from writing, much to the chagrin of his long-time fans.

But whether it is in writing or racewalking or life itself, Block acknowledges that we simply go on, step by step. That simply understated, redemptive message of hope shines through here.

Lawrence Block does not have to write another mystery novel to ensure his place in American literature. He long ago earned his spot in the pantheon. But if STEP BY STEP is a coda of sorts, it shows one of America's greatest writers still working at the top of his game. This is a richly human, wonderful book that will stay with you for a long time.

--- Reviewed by Tom Callahan

It's not often I like a book so much that I order a copy for myself. After reading the first third of Step By Step, I knew I had to have my own copy, so I ordered one from Amazon. The wry, insightful, funny writing had captured me. Then I read on.

This book even tells the story of how this book came to be written, and it's obvious that once the first half was done - in a burst of passion - that Lawrence Block really struggled to write the rest. It shows. For the first half, he gives us wonderful stories about his life, his friends and his travels. Think Farley Mowat or Eric Newby at their best.

Then all of a sudden we get nothing but tedious accounts of races and walks - no more travel, no real fun, and very little to recommend it. Finally near the end we find out that Block is now really tired of writing, and having a tough time finishing the book - which I am sure coincides with the sudden failure to write interesting, compelling narrative.

And from what I've seen of him on Craig Ferguson, this may be his last book. I surely hope that this is not the case - it would be a shame for so fine an author to end on this disappointing note.

Nor is it Scudder or Bernie, but being a diehard Block fan, I bought it and read it. It was enjoyable reading, but only because Lawrence Block is an enjoyable writer to read. His musings, insights, and revelations of his personal life are like having a conversation with someone you'd like to know better. And after this book, I think I understand more about Keller, Bernie and Matthew than I did before. But I still don't understand runners or racewalkers or why these people put themselves through such maneuvers just to say they've done it. But then, I don't understand people who climb mountains, either, and that's not stopped anyone from climbing them.

This is an odd memoir that focuses on the crime writer's enjoyment in participating in distance walking races. Mr. Block makes a point of racing against himself rather than other competitors; as his goal is not so much to win the race though that would be okay if he beat his best time or distance; the ultimate golden goal is to achieve both. In other words he races against himself. The author also discusses traveling with his wife across America or overseas on quests that targets specific offbeat goals like shuffling off to all the Buffalos. The best sections are the personal ones when Mr. Block turns introspective for instance why a non practicing Jew like him refuses to eat pork. These are far apart as much of the bio centers on the walkathons including containing an overwhelming marathon of score keeping that sports statisticians will relish. Not for everyone, fans of the author will want to take a walk with Mr. Block, but keep in mind STEP BY STEP has little to do with his novels and even with this pedestrian drill he provides quite a pace.

Harriet Klausner

Anyone calling himself a serious mystery fan probably owns at least a handful of Lawrence Block books. Block is best known for his Matt Scudder series, of course, but he has also had success with a mystery series featuring burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr. This time around, though, Block offers a memoir focusing on his years of as a competitive racewalker (competitive only in the sense that Block competed against himself to improve his own previous distance and time records).

While many of Block's readers will have used running and walking as favored forms of exercise, few of them are likely to have taken those sports to the level described in "Step by Step: A Pedestrian Memoir." Shortly after he gave up drinking, Block surprised himself by taking up jogging as an outlet but he soon concluded that jogging just for the sake of jogging made little sense to him. Rather, he came to feel that he was in training for something specific: a race against the clock and himself. In 1981, well into his forties and by then having switched from running to racewalking, Block finished 40 races, five marathons among them.

Then he stopped - and for 22 years he did not enter another race. But, living in New York, Block never completely stopped walking and he even devotes a portion of Step by Step to the three months in 1991 he spent on the 650-mile pilgrimage over the Spanish Pyrenees he shared with his wife. Block is a compulsive man, and when he took up racewalking again after the turn of the century he picked up right where he left off two decades earlier - and then some. No longer content with a mere handful of marathons per year, he was soon competing in "ultras," races of at least 24-hour duration during which runners and walkers completed as many miles as possible.

The world of competitive racewalking Block describes is an interesting one, and anyone familiar with "fun runs" will easily identify with the aches and pains he has to overcome in order to get himself to so many starting lines. However, the most memorable part of the book is Block's frank take on his reaction to the aging process when, try as he might, he could no longer set "personal bests" in the events he entered. The realization that time would make no exception in his case threw him into a depression so deep that he lost not only the desire to racewalk, but maybe even the desire to write again.

Although "Step by Step" is autobiographical, it is not long on details, something the more rabid fans of Lawrence Block will regret. No one, however, can quarrel with the frank way that Block describes his addictions, his compulsive personality, and his personal battle with a crippling bout of depression seemingly triggered by the aging process. Lawrence Block has a life's work to be proud of whether or not he ever writes another word. If he decides to take Matt Scudder and Bernie Rhodenbarr into a well-earned retirement with him, he can look back in pride. After all, life is a road best covered step by step.

Let me say, first, that I consider Lawrence Block's "Long Line of Dead Men" the best mystery I've ever read. Not much action, but the characters and the dialogue make it a classic - at least in my mind.

I've read everything Block has written, except for the "Burglar" series and the reprints of his early, faintly-lurid pulp fiction. I think he and Rita Mae Brown are two of the most natural writers I've read. Both just seem to churn out - for the most part - excellent reading material.

Step by Step is Block's attempt at a memoir. For the most part, it's very good reading, particularly his boyhood and early adult hood. His only continuation of the memoir are his accounts of his race-walking and trek to Compostela in northern Spain. Both are interesting, though the race parts get a little tedious. But, the truth really is that Lawrence Block CANNOT write a boring book. Not gonna happen. Even the somewhat tedious parts about his race walking are interesting in their own right!
(His bit about the award he receives after his Alabama race is very funny, if not SO politically incorrect!)

My only problem with this book is that it seems likely to be his last. He's getting older and says he ended all his series books in timely fashion. He hints at having begun a book, other than this, but I don't know if we'll see it in print.

I enjoyed this book, in a bittersweet way. Lawrence Block has earned his retirement; I just wish it doesn't happen.

An easy-to-read, well-orchestrated memoir. Block discusses many things, the unreliability of memoirs, his early career writing crime and porn, growing up in a family of Reform Jews, how he became addicted to racewalking, finishing his last contractual novel, HIT AND RUN, in three weeks so that he could devote himself to writing what he wanted to write without pressure. Great stuff, lively ironic wit and some laugh-out-loud humor.

I'm also a runner/walker (once a runner, always a runner), so it was an especially good read for me. I vicariously enjoyed his portrait of the running/writing/racewalking lifestyle. Like all of Block's genre books, this memoir is sprinkled with sardonic humor and attitude.

Block at his best is equal to the best of James Lee Burke, and that is saying something.

People who treasure this book might also enjoy novelist Haruki Murakami's delightful memoir, WHAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT RUNNING, as well as Don Kardong's classic THIRTY PHONE BOOTHS TO BOSTON.

Lawrence Block's memoir, Step by Step, is very much like P.D. James's Time to Be in Earnest. Both of them (as her book announces in its subtitle) are fragments of an autobiography. Both begin with the notion of writing `a year in the life of . . . ` narratives which then feather out to encompass an entire life. There is, however, a huge difference between the two. James's memoir concerns her activities as a writer; Block's memoir concerns his activities as a racewalker, runner and traveler. There are glimpses of his writing life and glimpses of his personal life (though he is very guarded with regard to the latter), but the book principally concerns his racewalking. Those approaching the book with the hope that it will also be about his writing will be disappointed. There is material concerning the writing, but it only occupies approximately 5% of the book. In part, this is because Block takes his gifts and accomplishments as a writer for granted; it is what he does; it is how he makes his living; he has done it since his days in college; it does not challenge him the way racewalking does and it is not the source of pride that rigorous physical activity can be to a person in his late 60's.

In March, 1992 I had the pleasure and privilege of interviewing Lawrence Block as part of a program operated by the Smithsonian. His conversation is like his writing--expert, lucid and economical. (Which is to say, terse. Not impolite, but brief.) A two paragraph question would elicit a monosyllabic response. For Block, less is always more. That is one of the reasons why he is a great writer and one of the reasons why he is an MWA Grand Master. He reveals by concealing or carefully withholding. How does that affect his work as a memoirist? One would think that it would be an impediment, but it is not.

He provides fulsome detail concerning his exercise regimen, his training regimen, his performance in specific races and the state of his toes and their blisters, his diet and his dress. He does not provide extensive details with regard to his previous drinking, with regard to his marriages and his writing. He reveals a little, very little, but the extensive details which he provides concerning his racewalking enable the reader to draw inferences concerning his personality, his private life and his work. I have read 36 of Block's books and I admire him greatly as a writer and (from our hour together on the stage) as a person. I would like to have heard more about the writing than the racewalking in Step by Step, but that is not Block's way, as I should have known from our previous acquaintance.

Step by Step appears to be somewhat off-the-cuff. As always, Block writes with a light touch. No one makes writing `look' easier. When one reflects upon the work, however, one sees how impressive it is and how difficult it is to do what Block does. Step by Step appears to be Block-at-his-ease, telling faintly-connected stories about his favorite avocation, but the closer one looks the more one sees that this is a carefully-crafted piece of work with plot arcs that reveal themselves in stingy but very impressive and, ultimately, moving and instructive ways. I recommend it highly, but I warn the potential reader that this is not like Charles Willeford's memoirs--revealing fascinating and intimate personal details. Nor is it like P.D. James's memoir--revealing fascinating details about her artistic/professional/commercial life as a writer. With Block you must infer things. That is his way and that is who he is. And that is why this is a successful memoir, though one that will seem to appeal more to runners and racewalkers than to readers of crime fiction.

I'm not a mystery reader, so I know nothing of this author's other books. But I do love a good memoir. This is not one of them. The publisher should have known better than to subtitle it so aptly as a pedestrian memoir.

If you are a marathon runner, or a racewalker, or simply an avid urban pedestrian, you might enjoy parts of this book. For me, the long stories of which race to enter, how the race went, and what the author's feet looked like after, were just plain boring.

I thought I might be interested in his Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage, but he breezes through that without much reflection. Similarly, his journey across America to every town by the name of Buffalo yielded nothing of note. All in all, there wasn't a story in this book that grabbed my attention, except for the one in his introduction about conspiring with his poker buddies to co-write a book in one night.

I should have realized from that story that this author is all about speed. He pounds out his books in a matter of weeks, if that, so it's no surprise that this book reads as though it were written on a lark. Seemingly nothing is edited or rewritten. Every page contains "oh, well," "never mind," "yeah, right," and similar markers of lazy thinking and writing. In fact, the author apparently prides himself on refusing to rewrite for editors who want a more polished piece, including the New York Times and his own publisher, William Morrow. I guess if you're a best-selling mystery writer, you get to do that.

The author admits early on that "this book is self-indulgent." That it is. Most authors who write for that purpose have to resort to self-publishing. This author is lucky he has a track record to fall back on, or this book would have had the same fate.

Walking is high on the list of subjects that do not normally hold my interest. But this book is totally engaging and kept me reading straight through the weekend. Block digs deep here, emotionally, physically, spiritually. Step By Step is part memoir, part inspirational and wholly entertaining. As a longtime Lawrence Block reader, I was finally able to draw a line from his characters back to him. Now, if he would only write another Scudder!