Customer Reviews

The Winning Spirit

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After reading a synopsis in the Aug. issue of Readers Digest, I went out and bought the book. It's an absolute MUST read!

Ten times better than the Christopher Reeve book. I laughed. I cried. I wished it would never end. It's hilarious, touching and absolutely riveting. By the end of the book, you feel like a totally new person.

I've never written a book review before, so you've got to know how much I loved this book. Buy it, read it and pass it on to a friend. It's truly transformational.

Zoe Koplowitz bursts out of the pages of her book like the marathon runner she is. Diagnosed with MS in her 20s, she started participating in the NY Marathon in her 40s. Its a dead last finish every time but with wry wit and the spirituality of one with a chronic disease Zoe illustrates her incredible spirit. Ice, gale winds, street gangs, threats of drive-by shootings and the race run on crutches in the dead of night are some of the events she has experienced. The NY Marathon on crutches? Yes indeed and thats only the beginning of Zoe.She unfolds sometimes like a tender flower and other times like a bamboo spike growing in some steamy SE Asian jungle. Her warrior spirit is infectuous even if one isnt coping with slings and arrows, A must read for those heavily involved in a pity party. A definite must read for those who explode in the joy of life.

This book is hysterical! I laughed so hard that I nearly wet my pants. (And I was in the waiting room at the dentist's office at the time!) Zoe reminds us that the attitude that she takes into each marathon, and the one that Multiple Sclerosis patients and others should take into the daily marathon called life, is not the importance of winning, but the importance of doing our best with a smile on our face and a song on our lips.

Zoe Koplowitz is a no nonsense, straight shooter, beacon of hope and inspiration to anyone facing life challenges. The 10-time NYC marathoner, the last place finisher each year, shows us that determination and pure will, coupled with human kindness and compassion can propel anyone to cross the finish line with dignity and glory...all their own. This book is the "Road Less Traveled" of the millenium. Pithy, smart, thoughtful, painful and joyous, all rolled into a wonderful, spirited read.

I picked up this book on a whim. I got late notice that Zoe was coming to my area to promote our annual MS ride and couldn't attend. I checked out her book here and the price was right so I ordered it just to sooth my curious nature. What a great book! I'm about as the last person you'd expect to read this book but I did and was moved by it. Zoe's story is compelling and the resolve that accompanies her sense of humor are truely insprirational. I'm registering for the New York City Marathon in 2004 and I hope to meet her in person. Great book!