What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
by Haruki Murakami

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
List Price: $21.00
Our Price: $3.30
You Save: $17.70 (84%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Haruki Murakami
Translator: Philip Gabriel
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-07-29
ISBN: 0307269191
Number of pages: 175
Publisher: Knopf
Product features:

Book Reviews of What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Book Review: Running Novelist
Summary: 4 Stars


What an odd little book. I have read nothing else by Murakami, but knew the name, and this seemed an good place to start. The connections that Murakami makes between running and writing were quite fascinating, as are his thoughts on owning a jazz club and running an ultra marathon.

Ironically, although Murakami attributes success in writing novels and running marathons to the ability to focus, the book as a whole lacks focus. While each chapter is about running or writing, Murakami jumps randomly around the world in detailing his experiences in training for the NYC Marathon, running the Boston, running an ultra marathon in Japan, etc.

Still, a very intersting concept that makes me want to read more by the author.

Summary of What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later, he'd completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and now, after dozens of such races, not to mention triathlons and a dozen critically acclaimed books, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and-even more important-on his writing.

Equal parts training log, travelogue, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and takes us to places ranging from Tokyo's Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston among young women who outpace him. Through this marvelous lens of sport emerges a panorama of memories and insights: the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer, his greatest triumphs and disappointments, his passion for vintage LPs, and the experience, after fifty, of seeing his race times improve and then fall back.

By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is rich and revelatory, both for fans of this masterful yet guardedly private writer and for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in running.

Memoirs Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Memoirs Books
The Company She Keeps ImageThe Company She Keeps
by Georgia Durante
Signet; Published: 2008-10-07; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops: $7.99
Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, & Priorities of a Winning Life ImageQuiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, & Priorities of a Winning Life
by Tony Dungy, Nathan Whitaker
Tyndale; Published: 2007-07-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.99
Price in other shops: $26.99
Lucky Man: A Memoir ImageLucky Man: A Memoir
by Michael J. Fox
Simon & Schuster Audio; Published: 2009-04-14; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $8.14
Price in other shops: $14.99
Seductive Poison: A Jonestown Survivor's Story of Life and Death in the People's Temple ImageSeductive Poison: A Jonestown Survivor's Story of Life and Death in the People's Temple
by Deborah Layton
Anchor; Published: 1999-11-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.21
Price in other shops: $15.95
For Laci ImageFor Laci
by Sharon Rocha
Random House Audio; Published: 2005-12-31; Audio CD; Book
Price in other shops: $27.95
Same Kind Of Different As Me ImageSame Kind Of Different As Me
by Ron Hall, Denver Moore
Thomas Nelson; Published: 2006; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.29
Price in other shops: $21.99
Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst The Rwandan Holocaust ImageLeft to Tell: Discovering God Amidst The Rwandan Holocaust
by Immaculee Ilibagiza
Hay House; Published: 2006-03-15; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $14.07
Price in other shops: $23.95
The Lost Boy: A Foster Child's Search for the Love of a Family ImageThe Lost Boy: A Foster Child's Search for the Love of a Family
by Dave Pelzer
HCI; Published: 1997-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops: $12.95
Rocket Boys (The Coalwood Series #1) ImageRocket Boys (The Coalwood Series #1)
by Homer Hickam
Delacorte Press; Published: 1998-09-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.38
Price in other shops: $26.00
Seabiscuit: An American Legend (Trade Edition) (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) ImageSeabiscuit: An American Legend (Trade Edition) (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)
by Laura Hillenbrand
Turtleback; Published: 2002-03-01; School & Library Binding; Book
Best price: $28.10
Similar Books and other products
Norwegian Wood ImageNorwegian Wood
by Haruki Murakami
Vintage; Published: 2000-09-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops: $14.95
South of the Border, West of the Sun: A Novel ImageSouth of the Border, West of the Sun: A Novel
by Haruki Murakami
Vintage; Published: 2000-03-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.20
Price in other shops: $14.00
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (Vintage International) ImageBlind Willow, Sleeping Woman (Vintage International)
by Haruki Murakami
Vintage; Published: 2007-10-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.67
Price in other shops: $15.00
Dance Dance Dance ImageDance Dance Dance
by Haruki Murakami
Vintage; Published: 1995-01-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.51
Price in other shops: $14.95
Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words ImageHaruki Murakami and the Music of Words
by Jay Rubin
Random House UK; Published: 2005-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.50
Price in other shops: $18.95
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen ImageBorn to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
by Christopher McDougall
Knopf; Published: 2009-05-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.00
Price in other shops: $24.95
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel ImageThe Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel
by Haruki Murakami
Vintage; Published: 1998-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops: $16.00
Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche ImageUnderground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche
by Haruki Murakami
Vintage; Published: 2001-04-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.63
Price in other shops: $14.95
A Wild Haruki Chase: Reading Murakami Around the World ImageA Wild Haruki Chase: Reading Murakami Around the World
Stone Bridge Press; Published: 2008-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.50
Price in other shops: $16.95
Murakami Diary 2009 ImageMurakami Diary 2009
by Haruki Murakami
Random House UK; Published: 2008-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.91
Price in other shops: $16.95