The Memory of Running: A Review - READ THIS BOOK!
I am mad at this guy - Ron McLarty. (If he looks familiar it is because he has been seen in tons of movies and tv shows. I recall seeing him in Law & Order over the years.)
Anyway - Ron has ruined my reading for the next couple of weeks. How? Because he wrote such a great book, The Memory of Running, that I am fairly confident the next book or two I attempt to read will have a very hard time measuring up to his work.
The book is written from the perspective of Smithy Ide, a former runner who returned from the war in Vietnam full of bullet holes to become a "fat ass drunk" according to his sister Bethany. Her lifelong struggle with mental illness, aka The Voice, has broken the hearts of her loving brother and parents.
When Mr and Mrs Ide are killed on the highway, something inside Smithy shifts and he hops aboard his trusty Raleigh bike to pedal from Rhode Island to California where the body of his deceased sister awaits the claim of a family member.
Sound depressing? Well, that was my take for the first few pages. I thought I might not even finish the book. HA! I could not put this down, read my eyes blurry on Sunday. This book is WONDERFUL. Smithy Ide is one of the best fictional characters I have stumbled across since I began to read. Read the book - you will not be disappointed.
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