What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir

From Strand Bookstore

For award-winning author Haruki Murakami running is more than just a way of keeping in shape; it's a way of staying sharp and--like many of his characters--taking a journey and testing the limits. In "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" Murakami offers readers a candid glimpse into his career as both a writer and runner, for the purpose of drawing a dazzling connection between art and life alike. Equal parts traninglog, travelogue, and personal history, this engaging and insightful memoir will enlighten readers to the joy of physical and psychological exertion, as only Murakami can provide: with philosophy, tenacity, humor and revelation to spare.

From the Publisher

In a revealing memoir, the award-winning Japanese writer recalls his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City marathon, interweaving his reflections on the meaning of running in his life, his thoughts on the writing process and career, his greatest triumphs and disappointments, and his experiences as an author and as an athlete. 40,000 first printing.

From the Publisher

In a revealing memoir, the award-winning Japanese writer recalls his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City marathon, interweaving his reflections on the meaning of running in his life, his thoughts on the writing process and career, his greatest triumphs and disappointments, and his experiences as an author and as an athlete. 40,000 first printing.

More about the book

Following in the footsteps of other writers who have taken a break from their critically acclaimed novels to write about their personal involvement with a sport (John Updike on golf or Joyce Carol Oates on boxing), Haruki Murakami (THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE) describes his passionate dedication to running: he runs a minimum of six miles a day, and in addition to running 20 marathons, he has run a 62-mile ultramarathon. In WHAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT RUNNING, Murakami, in his mellow, ruminative prose, describes the physical aspects of running, the philosophical, and how running, perhaps more than any other sport, mirrors the solitary, grueling work of writing.