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Running to the Mountain: A Midlife Adventure
Jon Katz, a respected journalist, father, and husband, was turning fifty. His writing career had taken a dubious turn, his wife had a demanding career of her own, his daughter was preparing to leave home for college, and he had become used to a sedentary lifestyle. Wonderfully witty and insightful, Running to the Mountain chronicles Katz's hunger for change and his search for renewed purpose and meaning in his familiar world.
Armed with the writings of Thomas Merton and his two faithful Labradors, Katz trades in his suburban carpool-driving and escapes to the mountains of upstate New York. There, as he restores a dilapidated cabin, learns self-reliance in a lightning storm, shares a bottle of Glenlivet with unexpected ghosts, and helps a friend prepare for fatherhood, he confronts his lifelong questions about spirituality, mortality, and his own self-worth. He ultimately rediscovers a profound appreciation for his work, his family, and the beauty of everyday life--and provides a glorious lesson for us all.
Armed with the writings of Thomas Merton and his two faithful Labradors, Katz trades in his suburban carpool-driving and escapes to the mountains of upstate New York. There, as he restores a dilapidated cabin, learns self-reliance in a lightning storm, shares a bottle of Glenlivet with unexpected ghosts, and helps a friend prepare for fatherhood, he confronts his lifelong questions about spirituality, mortality, and his own self-worth. He ultimately rediscovers a profound appreciation for his work, his family, and the beauty of everyday life--and provides a glorious lesson for us all.
273 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
18 people are currently reading
337 people want to read
About the author
Jon Katz
56 books467 followers Jon Katz is an author, photographer, and children's book writer. He lives on Bedlam Farm with his wife, the artist Maria Wulf, his four dogs, Rose, Izzy, Lenore and Frieda, two donkeys, Lulu and Fanny, and two barn cats. His next book, "Rose In A Storm" will be published by Random House on October 5.
He is working on a collection of short stories and a book on animal grieving.
He is working on a collection of short stories and a book on animal grieving.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
January 28, 2009
Jon Katz's Running to the Mountain is the book that got him really talking about dogs. The autobiographical piece explains his impulsive purchase of a cabin in upstate New York, his attempts at establishing a new literary career, and his quest for spirituality. I read the book to meet his Labrador retrievers, and to get the back story on the man who wrote A Dog Year and The Dogs of Bedlam Farm. I read Katz's books out of order, having learned of him first from his columns about dogs that appear in Slate. Like Katz, I disdain the ridiculous notion that our dogs are surrogate children or replacement children, or, frankly, anyone's children other than their dams'. I love dogs for their dog-ness, and I won't ask them to be furry people. They are fine the way they are. It soothes me to immerse myself in a book that accepts that important fact.
This is a good book, but is much more about Thomas Merton than it is about Julius and Stanley the labs. I can accept that. I like Merton. I did find it hard to accept that Katz would so clearly risk his family's financial situation by purchasing a cabin they couldn't afford. Except that I wish I would do the same, only long before I'm 50.
This is a good book, but is much more about Thomas Merton than it is about Julius and Stanley the labs. I can accept that. I like Merton. I did find it hard to accept that Katz would so clearly risk his family's financial situation by purchasing a cabin they couldn't afford. Except that I wish I would do the same, only long before I'm 50.
August 8, 2008
I picked this up on a clearance table and was immediately immersed in Katz's midlife search for purpose, which he details in this book. I read two of his books on his beloved canines already this summer. In Running to the Mountain I was amazed to find myself with the same search for purpose and meaning, questions about society and God and an urbanite's love for nature, because the author is so fundamentally different than me (male, Jewish, married with a child, technologically adept). Maybe his writer parts, age and dysfunctional family-of-origin were enough to make me empathize and enjoy Katz' tumbling journey into the 2nd half of adulthood. And I learned a lot about Thomas Merton (Katz's spiritual mentor, who in the end, was found lacking)!
March 16, 2016
A perfect book for the first day of a new year. This year my husband and I will both turn fifty and our youngest child will leave home for college. I have a lot in common with Katz.
My favorite quote:
"I am not nearly as afraid of dying as I am of the hinges inside my mind and soul rusting closed. I am desperate to keep them open, because I think that if they close, that's one's first death, the loss of hope, curiousity, and possibility, the spiritual death. After that, it seems to me, the second one is just a formality."
My favorite quote:
"I am not nearly as afraid of dying as I am of the hinges inside my mind and soul rusting closed. I am desperate to keep them open, because I think that if they close, that's one's first death, the loss of hope, curiousity, and possibility, the spiritual death. After that, it seems to me, the second one is just a formality."
July 1, 2016
A departure for Jon Katz, or was it. Apparently before all the dog books that I knew he wrote, he had written mysteries and computer books. Then he wrote this book about a mid life crisis. Instead of having an affair, or buying a hot new sportscar, he buys a place in the mountains. Inspired by Thomas Merton, he hopes to find peace and fulfillment there. He does. He also decides to change his writing to the ones we now know him for and that is truly a gift.
April 27, 2018
The story of a man who started out writing a book about Thomas Merton and ended up writing one about himself. His journey (A Journey of Faith And Change according to the subtitle) involved the purchase of a cabin in the mountains, removal of all the vermin who occupy an unused cabin in the mountains, and proceedings to making it habitable and himself capable of inhabiting it.
Sound confused? Yes, it is--it's a pretty confusing process, remaking a living space and human being at the same time. He succeeded pretty well, it seems to me. If you're thinking of reading it, go ahead--you'll find it chock full of deep, shallow, and gobsmacking wisdom.
I grew a little impatient with his self-exploration, especially in the last one-quarter. But that's not saying it was too long. It's his story--his journey--and I have to let him decide the amount of time he needs.
Sound confused? Yes, it is--it's a pretty confusing process, remaking a living space and human being at the same time. He succeeded pretty well, it seems to me. If you're thinking of reading it, go ahead--you'll find it chock full of deep, shallow, and gobsmacking wisdom.
I grew a little impatient with his self-exploration, especially in the last one-quarter. But that's not saying it was too long. It's his story--his journey--and I have to let him decide the amount of time he needs.
November 6, 2010
As he turned fifty, faced career disappointments, and realized that most of his parenting of their daughter was finished, Jon Katz re-evaluated his life and "ran away" to a remote cabin on a mountain in upstate New York with the blessing of his wife. A lifelong admirer of Thomas Merton, he took mounds of Merton's writings on the joy of solitude along with him, determined to immerse himself in them and discover the secrets to inner peace. Unplanned events occurred and this is Katz's humorous account of what happened. He actually did find a good measure of peace but it wasn't in the way he expected! I enjoyed his book and was able to find some truths for myself in it.
May 4, 2013
If you have read any of Jon's Bedlam Farm books, "Dog Days", "A Dog Year", etc., you may think this is another of his dog books. Well, it is and it isn't. This is book chronicles Jon's introduction to, and possession of the farm.
At the time Jon was VERY much into Thomas Merton, nearly every chapter has a quotation from one of Thomas Merton's books, and Jon waxes philosophic about living the monastic life. Jon's reason for obtaining the farm is so that he may have a place to be alone and write. However, Jon comes face to face with the costs of living the dream.
Very esoteric, with some humorous moments, dogs involved are Julius and Stanley. Writing was very enjoyable.
At the time Jon was VERY much into Thomas Merton, nearly every chapter has a quotation from one of Thomas Merton's books, and Jon waxes philosophic about living the monastic life. Jon's reason for obtaining the farm is so that he may have a place to be alone and write. However, Jon comes face to face with the costs of living the dream.
Very esoteric, with some humorous moments, dogs involved are Julius and Stanley. Writing was very enjoyable.
August 22, 2008
This book was in the section about peace and spirit etc and the subtitle is A Journey of Faith and Chance which I thought was misleading. He talked more about not knowing about faith and the negatives of life especially his family.
If your family has more negatives then positives you can commiserate with Jon Katz and if your life is already positive you can feel good that your not or weren't in his situation as I did. If you think about buying a house on a mountaintop this will make you think twice. I decided not to but you might just decide too.
If your family has more negatives then positives you can commiserate with Jon Katz and if your life is already positive you can feel good that your not or weren't in his situation as I did. If you think about buying a house on a mountaintop this will make you think twice. I decided not to but you might just decide too.
April 26, 2009
I heard this author interviewed on the Diane Rehm Show on NPR. Back then it was called 'Running to the Mountain: A Journey of Faith & Change'...... seems that 'midlife adventure' turns more heads than an honest statement of what it was - A Journey of Faith & Change.
I found it to be honest and insightful memoir of a personal spiritual journey. I have a note to myself in my old "A Book Lover's Diary", where I recorded many books I read in the 90's, that I thought it would appeal to many who might be on a similar path.
I found it to be honest and insightful memoir of a personal spiritual journey. I have a note to myself in my old "A Book Lover's Diary", where I recorded many books I read in the 90's, that I thought it would appeal to many who might be on a similar path.
November 22, 2009
Fellow about to turn 50 buys rundown cabin in upstate NY to get away from Jersey (hey!) and its attendant modernities. Also, of course, to write. Brings along lots of books by the ruminative Trappist monk Thomas Merton. Day-to-day detail and reflection about finding water and driving the minivan to get coffee at the diner. One Merton quote: "I am both a prisoner and an escaped prisoner." Perfect book for tortured souls. Recommended!
March 18, 2009
Katz is my favorite dog book author. The predates his focus on dogs. Running to the Mountain began as a book on Thomas Merton and evolved into an analysis of the process of change and individual's dreams in Katz' life. The timing of me pulling this off the shelf in the midst of my opportunity for change was perfect.
March 23, 2009
If you are going to have a mid-life adventure what better place than the mountains of upstate New York with a view toward the green hills of Vermont. A wonderful book and the one that got me started reading all of his others. I also recommend "The Dogs of Bedlam Farm" or "A Dog Year" which follow the move to the mountain.
July 1, 2011
"Sometimes, I was learning, it was enough to have a retreat, even if you didn't always retreat there. Sometimes you could replicate the feeling of a retreat without having to be there. And sometimes going there made you see that you didn't need it as much as you'd thought."
January 30, 2008
Very inspirational. Realize after reading this book that changes can be made at any time in your life..follow your heart, your instincts and take chances.
February 1, 2008
LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! For anyone who has that secret cabin they dream of hidden somewhere in their heads - this is a perfect read to renew the spirit.
March 9, 2010
I really enjoyed this book. A little different than his current books, but definitely a good read.
July 13, 2010
Who cannot love a man who loves animals? This is one of his best.
April 19, 2012
fantastic book - recommend to every man over age 45.
June 7, 2012
A nice mid-life adventure book from a guy who took a chance and moved out to the country to look a little deeper. Reminds me of me. Except we went to Central Mexico instead of upstate New York.
December 30, 2022
I bought and read this book over 20 years ago. I was about the same age as the author at the time and I had a sense of my advancing age, mortality and the need to make changes. I did not have a spiritual guru like Katz did with Thomas Merton. ( I do share his interest in the writings of HL Mencken.) While there were times when I would have liked to be alone, I had absolutely no desire to find and buy a distressed cabin in the woods and live there.
While Katz was a far more successful professional man, I fortunately did not share most of the childhood traumas that he experienced with his parents and siblings. His demons followed him from childhood to adulthood.
This book had far more influence on me when I read it at 50 years old than it did re-reading it at 70 years old. Maybe I am a bit wiser, maybe I am a bit more resigned at my current age. Plus I have very little enthusiam for change.
Interestingly, I read an update on Jon Katz and noticed that he divorced his wife Paula in 2008 and remarried in 2010. Reading between the lines in his book, I sensed that he may have had some dissatisfaction with his marriage. I guess that that was part of the change that he was looking to make.
This is an inspiring book for those on a spiritual search or reconciling their mid life crisis. Very good story…
Excerpts from the book I found interesting…
I am not nearly as afraid of dying as I am of the hinges inside my mind and soul rusting closed. I am desperate to keep them open, because I think that if they close, that’s one’s first death, the loss of hope, curiosity, and possibility, the spiritual death. After that, it seems to me, the second one is just a formality. I wanted to oil the hinges, force the doors to stay open.
I’ve struggled mightily to figure out how to be spiritual without having to be religious, how to find peace without bending my knee before an altar.
I’d lost close friends this way before, even abandoned a couple myself. When men are pressed, their friendships go to the bottom of the list.
There is huge risk involved whenever you seek to discover yourself. You might find that you’re not as happily married as you thought you were. That you’re growing older than you’ve permitted yourself to acknowledge. That you have few true friends, or the wrong ones. That you’re not happy with the place you’re living or fulfilled by the work you’re doing. That you’re not happy or fulfilled, period.
As with so many other boomers, death was suddenly in the air around me, the consciousness of mortality emerging as parents, older friends and mentors, and the first of my peers began to falter and fall. I was writing my own history. I wanted immortality, though not in the conventional religious sense. I wanted to live on in the fond memories of the people I left behind, to be recalled as a supportive father, a loving husband, a devoted friend, a man who struggled to be a good person.
While Katz was a far more successful professional man, I fortunately did not share most of the childhood traumas that he experienced with his parents and siblings. His demons followed him from childhood to adulthood.
This book had far more influence on me when I read it at 50 years old than it did re-reading it at 70 years old. Maybe I am a bit wiser, maybe I am a bit more resigned at my current age. Plus I have very little enthusiam for change.
Interestingly, I read an update on Jon Katz and noticed that he divorced his wife Paula in 2008 and remarried in 2010. Reading between the lines in his book, I sensed that he may have had some dissatisfaction with his marriage. I guess that that was part of the change that he was looking to make.
This is an inspiring book for those on a spiritual search or reconciling their mid life crisis. Very good story…
Excerpts from the book I found interesting…
I am not nearly as afraid of dying as I am of the hinges inside my mind and soul rusting closed. I am desperate to keep them open, because I think that if they close, that’s one’s first death, the loss of hope, curiosity, and possibility, the spiritual death. After that, it seems to me, the second one is just a formality. I wanted to oil the hinges, force the doors to stay open.
I’ve struggled mightily to figure out how to be spiritual without having to be religious, how to find peace without bending my knee before an altar.
I’d lost close friends this way before, even abandoned a couple myself. When men are pressed, their friendships go to the bottom of the list.
There is huge risk involved whenever you seek to discover yourself. You might find that you’re not as happily married as you thought you were. That you’re growing older than you’ve permitted yourself to acknowledge. That you have few true friends, or the wrong ones. That you’re not happy with the place you’re living or fulfilled by the work you’re doing. That you’re not happy or fulfilled, period.
As with so many other boomers, death was suddenly in the air around me, the consciousness of mortality emerging as parents, older friends and mentors, and the first of my peers began to falter and fall. I was writing my own history. I wanted immortality, though not in the conventional religious sense. I wanted to live on in the fond memories of the people I left behind, to be recalled as a supportive father, a loving husband, a devoted friend, a man who struggled to be a good person.
September 3, 2018
Katz had been in the big world of television, important as he says, but then decided to write. But after a few yrs loses his way. As he approaches 50 he decides to rent an old house way out in the boonies by a small town in upstate new york.
His central literary/spiritual figure is Thomas Merton, a writer I've only experienced on the fringes...a quote here or there and seeing his books on my father in-law's shelves.
It was a solid book as he tries to face solitude and loneliness. He is very deliberate, kind of Thoreavian especially about repairing the house. Though I wanted more, wanted him to go a bit deeper, fully submerge in the existential worries of having lived more than half your life.
He uses Merton throughout. He both seems to relish Merton's ability to handle solitude and austerity but also falls to over-simplified dichotomous (in my mind) criticisms of merton. At one point he suggests Merton chose god and he chose people and is somehow better for it. Even so he is constantly reading Merton and has a sort of shrine to him. I couldn't quite figure out his relationship to Merton's work.
This quotation from Merton mesmerized me and seems to be represent a central concern of Katz, "I live in the woods out of necessity. I get out of bed in the middle of the night because it is imperative that I hear the silence of the night, alone, and, with my face on the floor, say psalms, alone, in the silence of the night.
It is necessary for me to live here alone without a woman, for the silence of the forest is my bride and the sweet dark warmth of the whole world is my love and out of the heart of that dark warmth comes the secret that is heard only in silence, but it is the root of all the secrets that are whispered by all the lovers in their beds all over the world."
Beautiful writing and poignant sentiment. On some level I think Merton is saying or is wrestling with the notion that we are *all* *always* alone even when with others. Still, as Katz recounts, Merton did seek out a female companion for some time until being rebuked by leaders of his monastery.
His central literary/spiritual figure is Thomas Merton, a writer I've only experienced on the fringes...a quote here or there and seeing his books on my father in-law's shelves.
It was a solid book as he tries to face solitude and loneliness. He is very deliberate, kind of Thoreavian especially about repairing the house. Though I wanted more, wanted him to go a bit deeper, fully submerge in the existential worries of having lived more than half your life.
He uses Merton throughout. He both seems to relish Merton's ability to handle solitude and austerity but also falls to over-simplified dichotomous (in my mind) criticisms of merton. At one point he suggests Merton chose god and he chose people and is somehow better for it. Even so he is constantly reading Merton and has a sort of shrine to him. I couldn't quite figure out his relationship to Merton's work.
This quotation from Merton mesmerized me and seems to be represent a central concern of Katz, "I live in the woods out of necessity. I get out of bed in the middle of the night because it is imperative that I hear the silence of the night, alone, and, with my face on the floor, say psalms, alone, in the silence of the night.
It is necessary for me to live here alone without a woman, for the silence of the forest is my bride and the sweet dark warmth of the whole world is my love and out of the heart of that dark warmth comes the secret that is heard only in silence, but it is the root of all the secrets that are whispered by all the lovers in their beds all over the world."
Beautiful writing and poignant sentiment. On some level I think Merton is saying or is wrestling with the notion that we are *all* *always* alone even when with others. Still, as Katz recounts, Merton did seek out a female companion for some time until being rebuked by leaders of his monastery.
March 13, 2021
I had the pleasure of reading this book during a time of my life that elicits a lot of change. I truly believe that the books we need come into our lives and we are drawn to them at the time we need them most. I bought this book at a favorite bookstore of mine, sometime several months ago. I was drawn to it recently and soothingly made my way throughout enjoying the imagery and narration John has made for us. I feel that I know this person, although we’ve never met. I am reminded how intimate and personal writing is, it is such a beautiful thing.
At this time in my life I am graduating from college and I had been fearing the next steps. This book was a reminder that change must happen, that we can bot stop the forward progression of our lives (we can but it would not bode well), and that our best choice is to come to terms with that fact :)
I too one day would love to live in a house on the mountain, writing and going on walks with my dogs. I’m excited for that reality to come true, until then, things will continue changing and life will be experienced. As always.
Thank you John, I am indebted to you, I can’t quite describe why.
At this time in my life I am graduating from college and I had been fearing the next steps. This book was a reminder that change must happen, that we can bot stop the forward progression of our lives (we can but it would not bode well), and that our best choice is to come to terms with that fact :)
I too one day would love to live in a house on the mountain, writing and going on walks with my dogs. I’m excited for that reality to come true, until then, things will continue changing and life will be experienced. As always.
Thank you John, I am indebted to you, I can’t quite describe why.
January 25, 2019
This book was written in 1999 and was on my shelf for quite some time. I have often read his animal books but this was so different. He turned fifty and decided to buy a cabin in the mountains where he could come to terms with his life. He often quoted the Trappist monk Thomas Merton who became a model for him. There was some very funny things especially related to the rustic cabin and serious thought provoking parts. It ended with him finding peace on a level comfortable to him! I do enjoy his books but this did seem a bit to intense at times.
July 7, 2021
Picked this up in a thrift store in the mountains outside of San Diego. My life being a bit a drift on purpose, I enjoyed his grappling with making a writers life. His search for solitude and I got some great quotes from Thomas Merton. (Someone I wasn’t aware of, but a solid reference for those examining their life). All in all a good read. A little bit money pit, find what’s missing, nature vs man and life made better by a few good dogs.
If you’re looking for a mid life examination book, this one is enjoyable.
If you’re looking for a mid life examination book, this one is enjoyable.
November 11, 2016
I love when a book just happens to be exactly what you needed to read at that particular time in your life. I am also not a fan of corporate America. I dream of traveling the states in an RV and enjoying nature and solitude. Leaving the comfort of home for a spiritual journey. But I would want to have my solitude with the love of my life. Hiking, exploring and trying new things are always better with my husband of 28 years.
June 4, 2020
Many people go through a mid-life crisis. Jon Katz had his suburban NJ life, including a daughter heading to college, car pools, two Labradors and a tolerant wife. When he decided to buy a run down cottage in the mountains of upstate New York, he expands his world, his understanding of life and himself, while finding beauty in little quiet things in nature. Pretty good way to have a mid life crisis. Quite a good read too.
February 5, 2024
If you’re not in search of spirituality and not middle aged, this book probably won’t impact you as much as it would readers in those demographics. But I wouldn’t say this book didn’t leave an impact on me.
I’d like to think this guy and I would get along, but I’m also left with the feeling that this book didn’t really get going until the last third, as well as a handful odd questions I didn’t feel were addressed until they didn’t matter anymore. But oh well. I’m glad I read it.
I’d like to think this guy and I would get along, but I’m also left with the feeling that this book didn’t really get going until the last third, as well as a handful odd questions I didn’t feel were addressed until they didn’t matter anymore. But oh well. I’m glad I read it.
February 20, 2020
I'm reading this author's books out of order but that's okay. Here, he is turning 50 and is searching for meaning in his life as well as interpretation of Thomas Merton's writings, and sets out to do both in an old cabin perched on a hill in upstate New York. This book is sprinkled with humor and deep thinking in addition to his daily discoveries and inevitable nuisances.
March 5, 2021
This book was so full of weird synchronicities with things going on in my life that reading it bordered on surreal, but it was deeply uplifting and really gave me a beautiful sense of hope. I’ve never read any Merton, but he’s been on my to-get-to list for years since my mother read all of his journals and his autobiography. I’ve got The Seven Story Mountain on a shelf waiting.
August 12, 2018
I like mid-life, reflective stories. This is a good one. Dogs, people, mountains, solitude, writing, walks, self-examination without being self-absorbed. There's some navel-gazing, but pertinent and woven with a good narrative.
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