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The Runner's Literary Companion: Great Stories and Poems About Running
A collection of all the best fiction and poetry about runners and running. An inspiring book, brimming with courage, exaltation, fear, pain, sweat, hope, and elation. "Animates the spirit of running better than any other book."—Runner's World"Battista has gathered all the memorable (and widely scattered) jewels of running literature and melded them into a single glorious volume. I enjoyed it immensely and will keep it close at hand for many years."—John L. Parker, author of Once a Runner___________ For anyone who loves reading as much as running, The Runner's Literary Companion is the ultimate pleasure. It contains all the greatest appearances of runners in indelible scenes from classic running novels, and unforgettable short stories and poems. Whether you are a weekend jogger or an Olympic contender, whether a sprinter or a marathoner, or anything in between, if you are a thinking runner, this book has something that will set your heart racing, or send you out the door in running shoes, or simply bring a smile of recognition to your face—the recognition of kindred souls.These twenty-four stories and twenty-four poems are told in a splendid mix of voices and literary styles. They include a love story, two war stories, and a horror story; several murders and a surreal comedy. But they all are teeming with runners. They feature characters who are present in the lives of many runners Quenton Cassidy, the young miler in John L. Parker's cult novel, Once a Runner, Smith, the fierce rebel of The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner, and Archie Hamilton, the ill-fated sprinter from Gallipoli. New heroes (and some villains) abound, ranging from the shy, persistent high school runner, John Sobieski, to James Tabor's nameless avenging drifter, who acts out every runner's darkest violent impulse. Not to mention Pete Nilson and Brad Townes, two marathoners who (for different reasons) run themselves near to death, and find there strange bliss and redemption. And Hazel Elizabeth Deborah Parker (Squeaky), a girl in Harlem whose sprinting brings her joy and strength.Besides the extraordinary characters, and some plots which could adrenalize the dead, these stories and poems offer beautiful, inspiring descriptions of the physical act of running. The Runner's Literary Companion contains running as every runner dreams of it—fluid, powerful, and graceful. It anatomizes the vast complexity of this seemingly simple act. And it finds equal nobility in champions and unknowns. Each story and poem pulses with courage, fear, pain, hope, and elation.Fiction and poetry share with running an exhilaration and an intensity; they concentrate and magnify real life. The Runner's Literary Companion, by gathering these stories and poems, offers a glimpse of running as the transcendent thing it can be. And above all, this book will bring hours of reading pleasure to anyone who runs, or who once ran, or who hopes to run someday.
349 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 1994
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357 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 15, 2008
I read this years ago when it was newly published (1994) but then it went into a box and was "lost" for quite some time until I unearthed it a couple of weeks ago. I immediately dove in again as I am a much more seasoned and experienced runner and I expected I would love this book even more the second time around. I was not wrong.
November 26, 2022
Due to its publication date, it obviously feels pretty dated, and a new version of this idea with some modern examples put in and some of these older ones taken out would be welcome. However, I still found it worthwhile - as a runner who normally only reads about running in manuals - to experience the more exciting internal character play that went on in some of these, and the historical perspective was also welcome. One or two of the excerpts were genuinely exciting to read, and I respect the philosphy of the whole endeavor set out in the intro. It doesn't quite fulfill, but that's ok. 3.5stars
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August 7, 2011Picked this up randomly because I was in the mood. I liked the fact it was an anthology and appreciated the way the editor grouped different stories and poems based on different themes/aspects of running. I enjoyed the first 3 chapters the most, followed by the section on "madness and murder" because of the edge to some of the stories. Overall an enjoyable and at times inspirational read, but in my view you have to be interested in running to find it of any interest. I think it would be challenging for a non-runner or someone who had no interest in the topic at all.
August 27, 2011
reading and running. what's better?
June 12, 2022
This is awful, the literary equivalent of a pasty, weak-chinned cross-country runner plodding along in last place, picking his way carefully over logs and tiptoeing across a stream, all the while dreaming of glory. I'll credit the editor and whatever editorial team supported him for looking long and hard for literary coverage of running -- given that it spans nearly a century of writing and comes from a wide range of sources -- but other than that there's nothing to recommend in this book. It's surprising that their research yielded such dreck.
Truly, it's hard to find a single piece worth reading. "Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner" is a classic, but this book has only an excerpt, and besides, that story is in a dozen anthologies (non-running) already. So it's a waste to read that story in this book. There's a Joyce Carol Oates piece about a woman runner that's pretty good, but that only highlights the fact that it's the only piece in which a woman is the protagonist in the entire book (plus a poem or two). The only other women in the book are girlfriends and wives who watch their brave men in the marathon or mile, or mothers who stand teary-eyed when some bad fate is going to befall their sons. To a great extent, the omission of women reflects the state of running until the 1970s -- not the fault of the compilers of this book in the early 1990s -- but maybe, just maybe they should have tried harder to find more modern pieces that did include women.
Instead, this is highly leveraged towards England and various schoolboy successes on the cinder track for dear old school and country. The US stories are either childish inspirational pieces ("Saturday Evening Post," etc.) or a ham-handed attempt to give the spooky Flannery O'Connor treatment to running. Really, these are supposed to appeal to an American reader of the last 20 years?
There's also repetition in these stories, such as at least three of them explaining how the third lap of a mile race is the hardest because you're already tired but know you have another lap to go in which you have to give it your all. And because these are cliched stories, in each of them the hero does pull out the win in that final lap, against all expectations.
I had more than enough about how impossible it is to run a marathon, how it's the hardest thing in the world, etc. But with literally more than a million people a year now finishing marathons, this claim falls flat. I've run marathons, and yeah, it's hard, but it's not like going to war or fighting fires in California for 12 hours at a stretch or being an immigrant crossing the border from Mexico.
If you're determined to read this book even after my negative review, you will find a few nuggets worth remembering. In several stories, the runners thought about how strong they feel when things are going well, and I know that feeling well. It's the "runner's high" that keeps us going back through the aches and pains and lost opportunity to do something else on a beautiful weekend morning. But you can read the same type of inspirational material in any issue of "Runner's World" -- and get a few training tips at the same time. That's where I'd invest my money and my reading time.
Truly, it's hard to find a single piece worth reading. "Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner" is a classic, but this book has only an excerpt, and besides, that story is in a dozen anthologies (non-running) already. So it's a waste to read that story in this book. There's a Joyce Carol Oates piece about a woman runner that's pretty good, but that only highlights the fact that it's the only piece in which a woman is the protagonist in the entire book (plus a poem or two). The only other women in the book are girlfriends and wives who watch their brave men in the marathon or mile, or mothers who stand teary-eyed when some bad fate is going to befall their sons. To a great extent, the omission of women reflects the state of running until the 1970s -- not the fault of the compilers of this book in the early 1990s -- but maybe, just maybe they should have tried harder to find more modern pieces that did include women.
Instead, this is highly leveraged towards England and various schoolboy successes on the cinder track for dear old school and country. The US stories are either childish inspirational pieces ("Saturday Evening Post," etc.) or a ham-handed attempt to give the spooky Flannery O'Connor treatment to running. Really, these are supposed to appeal to an American reader of the last 20 years?
There's also repetition in these stories, such as at least three of them explaining how the third lap of a mile race is the hardest because you're already tired but know you have another lap to go in which you have to give it your all. And because these are cliched stories, in each of them the hero does pull out the win in that final lap, against all expectations.
I had more than enough about how impossible it is to run a marathon, how it's the hardest thing in the world, etc. But with literally more than a million people a year now finishing marathons, this claim falls flat. I've run marathons, and yeah, it's hard, but it's not like going to war or fighting fires in California for 12 hours at a stretch or being an immigrant crossing the border from Mexico.
If you're determined to read this book even after my negative review, you will find a few nuggets worth remembering. In several stories, the runners thought about how strong they feel when things are going well, and I know that feeling well. It's the "runner's high" that keeps us going back through the aches and pains and lost opportunity to do something else on a beautiful weekend morning. But you can read the same type of inspirational material in any issue of "Runner's World" -- and get a few training tips at the same time. That's where I'd invest my money and my reading time.
May 12, 2019
This was good to read a little of every night. Like almost any general sports book it was predictably male-dominated, but there are some good stories and poems with women athletes too. The influence of the Boston Marathon on almost any literature about marathons was definitely noticeable. Also, after reading this, I'm glad I was never a miler.
January 3, 2025
What a surprise - this book (anthology) was really good. I didn't know what to expect, but the stories were well written and engaging. I picked it up because one of my sons is a runner and figured it would give us something to talk about. Glad to have "run across" this book in a Little Free Library book donation.
April 14, 2022
I ended up skipping around a lot since I found some stories more interesting than others.
June 5, 2024
It’s hard to rate an anthology when some stories are 1 star and others are 5. Some of these authors were definitely under the influence of drugs. Oh, and someone please check on Joyce Carol Oates.
February 17, 2025
Most of the stories are quite dated, but if you ran track especially, there are many stories that bring back memories.
April 25, 2011
Runners will enjoy the stories, excerpts and poetry about running.
December 16, 2010
It's just a great collection of short stories about running and the impact it has on peoples lives.
January 9, 2013
VERY very good collection of literary pieces that deal with running. I like this book a lot. Interesting, moving, inspirational...the whole ball of wax!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews