I don’t usually get that into writing book/movie reviews about running.  Heck, I am not even that into talking about them (movies that is, I love books).  Often times they don’t seem to quite capture the idea, spirit, meaning of running.  Though books like Once a Runner, Strides, etc do a pretty damn good job.  I also don’t critique that often because I feel like I stink at writing and people’s jobs involve critiquing for pay.  Plus, I am not that critical. I took a photography class in college where an assignment was to analyze photographs by luminaries and classmates.  I saw a nice picture, our professor saw lines and meaning and all of that biznit.  I like being entertained, hard to be critical when that is your standard.

Anyways, picked this book up recently.  Holy s#*$ was it good.  A biography written by Laura Hillenbrand (Seabiscuit).  I mean it IS a story about running, but so much more than that.  Quick synopsis:  Louis Zamperini, Italian-American living in CA, uses running as an escape for his energies (think Michael Phelps).  He becomes awesome, earning 7th at the 1936 Berlin Olympics in only his 5th 5k ever.  He joins the military at he beginning of WWII and the book goes on to tell about his experiences there, which are freaking off the wall in a “surviving plane crash, weeks at sea, POW camp” kind of way.  While there are thousands of stories about WWII that are mind boggling, this is one that anyone could enjoy.  Please, please go to your library/book store/digital store to check-out/buy/download this story.  Ask my wife, she literally had to take the book from me a couple of times.