The Long Run

Most of us would agree that our book budget is much too limited, but the first thing I did when I started to read this book was to buy it for a friend that needed to read it. He attended a Catholic boys' school in New England. I grew up as a ward-of-the-court in the 1950's in a county-run home for girls in NW PA and can recognize the "below the radar" life of the Dare Club boys. They are as vivid in my mind as my long-ago "home sisters." I claim them as the brothers we never had.If you want a reading experience that lingers in the memory as a real-life experience, this is the book that will do that. You will smile and cry and roll on the floor laughing with the boys. The courage and spiritual bouyancy of youth will refresh your own as they meet both heartbreak and horror head-on, and you will share in their triumph.

With the plethora of novels on today's market, it is indeed a rare experience to read a novel with characters you feel an instant connection to and who cause you to feel that gut-wrenching desire to see them do well as their story unfolds. Mr. Fury jolts his reader onto the scene experiencing, seeing and feeling his characters' story from the very first page. Knowing the story was about boys living in an orphanage run by Catholic brothers in the 1960's, I fully expected to be depressed and saddened after the read. Nothing could have been further from my stereotypical expectation. You'll laugh, cry and ultimately feel uplifted by the spirit of belonging and family that is so eloquently woven into the realities, good, bad and indifferent, of the lives of these orphan boys whose spirit and story stay with you long after you put the book down. Bravo Mr. Furey!

Furey's tale of adolescence is written through the eyes of a Newfoundland orphan. These 'norphan' experiences educate, entertain and move the reader through a 1960's religious, orphanage education system. Injustice, balanced against comedic genius, carries the reader along a wave of well written narrative. The tenacity and perseverance of the orphanage boys reflects a quality we can all respect and admire.Whether it be the monologues and dialogues, the assembly of young Sumo wrestlers in loincloths, eating Diefenbaker meat or mysterious midnight walkers, 'The Long Run,' is a skillfully written, funny and steadfast first-time novel by Furey.

Leo Furey's book "The Long Run" is a wonderful story of struggle and challenge in youth. It is a beautiful reminder of how we all need human contact and emotional connections with one another. In the absence of family, these youth created their own, with strong bonds and friendships that carried them through the daily adversities they each faced. A truly enjoyable read!

The Long Run is a wonderful fast-paced read about friendship and pain. I loved the characters, especially Blackie and his clan and I couldn't wait to find out what would happen to them as a result of their scheming and their escapades. The ending is incredible. This book would make a great movie. Read it again and again. You won't be disappointed.