The Memory of Running

a memorable trip across the US - places and people so real - characters are sad and happy, puzzling yet sympathetic - as are the ones in life today - tho not difficult to put down, you are anxious to get back to reading, won- what the next turn in the road will bring.

The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty is the best book I've read in a very, very long time. Actually, I listened to the book on the suggestion of a friend and am happy I did (the author narrated the audio book version). McLarty's story of the journey of Smithson Ide is a roller-coaster ride that comes full circle in the end. If possible, I highly suggest that interested readers get their hands on the audio version of this book, as McLarty gives voice to the characters in such a way that really captures their essence the way that only the author could provide.

I've never heard of Ron McLarty before I read this book, unlike others. Sorry I missed him even though I probably saw him on t.v. more than once. At any rate, THE MEMORY OF RUNNING is a book I'm glad I didn't miss. I got it because it has a great cover and, yes, sometimes I do pick a book by its cover. Admit it - you do too. And the title was great as well. A slow start, but once I got into it, I didn't want to put it down. I would wake up at 3 a.m. and decide to read for a few minutes and this is something I rarely do with a book. But I did. More than once. Ron McLarty has put together a great story. Compare it to whatever you want, it's not like other things I've read recently. Maybe because I read mostly female authors and literary fiction, it was different, but maybe because it's far from a formula novel and right up there with one that will stay with you for a long time.

Stephen King personally insisted that I read this book (okay, he recommended it to me AND thousands of others in an Entertainment Weekly column) so here I am. His write up was so enthusiastic that I couldn't resist. And I'm glad I didn't.The Memory of Running is the story of Smithson Ide, your everyday boy next door growing up in New England during the 60's. The story is told in a series of flashbacks and narrated by 40something Smithy.Smithy's sister Bethany constantly told him to keep running or he'd turn into a fat ass and she wasn't kidding. Smithy has grown from a slender boy who loved to run into an overweight, junk eating, chain-smoking laze-about with little ambition and a great fondness for the television set. He lives a monotonous, shut-in sort of life but has managed to maintain an aura of sweetness and innocence when, as we learn more of his past, he could've easily become jaded and bitter. When his parents tragically die he revisits his past, rekindles a friendship with a long neglected friend and hops on a bicycle in his funeral suit (!) to work through his grief. During his trip from Rhode Island to California he meets all sorts of fascinating people with stories to tell and recounts his very interesting and often heartbreaking past. The story starts a bit slowly but quickly picks up pace. As it went on I found myself making excuses to stay in the car or take a longer route home so I hear just a few more words. Smithy grew up with an older sister, Bethany, who he, his mom and his pop loved very much. Bethany was beautiful and smart but began to hear "voices" as a young teen. The "voice" makes Bethany do bizarre; out of character, shameful things like strip her clothes in public, tear at her pretty face, stand in odd poses for hours on end and disappear. Smithy spends much of his childhood biking around looking for Bethany and hates Bethany's "voice" though he always continues to love Bethany even when she's cruel. The story flips between Smithy's current day wonderings where he meets all sorts of folks and has some downright odd encounters and flashes back to his past where he goes into detail about important points in his young life; from dating foibles, to the fateful day when a childhood friend's vibrant personality was forever changed and he details many of Bethany's "episodes" which had a huge impact on his young life. You really get to know these folks in the span of this book and I was sorry to let them go when I finished.The story it isn't always perfect (some of the dialogue feels unreal and the story shifts are sometimes too abrupt for my liking) but despite the minor quibbles it is one of the most involving things I've read in quite a while and author McLarty's narration is seamlessly performed. Filled with unexpected twists, beautifully detailed settings and a gut wrenching sense of emotional intensity The Memory of Running is a book I'll be revisiting many times.

This is an abridged version of the Stephen King review of this audio cassette (September 19, 2003, publication of this article in ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY): "My gig at EW isn't writing book reviews, but I can still state with a fair degree of certainty that Ron McLarty's THE MEMORY OF RUNNING is the best novel you won't read this year. but you can experience it, and I'm all but positive that you'll thank me for the tip if you do."MEMORY is the story of 279-pound Smithson Ide, a smokes-too-much, drinks-too-much, eats-too-much haert attack waiting to happen. I mean, this gy is a mess -- a lovely, addled, mess. And then one day, Smithy finds himself riding across American with his 'fat ass' handing over the seat of his boyhood bycycle. He's on his way from Rhode Island [Ron graduated from Rhode Island College's theatre department!] to LA -- where he aims to retrieve his sister's body from the couty morgue -- and along hte road he meets a parade of colorful characters. Unlike Huck Finn's adventures, Smithy's don't amount to literature, but they are always entertaining and sometimes wildly funny. . . . [Ron McLarty, "an actor, playwright, and chronic insomniac who scribbled the tale of Smithy Ide in the wee hours of the morning, on a succession of yellow legal pads," could not get his novel published, but, because he worked as a narrator at Recorded Books, he was able to make an audio cassette of his novel, which King read during his long convalescence after he was hit by a car. He is so impressed with this novel that he wrote this essay. He admits, the first couple of chapters drag, but -- with wise editing -- it will definitely improve. To continue King's essay:]"That THE MEMORY OF RUNNING has found its own little performance stage is a miracle. I hope it won't be a wasted miracle. What I hope is that you'll order a copy and experience it for yourself; I hope, in fact, that EW readers will inundate Recorded Books with orders for Smithy (Smithie?) Ide's adventures. Let's make a little history here, what do you say? If that happens, the book probably will be published. . . . No, it's hot literature (please remember I said that), but it's bighearted and as satisfying as one of your mom's home-cooked Sunday dinners."So why not ride across America with Smithy and root for him as he loses weight, falls in love, and rediscovers life? You'll be striking a low for the good old American novel. More important, you'll do the stuff good novels are supposed to make you do -- laugh a little, cry a little, maybe ride (or jog) an extra time around the block in order to find out what happens next. You'll also discover a fine American voice . . . and actually get to hear it talking. "Do I want some of the credit if this nice thing happens?"You know I do."Tell 'em Steve sent you."Just after this article was published, on October 6, 2003, on the online version of VARIETY magainze (the entertainment industry's professional magazine), this was published: "W