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Running After Antelope
The wildly various stories in Running After Antelope are connected and illuminated by a singular passion: the author's attempt to run down a pronghorn antelope. His pursuit -- odd, funny, and inspired -- is juxtaposed with stories about sibling rivalry, falling in love, and working as a journalist in war-torn countries. Scott Carrier provides a most unique record of a most...more
Paperback, 144 pages
Published
February 28th 2002
by Counterpoint
(first published February 2001)
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Dec 01, 2008
Marissa
rated it
4 of 5 stars
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review of another edition
Recommended to Marissa by:
Grant
Shelves:
non-fiction
This book was really great, as I expected from listening to some of these pieces on This American Life. He has a sort of bewildered writing style that is very unique. His writing has an openness and naivety about it that gives a lot of his observations the ring of truth and makes you connect emotionally to the work in a more immediate way. His style works particularly well in the latter half of the book when he travels to war-torn countries and learns about the unthinkable atrocities that took p...more
A collection of pieces loosely based on the author’s obsession, inspired by his biologist brother’s studies, with literally running down a deer, as some say primitive men once did. In between the attempts to corroborate stories of Indian tribes who do this and trying to catch pronghorns in Wyoming, Carrier shares essays about his divorce, his attempts to produce radio segments on the road, his adventures in hitchhiking, and stories from global hot spots that he did for Esquire. None of these dig...more
Scott Carrier writes stories for NPR's this American life, and this book chronicles a bit of his personal journey. His book jumps from one situation to the next without giving the book a disjointed or detached feel. His writing is down to earth, funny and flatly gutsy all at once.
Towards the end he tells the story of being in Chiapas trying to get an interview with a political leader. He met a 23 year old girl there working in the coffee fields around the villages and she tells him why she's th...more
Towards the end he tells the story of being in Chiapas trying to get an interview with a political leader. He met a 23 year old girl there working in the coffee fields around the villages and she tells him why she's th...more
I heard Carrier reading some stories on NPR's "Wiretap" that he had produced and aired elsewhere, and his voice and style and insight felt like a mix between David Berman and Hunter Thompson. OK, maybe that's forced, but he has a slow, contemplative pace all his own, and it shines in these stories. He seems able to open up entire worlds, be it a suburban alley in Salt Lake or taking in the view from the Foreign Correspondent's Club in Phenom Penh, Cambodia, all with an honest, direct, unpretenti...more
Running After Antelope...remarkably little about running after antelope, remarkably a lot about social injustice and absolutly shitty conditions in other countries (Cambodia, Kashmir province) overseas. But still a rockin' book.
Scott Carrier very much paints himself as a bit of a social misfit, a wandering soul who happens into situations and places where there is deep learning to be had. This book, in its distilled form, is a collection of his stories about those places. Even if he didn't menti...more
Scott Carrier very much paints himself as a bit of a social misfit, a wandering soul who happens into situations and places where there is deep learning to be had. This book, in its distilled form, is a collection of his stories about those places. Even if he didn't menti...more
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I first heard about Scott Carrier when This American Life compiled several of his pieces—some of them authored for radio, others for the written word—into one sort of mixtape. I was at a weird point, pretty much broke, waiting for my work visa, just kicking around a rather seedy little Thai beach town that was trying to make its way onto the tourist map, and somewhere around sunset, I listened to these eerie, detached real life stories while sprawled out on a filthy beach in the shadow of an oil...more
Running After Antelope is a collection of Scott Carrier's contributions to the radio program This American Life. As such, each piece is short and filled with the usual bits that make for good radio: dramatic caesuras, thoughtful codas, etc. I heard one of these pieces and could not get it out of my head for days... which led to my eventual purchasing of this book.
The book has the confessionalism feel of a loosely connected / unconnected memoir. However, what sets Running After Antelope from othe...more
The book has the confessionalism feel of a loosely connected / unconnected memoir. However, what sets Running After Antelope from othe...more
If you have heard any of Scott Carrier's pieces on This American Life, you won't be surprised by the quality of his writing. I read this book over two days and it was almost impossible to put down. You won't exactly feel inspired or happy-go-lucky after reading it: more numb and bewildered by what life sometimes dishes out and you will certainly appreciate the talent of the writer. In a series of relatively short anecdotes, Carrier lays out exactly what it's like to be a struggling writer, often...more
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Short and poignant. I loved the parts about the Seri, the Tarahumara, and running down deer. I know that barefoot/endurance running is really trendy, but it makes a lot of sense and fits well inside my worldview. Other than that, it was pretty thin. It's a disjointed narrative about what a guy does when he wants to stop supporting his family, which is kind of hard to reconcile with how insightful he is the rest of the book.
Really a great read. I love his language. The shortness of some of the stories. Their loose connectedness. If I were his editor, I would have had him put a few more short ones in at the end. I'm not even sure I care what they would be about, I think I'd just prefer that rhythm.
Anyway, I'd recommend it to anyone but I think if you have any connection to the land in Utah, you'll love it.
Anyway, I'd recommend it to anyone but I think if you have any connection to the land in Utah, you'll love it.
Scott Carrier is a kind of free lance journalist that becomes a stringer for places that are war ravaged. The subplot is the evolutionary theory that our species evolved as long distance runners, capable of following large prey for days, until they are able to dispatch they with rocks or by strangulation. His personal life and career often in shambles, it is with a unique voice that he speaks.
I read this on vacation, it was my son-in-law's. I like the writing,and I like that it's a collection of essays so you can read it and put it down when you want. There are a couple of words that I came across, and all the essays aren't equally good, but a few were really great. I like the way he writes a lot, though. It's not wordy and feels real.
I think the reason I enjoyed this book so much is because I love hearing Scott Carrier on the radio. He has a unique voice (literally and figuratively) that adds meaning to the words on the page. I recommend this book on its own merits, but it really stands out when you imagine hearing Carrier read it to you. In recommending this book to others, I recommend first seeking out some of his radio work (TAL and hearingvoices.com) to get the feel...
I read this book after listening to "This American Life" episode by the same name (episode 80). I didn't realize all the "running after antelope" stories were covered in the radio broadcast and, after reading them in print, much prefer the audio presentation (you can listen to it for free at the "This American Life" website). The rest of the stories weren't as interesting to me and I couldn't find a relevant theme that tied them together - I think they were included to pad the book.
Short stories about Scott Carrier's experiences growing up and literally running after antelope with his brother. Interesting perspectives on breathing and running and lots of parallels to barefoot running. He also does some reporting while traveling in Cambodia and Mexico for various magazine articles. Parts taken from "This American Life" on NPR.
Extremely well-written. Only complaint: it's a collection of shorter radio and magazine pieces that tries to cohere around a theme, but doesn't quite. If it billed itself as an anthology I'd have been less disappointed - as currently packaged I was expecting more on the history, lore, and science of, you know, running after antelope.
Yawn. I am a bit disappointed. I picked up this book thinking my sister would love it--- she is a biologist and loves Africa. This does NOT take place in Africa and it is a bunch of disconnected short stories....that are not that interesting. Sigh. I shall continue my hunt for some entertainment.
I first heard Scott Carrier on NPR's 'This American Life'. I enjoyed his radio stories and thought his book might be equally interesting. "Running After Antelope" is a thin collection of short essays about a broad range of topics. The main essays are rather oddly and pointlessly interspersed with short pieces about Carrier's attempt to determine whether it is possible for a man to chase an antelope to the point where it collapses (a technique supposedly used by various tribes in Mexico).
Carrier...more
Carrier...more
Emotionally reticent, but strangely intimate. Carrier's collection is immediately accessible but understated. Carrier reminds readers that there is something worth chasing; even if we don't know what it is; even if we don't know where to find it; even if we know we'll never catch it at all.
Scott Carrier is one of my favorite contributors to This American Life - not only for his stories, but for his delivery. Several of the essays in this collection were broadcast on TAL, so they were like familiar friends. (And I culd hear him reading them in my head.)
I expected the book to be entirely about his pursuit of antelope on foot - instead it was a collection of essays on a range of topics. Some of the best documented his trips to extremely dangerous, volatile places.
My only compaint? T...more
I expected the book to be entirely about his pursuit of antelope on foot - instead it was a collection of essays on a range of topics. Some of the best documented his trips to extremely dangerous, volatile places.
My only compaint? T...more
Personal and touching stories written by someone who has lost touch with the world and is trying to get back.
You may know him from various This American Life episodes. He's sad and brilliant and wonderful.
ahahaha not yet to write a review. however u should run away from that book if u are a normal person:DDDD
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great engaging writing, poorly organized.
I loved this. Pieces of the author's life are presented sparingly and interwoven with stories about truck drivers, brutal war stories, stories about schizophrenia, all of them told in a nonjudgmental and utterly honest voice. The result is surprisingly affecting emotionally as well as informative. Scott Carrier is a master craftsman, the kind who makes it look easy. This book is worth hunting down--or reprinting, for that matter--but if you can't find it, or even if you can, listen to Carrier's...more
Haunting short essays in a lyrical voice. I fell in love with Carrier after 9/11 when he interviewed Lakota Sioux and Amish people about the coming war. The disconnect and phrasing of his story captivated you, and made you realize what a broad continent and world we are in. (Scott Carrier, "Are You Ready?" TAL 9.28.2001 http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio... )
This collection of essays does the same thing: diminishes your size and place in the universe, connects you back to nature and to man.
This collection of essays does the same thing: diminishes your size and place in the universe, connects you back to nature and to man.
I'm a big fan of Scott Carrier's work on This American Life, so I was excited to read this. I'm still deciding wether I was disappointed or not. It is an interesting collection of essays/personal accounts, and Carrier's voice is there, but some how its just not as effective on the page as on the radio.
The title reflects a theme that runs throughout the book, Carrier chasing antelope both literal and metaphorical. It gives a jumping off point for thinking about each piece-- what's the antelope h...more
The title reflects a theme that runs throughout the book, Carrier chasing antelope both literal and metaphorical. It gives a jumping off point for thinking about each piece-- what's the antelope h...more
I really liked this elegant memoir. I had heard Scott Carrier read portions of his book on This American Life, which is why I picked it up. The theme of the book is Carrier's obsession with running an antelope to exhaustion like ancient tribes did. Chapters about this venture over the years are interspersed with memories from Carrier's life. It is about siblings, evolution, and what it means to be human. I read most of this outloud on a roadtrip through Croatia with some girlfriends, then came h...more
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