I picked this up expecting an academic tutorial on how to run barefoot without my feet hurting (don't ask why). Instead, I got caught up in an intricate web of self-discovery spanning hundreds of miles and characters as colorful as the terrain they dared to brave.

It's delivered in a subtely unusual grammatical style - some may find long-running sentences and quips of spanglish distracting - that may have you running for the thesarus at first, but once you settle in, it'll be a glide. I even picked up a few things; some spanish and lessons about what's important in life from a hippie! :). I think even non-runners will find this a good read.

A word of warning, it does include expletives in some parts. These capture the essence of the characters but can rub some readers the wrong way. All in all, I definitely recommend.

A note about my rating; this was such a great read that it was hard not giving it a five. It was equally tough giving it a four but reading Laura H's Unbroken before this didn't help the cause. A 4.5 would probably have been more accurate but goodreads doesnt mess around with the half points.