I found the subject matter interesting, and learned a bit about the theories that underlie the whole barefoot running thing. The chapter on evolutionary biology was particularly intriguing, albeit written as a really dumbed down narrative about two particular scientists.

This brings me to my main complaint about the book, which is the writing style. As others have pointed out, this book reads like one long magazine article. It's full of exaggeration, breathless hyperbole, over-the-top characterization, and obvious narrative hooks that had me constantly rolling my eyes. It just doesn't feel very authentic, and there's a lot of deeper issues left unexplored. Instead, we get pointless descriptions of crazy, whacky ultra runners and their all night benders.

I was also a little uncomfortable with his descriptions of the Tarahumara, who he describes very much as the classic "noble savages," a magical group of indigenous people who hold secret wisdom. Little attention is paid to their lives, circumstances, or perspectives on anything, even running. To be fair, the author describes them as shy and reclusive, but stil, I was left feeling they were portrayed more as stereotypes than human beings, albeit highly romanticized stereotypes.

I can honestly see why this book would be inspiring to so many, and it did give me some ideas to think about, particularly the way the modern world has divorced us from our bodies. But for me, this was a book that could have been much, much better.