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八百萬種走法：一個小說家的步行人生
你不必跑贏別人才能當贏家，只需要跑完。然後說，
不過是一場馬拉松！
．說來奇妙，只要內心深處認為自己有潛力，你的目標就有可能實現。
．據說，參加馬拉松就像生孩子，只要經過一段時間，成功忘記第一次有多恐怖，你就可以再來一次。
．我不知道我能堅持多久，但話說回來，我也不知道我還能維持多久的心跳。只要可以，我就會繼續去走馬拉松。
當代美國偵探小說大師卜洛克告訴你：
跑步和寫作一樣，你只需要一步一步前進。
你或許完全不認識他，但你熱愛跑步、馬拉松、競走，那麼你或許會想看看這位小說家如何在39歲（1977）的某天突然開始跑步，42歲開始參加競走馬拉松（同年寫出《八百萬種死法》）；他曾經一年參加四十場賽事，而且從來不曾在抵達終點線前半途而廢，也曾中斷了比賽20多年才重拾參賽熱情，甚至在67歲時挑戰24小時耐力賽（並且遇到比他還振奮的參賽者，因為這小子才58歲）。
你或許知道他是暢銷小說家、偵探小說大師，但你可能不知道他在寫一部部作品的同時，還參加過無數馬拉松賽，並且熱愛競走運動。
你或許熟悉他筆下的無照私探馬修、殺手凱勒、雅賊柏尼和睡不著的間諜譚納，但你可能不知道他也曾和馬修一樣到教堂點蠟燭紀念離去的朋友、和凱勒一樣集過郵，曾和妻子琳恩一同去西班牙走過朝聖之路，旅途中意外在巴斯克鄉間某家旅店，看到電視上在播放電影《八百萬種死法》的配音版……
這是小說家卜洛克迄今唯一自傳，也是一本最動人、深刻、幽默的步行歷險記。
只有小說家能把充滿疼痛與疲憊的馬拉松，寫得這麼妙趣橫生！
在創造出那些經典小說角色、成為紐約時報暢銷小說家之前，卜洛克是個步行者。
小時候因為不會騎腳踏車，他總是從學校走路回家；大學時期他持續走路，直到有能力買第一輛車代步；成年以後，他開始跑馬拉松，直到他發現競走運動將成為他一生的熱愛（儘管有人不認為這是運動）。那時他已經花了大量時間在紐約行走漫步，然而最終競走讓他去到全國各地，從紐奧良到阿拉斯加安克拉治，比賽環境從炙熱無比到下著傾盆大雨。這一路上，他寫出一本本作品，讓他的名字在全世界推理迷中家喻戶曉。
在這本動人、深刻且幽默的回憶錄中，卜洛克分享了他自身的故事：小時候參加的童子軍活動；中學時如何開始產生當作家的念頭；大學時為了繼續在紐約的文學經紀公司工作而休學；在結束一段戀情後，搭巴士在美國境內參加一個又一個馬拉松賽，並且從此讓走路、跑步與競走，成為生活的一部分。
他以輕鬆幽默的筆調，回顧其生命各階段的片段事件，以及一次次挑戰自己身體極限的參賽，通過他的冒險旅程：24小時馬拉松、西班牙朝聖之路，讀者可以看到他生命中的困難與考驗，不安與成功，在疼痛、失望與挫敗中對賽事的堅持與毅力（雖然有時可能只是為了拿到主辦單位發的T恤），認識到之前所不知道的小說家卜洛克，同時發現跑步與競走運動迷人也磨人之處。
不過是一場馬拉松！
．說來奇妙，只要內心深處認為自己有潛力，你的目標就有可能實現。
．據說，參加馬拉松就像生孩子，只要經過一段時間，成功忘記第一次有多恐怖，你就可以再來一次。
．我不知道我能堅持多久，但話說回來，我也不知道我還能維持多久的心跳。只要可以，我就會繼續去走馬拉松。
當代美國偵探小說大師卜洛克告訴你：
跑步和寫作一樣，你只需要一步一步前進。
你或許完全不認識他，但你熱愛跑步、馬拉松、競走，那麼你或許會想看看這位小說家如何在39歲（1977）的某天突然開始跑步，42歲開始參加競走馬拉松（同年寫出《八百萬種死法》）；他曾經一年參加四十場賽事，而且從來不曾在抵達終點線前半途而廢，也曾中斷了比賽20多年才重拾參賽熱情，甚至在67歲時挑戰24小時耐力賽（並且遇到比他還振奮的參賽者，因為這小子才58歲）。
你或許知道他是暢銷小說家、偵探小說大師，但你可能不知道他在寫一部部作品的同時，還參加過無數馬拉松賽，並且熱愛競走運動。
你或許熟悉他筆下的無照私探馬修、殺手凱勒、雅賊柏尼和睡不著的間諜譚納，但你可能不知道他也曾和馬修一樣到教堂點蠟燭紀念離去的朋友、和凱勒一樣集過郵，曾和妻子琳恩一同去西班牙走過朝聖之路，旅途中意外在巴斯克鄉間某家旅店，看到電視上在播放電影《八百萬種死法》的配音版……
這是小說家卜洛克迄今唯一自傳，也是一本最動人、深刻、幽默的步行歷險記。
只有小說家能把充滿疼痛與疲憊的馬拉松，寫得這麼妙趣橫生！
在創造出那些經典小說角色、成為紐約時報暢銷小說家之前，卜洛克是個步行者。
小時候因為不會騎腳踏車，他總是從學校走路回家；大學時期他持續走路，直到有能力買第一輛車代步；成年以後，他開始跑馬拉松，直到他發現競走運動將成為他一生的熱愛（儘管有人不認為這是運動）。那時他已經花了大量時間在紐約行走漫步，然而最終競走讓他去到全國各地，從紐奧良到阿拉斯加安克拉治，比賽環境從炙熱無比到下著傾盆大雨。這一路上，他寫出一本本作品，讓他的名字在全世界推理迷中家喻戶曉。
在這本動人、深刻且幽默的回憶錄中，卜洛克分享了他自身的故事：小時候參加的童子軍活動；中學時如何開始產生當作家的念頭；大學時為了繼續在紐約的文學經紀公司工作而休學；在結束一段戀情後，搭巴士在美國境內參加一個又一個馬拉松賽，並且從此讓走路、跑步與競走，成為生活的一部分。
他以輕鬆幽默的筆調，回顧其生命各階段的片段事件，以及一次次挑戰自己身體極限的參賽，通過他的冒險旅程：24小時馬拉松、西班牙朝聖之路，讀者可以看到他生命中的困難與考驗，不安與成功，在疼痛、失望與挫敗中對賽事的堅持與毅力（雖然有時可能只是為了拿到主辦單位發的T恤），認識到之前所不知道的小說家卜洛克，同時發現跑步與競走運動迷人也磨人之處。
368 pages, Paperback
First published May 13, 2009
14 people are currently reading
148 people want to read
About the author
Lawrence Block
757 books3,009 followersLawrence Block has been writing crime, mystery, and suspense fiction for more than half a century. He has published in excess (oh, wretched excess!) of 100 books, and no end of short stories.
Born in Buffalo, N.Y., LB attended Antioch College, but left before completing his studies; school authorities advised him that they felt he’d be happier elsewhere, and he thought this was remarkably perceptive of them.
His earliest work, published pseudonymously in the late 1950s, was mostly in the field of midcentury erotica, an apprenticeship he shared with Donald E. Westlake and Robert Silverberg. The first time Lawrence Block’s name appeared in print was when his short story “You Can’t Lose” was published in the February 1958 issue of Manhunt. The first book published under his own name was Mona (1961); it was reissued several times over the years, once as Sweet Slow Death. In 2005 it became the first offering from Hard Case Crime, and bore for the first time LB’s original title, Grifter’s Game.
LB is best known for his series characters, including cop-turned-private investigator Matthew Scudder, gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, globe-trotting insomniac Evan Tanner, and introspective assassin Keller.
Because one name is never enough, LB has also published under pseudonyms including Jill Emerson, John Warren Wells, Lesley Evans, and Anne Campbell Clarke.
LB’s magazine appearances include American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, Linn’s Stamp News, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and The New York Times. His monthly instructional column ran in Writer’s Digest for 14 years, and led to a string of books for writers, including the classics Telling Lies for Fun & Profit and The Liar’s Bible. He has also written episodic television (Tilt!) and the Wong Kar-wai film, My Blueberry Nights.
Several of LB’s books have been filmed. The latest, A Walk Among the Tombstones, stars Liam Neeson as Matthew Scudder and is scheduled for release in September, 2014.
LB is a Grand Master of Mystery Writers of America, and a past president of MWA and the Private Eye Writers of America. He has won the Edgar and Shamus awards four times each, and the Japanese Maltese Falcon award twice, as well as the Nero Wolfe and Philip Marlowe awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Diamond Dagger for Life Achievement from the Crime Writers Association (UK). He’s also been honored with the Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award from Mystery Ink magazine and the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement in the short story. In France, he has been proclaimed a Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice been awarded the Societe 813 trophy. He has been a guest of honor at Bouchercon and at book fairs and mystery festivals in France, Germany, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and Taiwan. As if that were not enough, he was also presented with the key to the city of Muncie, Indiana. (But as soon as he left, they changed the locks.)
LB and his wife Lynne are enthusiastic New Yorkers and relentless world travelers; the two are members of the Travelers Century Club, and have visited around 160 countries.
He is a modest and humble fellow, although you would never guess as much from this biographical note.
Born in Buffalo, N.Y., LB attended Antioch College, but left before completing his studies; school authorities advised him that they felt he’d be happier elsewhere, and he thought this was remarkably perceptive of them.
His earliest work, published pseudonymously in the late 1950s, was mostly in the field of midcentury erotica, an apprenticeship he shared with Donald E. Westlake and Robert Silverberg. The first time Lawrence Block’s name appeared in print was when his short story “You Can’t Lose” was published in the February 1958 issue of Manhunt. The first book published under his own name was Mona (1961); it was reissued several times over the years, once as Sweet Slow Death. In 2005 it became the first offering from Hard Case Crime, and bore for the first time LB’s original title, Grifter’s Game.
LB is best known for his series characters, including cop-turned-private investigator Matthew Scudder, gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, globe-trotting insomniac Evan Tanner, and introspective assassin Keller.
Because one name is never enough, LB has also published under pseudonyms including Jill Emerson, John Warren Wells, Lesley Evans, and Anne Campbell Clarke.
LB’s magazine appearances include American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, Linn’s Stamp News, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and The New York Times. His monthly instructional column ran in Writer’s Digest for 14 years, and led to a string of books for writers, including the classics Telling Lies for Fun & Profit and The Liar’s Bible. He has also written episodic television (Tilt!) and the Wong Kar-wai film, My Blueberry Nights.
Several of LB’s books have been filmed. The latest, A Walk Among the Tombstones, stars Liam Neeson as Matthew Scudder and is scheduled for release in September, 2014.
LB is a Grand Master of Mystery Writers of America, and a past president of MWA and the Private Eye Writers of America. He has won the Edgar and Shamus awards four times each, and the Japanese Maltese Falcon award twice, as well as the Nero Wolfe and Philip Marlowe awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Diamond Dagger for Life Achievement from the Crime Writers Association (UK). He’s also been honored with the Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award from Mystery Ink magazine and the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement in the short story. In France, he has been proclaimed a Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice been awarded the Societe 813 trophy. He has been a guest of honor at Bouchercon and at book fairs and mystery festivals in France, Germany, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and Taiwan. As if that were not enough, he was also presented with the key to the city of Muncie, Indiana. (But as soon as he left, they changed the locks.)
LB and his wife Lynne are enthusiastic New Yorkers and relentless world travelers; the two are members of the Travelers Century Club, and have visited around 160 countries.
He is a modest and humble fellow, although you would never guess as much from this biographical note.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
July 30, 2019
When you're a big fan of a prolific novelist, it's sometimes difficult to picture them enjoying other stuff. You tend to have this image of them, hunched over typewriters or keyboards, pounding away at whatever novel comes next. When they're not writing, they're reading, absorbing the work of so many others so that it recombines and reconfigures and adds and subtracts and becomes something brand new. When Stephen King releases On Writing, it makes sense. I wasn't prepared for a book on race-walking by Lawrence Block.
I love Block. His three recurring-character series focusing on Keller (the hit man), Scudder (the PI), and Bernie Rhodenbarr (the gentleman burglar) have managed to fill the Spenser-sized void in my life for the past few years. I've enjoyed a lot of his one-offs, especially Getting Off and Defender of the Innocent and The Girl With the Deep Blue Eyes. More, I've liked Block's books about writing - his approach to the craft and how he's worked to perfect it.
When, in his latest newsletter, Block entreated fans to take a listen to the new audio version of his memoir about footraces and let him know what we thought, well, I was game but skeptical. I don't care about running races. I live in Boston and the Marathon is interesting, but I don't really pay that much attention. How was I going to care about a long book, whose audio version wasn't even read by Block himself, about a subject I care nothing about?
Here's why: because it's not a book about race-walking (a sort of hybrid type of racing that's not running but not quite the power-walking, either), not really. It's a book about experience, and determination, and self-will. It's also a book about an old writer who considers himself, questions his origins as he explicates them, but, almost paradoxically, refuses to ponder deeply the reasons why he races, and why he walks.
Block's brilliance in this book is in not bogging the work down with detailed descriptions of the same sorts of races over and over. Once we understand what race-walking is, and what a standard race (or half-marathon, or marathon) is, we move along; subsequent similar races are summed up. We're here for the surmounting achievements, the way that Block, in his upper 60s, pushes past his own barriers and wins on his own terms.
There's also a lengthy, alternately serious and hilarious segment focusing on Block and his wife Lynn's walk across Spain via the Camino de Santiago. Block brings his trademark wit and casually nonstop storytelling to this section; one of my favorite parts was in how Block and Lynn maintained their sobriety by holding impromptu meetings daily, and during stressful moments along their journey. If you're a fan of Matt Scudder, you know how important the meetings can be; for some reason, I never quite connected Scudder's sobriety with Block's; here, it makes perfect sense.
The meetings become an integral part of Block's denoument, as well. Near the end of Step By Step, Block finds himself losing touch and verve with the things that brought him the most pleasure, especially the three Rs: writing, reading, and racing. I won't say what the outcome is, or exactly how the meetings play a part, because Block is better at telling it than I am at summing it up.
That's another thing: Block's writing - always accessible and exciting and often plain-spoken - is simply magnificent here. Despite me saying that this book isn't really about racing or race-walking, there are quite a few moments in which Block offers stats on his run/walk times. The fact that he can make that interesting and not feel bogged down in numbers is a testament to the quality of the man's prose.
One thing about the audio: it's always a little weird listening to the audiobook of a memoir not read by the author. You can get bogged down in the "wait, YOU didn't do this in your childhood; you weren't even BORN yet." It can be especially odd if you've heard the author read any of their other books, and like what you've heard (as I have with Block, whose craggy, New York inflections give some of his audiobooks a flavor and verisimilitude I love). That said, narrator Michael Bonner gets you past those preconceptions very quickly. He has his own take on Block's pauses and asides that are almost immediately charming, and by the time you're on the Camino, the tenor of Bonner's voice has woven into Block's recollection so well that you forget it's not Block speaking to you.
You don't have to like racing, or walking as a sport, to like this book, though it may help. You don't have to like Lawrence Block's novels to like this book, though it will give you some flavor and a sense of his greater struggle with writer's block. All you have to like is a tale well told, and on that measure, Step By Step is anything but pedestrian.
I love Block. His three recurring-character series focusing on Keller (the hit man), Scudder (the PI), and Bernie Rhodenbarr (the gentleman burglar) have managed to fill the Spenser-sized void in my life for the past few years. I've enjoyed a lot of his one-offs, especially Getting Off and Defender of the Innocent and The Girl With the Deep Blue Eyes. More, I've liked Block's books about writing - his approach to the craft and how he's worked to perfect it.
When, in his latest newsletter, Block entreated fans to take a listen to the new audio version of his memoir about footraces and let him know what we thought, well, I was game but skeptical. I don't care about running races. I live in Boston and the Marathon is interesting, but I don't really pay that much attention. How was I going to care about a long book, whose audio version wasn't even read by Block himself, about a subject I care nothing about?
Here's why: because it's not a book about race-walking (a sort of hybrid type of racing that's not running but not quite the power-walking, either), not really. It's a book about experience, and determination, and self-will. It's also a book about an old writer who considers himself, questions his origins as he explicates them, but, almost paradoxically, refuses to ponder deeply the reasons why he races, and why he walks.
Block's brilliance in this book is in not bogging the work down with detailed descriptions of the same sorts of races over and over. Once we understand what race-walking is, and what a standard race (or half-marathon, or marathon) is, we move along; subsequent similar races are summed up. We're here for the surmounting achievements, the way that Block, in his upper 60s, pushes past his own barriers and wins on his own terms.
There's also a lengthy, alternately serious and hilarious segment focusing on Block and his wife Lynn's walk across Spain via the Camino de Santiago. Block brings his trademark wit and casually nonstop storytelling to this section; one of my favorite parts was in how Block and Lynn maintained their sobriety by holding impromptu meetings daily, and during stressful moments along their journey. If you're a fan of Matt Scudder, you know how important the meetings can be; for some reason, I never quite connected Scudder's sobriety with Block's; here, it makes perfect sense.
The meetings become an integral part of Block's denoument, as well. Near the end of Step By Step, Block finds himself losing touch and verve with the things that brought him the most pleasure, especially the three Rs: writing, reading, and racing. I won't say what the outcome is, or exactly how the meetings play a part, because Block is better at telling it than I am at summing it up.
That's another thing: Block's writing - always accessible and exciting and often plain-spoken - is simply magnificent here. Despite me saying that this book isn't really about racing or race-walking, there are quite a few moments in which Block offers stats on his run/walk times. The fact that he can make that interesting and not feel bogged down in numbers is a testament to the quality of the man's prose.
One thing about the audio: it's always a little weird listening to the audiobook of a memoir not read by the author. You can get bogged down in the "wait, YOU didn't do this in your childhood; you weren't even BORN yet." It can be especially odd if you've heard the author read any of their other books, and like what you've heard (as I have with Block, whose craggy, New York inflections give some of his audiobooks a flavor and verisimilitude I love). That said, narrator Michael Bonner gets you past those preconceptions very quickly. He has his own take on Block's pauses and asides that are almost immediately charming, and by the time you're on the Camino, the tenor of Bonner's voice has woven into Block's recollection so well that you forget it's not Block speaking to you.
You don't have to like racing, or walking as a sport, to like this book, though it may help. You don't have to like Lawrence Block's novels to like this book, though it will give you some flavor and a sense of his greater struggle with writer's block. All you have to like is a tale well told, and on that measure, Step By Step is anything but pedestrian.
June 13, 2021
Such an enjoyable audiobook. This will keep me going until I get that limited SST book in a few months.
Well...maybe. I've got so many of his books still to read.
Well...maybe. I've got so many of his books still to read.
Read
January 12, 2025Your mileage will depend on how much you enjoy Lawrence Block's voice, which I personally find very likable and comforting. I read three of his Scudder novels a couple years ago and have been meaning to check his other works, but - at least in Minnesota - I've found his novels hard to find in both used and new bookstores. So, this was an online order (unwittingly of the HarperLuxe imprint; big font, more pages) and a great first-of-the-year read. Here, Block tells a sort of autobiography via the theme of walking, whether that's trips he took at scout camp, a pilgrimage (of sorts) across Northern Spain, or his many racewalking events. It's a digressive read, the prose is concise, and the events recalled are sometimes mundane. (Though his racewalking achievements are impressive to these eyes.) But, like I mentioned up top, it's Block's telling of the events that draws you forward. His writing is dry, witty, and self-deprecating. He is also obviously very well-read and well-trained in the craft of storytelling. As a Minnesota native, it was charming to hear about his 24-hour race around Lake Nokomis; in general, I also enjoyed his forays into the racewalking world and, more specifically, the account of his time in Spain. Recommended.
April 15, 2012
Considering how well Mr. Block spins a story, I was a little disappointed in the lack of throughline in his memoir. I can't say it lacked insight, but I'm used to reading memoirs in which the author mines their emotions and I didn't feel that in this book. Racewalking was the central theme, but that alone didn't seem enough. The ending also left me wanting. It was if he tired of writing the book and so he simply ended it. While I can relate to that feeling, abandoning your reader is never a good idea. Still, there was much pleasantness in this book which is part travelogue, part sports diary, part memoir. I related to much of his racing and training experiences and envied his ability to travel anywhere he wanted to run a marathon or an all-day race. I also envied his writing productivity and general ability to simply sit down and finish a book! Then again, he was under contract for most of the books he mentioned and a deadline does wonders for productivity. All in all, I'm glad I read about the many adventures racewalking has brought to his life and I hope he has many more.
July 22, 2009
A witty and entertaining memoir that will be enjoyed by walkers and non-walkers alike. Tons of humorous tidbits made me laugh aloud frequently, which is really saying something since I think I might be humor-impaired ;). Racewalkers and runners will especially enjoy the race and training stories, though no one could fail to get a kick out of one of the tales about the Anchorage Midnight Sun Marathon --- ah, but I will not spoil it for you. You need to read this one!
August 16, 2009
Block's memoir of his career as an amateur runner-turned-racewalker is a lot better than it sounds. But, except for when he walked a famous across-Spain pilgrimage (the highlight of which is a rabbit fucking a chicken), he's writing about walking around in circles. Enagagingly, wittily and well, but ultimately, it's just about walking around in circles. All I can say is that when Block was ready to give up racewalking, so was I.
June 28, 2011
I enjoyed this book, but I think it does require a slightly indulgent reader. Much of the book details Block's obsession with long distance racewalking, a topic I wouldn't have necessarily chosen to read about. But his distinctive voice and humor kept me reading. I think fans of his other work would enjoy this book, and it's refreshingly NOT an oversharing alcoholic's diary or something.
October 7, 2010
Block walks, at home in New York or on the pilgrimage trail to Santiago de Compostela. Either makes for unexpectedly fascinating and moving (pun unintended...) reading, full of the trademark Block dry humor.
February 17, 2022
I haven’t read any Lawrence Block novels in decades, and now I have to change that. I don’t even know which ones I’ve read to record them here on Goodreads, but I remember enjoying them greatly.
A friend told me about his memoir because I’m a runner, road racer, have done “some” marathons, and have walked the Camino de Santiago. All experiences Block writes about in this memoir. This combined with my admiration for his writing made for many hours of entertainment for me. He is funny, relatable psychologically, and simply tells great stories. The mental gymnastics he goes through to make himself be disciplined (or not!) to exercise, eat right, and work consistently, rings all the same bells for me. He wrote this book at the age I am now (late 60s), so those thought processes about aging also resonated.
Block writes in his introduction that the book, by its nature, is self-indulgent. That could be said of the entire genre, and I find that I do get bored with a lot of the details some memoirists include, even, on occasion, this one. It’s a long book, and there are many details about race times, paces, etc. But the writing and humorous turns of phrase kept me engaged, and I found myself inspired to continue pushing myself to keep moving forward, one step at a time, here in my twilight years. I might even switch to race walking some day…
A friend told me about his memoir because I’m a runner, road racer, have done “some” marathons, and have walked the Camino de Santiago. All experiences Block writes about in this memoir. This combined with my admiration for his writing made for many hours of entertainment for me. He is funny, relatable psychologically, and simply tells great stories. The mental gymnastics he goes through to make himself be disciplined (or not!) to exercise, eat right, and work consistently, rings all the same bells for me. He wrote this book at the age I am now (late 60s), so those thought processes about aging also resonated.
Block writes in his introduction that the book, by its nature, is self-indulgent. That could be said of the entire genre, and I find that I do get bored with a lot of the details some memoirists include, even, on occasion, this one. It’s a long book, and there are many details about race times, paces, etc. But the writing and humorous turns of phrase kept me engaged, and I found myself inspired to continue pushing myself to keep moving forward, one step at a time, here in my twilight years. I might even switch to race walking some day…
April 26, 2021
This is my 3rd time reading this, & in a few years i'll likely read it again. I'm not sure why, since there's certainly no shortage of Block's brilliant writing out there, under his name & many of his pen names.
I was tempted to give this 4 stars because I want it to be a full memoir. The race walking is inspiring, interesting, & a good anchor for Block to occasionally stray from. But I want a multi volume complete autobiography covering his many interests .....a volume about addiction & recovery, a volume about relationships, a volume about writing, a volume about travel etc. Of course, Block is a relatively private person, so what we have is what we are going to get. And I can't knock a star off because of that .....it's not as if it was falsely advertised. I can't lower the rating on an Abbot & Costello movie because it's not a chilling Whodunit . This book is as advertised & more from my favourite writer, & recommended to any & all.
I was tempted to give this 4 stars because I want it to be a full memoir. The race walking is inspiring, interesting, & a good anchor for Block to occasionally stray from. But I want a multi volume complete autobiography covering his many interests .....a volume about addiction & recovery, a volume about relationships, a volume about writing, a volume about travel etc. Of course, Block is a relatively private person, so what we have is what we are going to get. And I can't knock a star off because of that .....it's not as if it was falsely advertised. I can't lower the rating on an Abbot & Costello movie because it's not a chilling Whodunit . This book is as advertised & more from my favourite writer, & recommended to any & all.
October 10, 2022
Somewhat interesting read about the authors history of walking, running and race walking starting with walking home from school as a child. Block walks in races as well as a pilgrimage through Spain. I expected more of a travelogue type book and less marathon and other races. I enjoyed the Spanish adventure very much. In places in the beginning I felt the book had trouble getting started and I would get bored, but I realized my expectations were getting in the way. Without them, it became an interesting read though different than the journey I expected as it was a journey of a different kind.
March 17, 2020
The author is a serious racewalker, and writes heartwarming about his adventures walking in 24-hour races, marathons, on a pilgrimage through Spain, and about everywhere else. That's a lot of walking which gives him plenty of time to tell us about his life in general. There's is not that much about his professional life as the master of the crime novel (he has written several other books about that), but whenever he does talk about his writing, it's worth waiting for.
April 4, 2024
It's official. Lawrence Block is the most interesting human being on the planet.
I've often said I'd read his writing on any topic, and this genuinely bananas (all the moreso for being true) story about his career as a racewalker confirms it.
Part memoir, part linguistic exploration, part travelogue, and all so laugh out loud funny that I almost had to give up reading it on the subway. Nobody drops an f-bomb with more aplomb.
It's simply wonderful.
I've often said I'd read his writing on any topic, and this genuinely bananas (all the moreso for being true) story about his career as a racewalker confirms it.
Part memoir, part linguistic exploration, part travelogue, and all so laugh out loud funny that I almost had to give up reading it on the subway. Nobody drops an f-bomb with more aplomb.
It's simply wonderful.
December 7, 2019
I had no idea who Lawrence Block is or that he is author of many, many books, until I read Step by Step. I don't know if I'll ever read any of his other books, but Step by Step is thorough, funny, realistic, calm, insightful. Block talks about the world of racewalking and the importance of mental and physical effort to participate.
January 2, 2018
Phenomenal
November 24, 2024
Interesting anecdotes about taking up racewalking at 40 but some duplication from his other books
January 16, 2010
I found the sections of the book dealing with Block's personal life very intriguing, since he's generally been very careful to keep his private life private. There are several very well-written and interesting anecdotes and I found these both insightful and entertaining.
Unfortunately, that was about 40% of the book. The other 60% deals with Block's on again, off again career as a racewalker. This section of the book really didn't do much for me. As a non-runner (or non-racewalker, I guess), I just couldn't connect to it.
I'm glad I read it, but I don't think I'll ever go back to it. (Well, unless I start racewalking!)
Unfortunately, that was about 40% of the book. The other 60% deals with Block's on again, off again career as a racewalker. This section of the book really didn't do much for me. As a non-runner (or non-racewalker, I guess), I just couldn't connect to it.
I'm glad I read it, but I don't think I'll ever go back to it. (Well, unless I start racewalking!)
March 21, 2010
This was a memoir written by well known mystery writer Lawrence Block which sought to discuss his life as well as his transformation to an pacewalker. This book was okay because although it said in the title that it was a memoir, the pace of the book was much too slow for me. I was reading this book in order to see his progresion from occasional walker to becoming an extremely active pacewalker. While this book did provide a lot of depth into how Block became a writer, it much too long to get to how he became an athlete.
November 5, 2024
3.5 stars rounded up
A fast, fun read. Part 2 was especially enjoyable.
I am not a fan of memoirs and have no significant love for racewalking/marathons; when I was reading the first part, I remember thinking "not sure if I want to finish this book".
Then, somehow, before I knew I was at 55% marker and had to really tear myself out of the chair for grocery shopping.
What can I say, weirder things have happened this way :D
A fast, fun read. Part 2 was especially enjoyable.
I am not a fan of memoirs and have no significant love for racewalking/marathons; when I was reading the first part, I remember thinking "not sure if I want to finish this book".
Then, somehow, before I knew I was at 55% marker and had to really tear myself out of the chair for grocery shopping.
What can I say, weirder things have happened this way :D
January 25, 2010
He should have spent the bulk of this book writing about his pilgrimage across Spain, not the endless walking in circles. I must admit, I didn't get much of the psychological profile of a man who walks in circles (not joking) for 50+ miles on a regular basis. Seems like as a mystery writer, the psychological profile of this maniacal behavior would be the highlight.
May 17, 2012
Interesting memoir by prolific mystery writer Lawrence Block, who manages to evade going anywhere personal, mostly sticking to the story about his love for walking, running and racewalking. I never knew so many and varied events existed before, so I learned a lot about this very different sport and the types of people who inhabit this world.
October 29, 2014
I would have given this book 2 stars (because it's very heavy on when and why he ran/walked his marathons) except for the fact that I read it when I was getting back into running and his running/walking life story was inspirational to me-that I could do this (maybe not at his level but at my level).
February 3, 2010
Three stars from me means I enjoyed the book, but I don't know to whom I would recommend it,which is how it might earn its fourth star. My friends and family don't have much interest in my own tales of training and race day stories.
September 2, 2009
I am a big fan of the "Burglar" series of books and picked this up when it first hit our library shelves. I enjoyed the first half or so, hearing about the author's early life, but the accounts of race after race wore thin and I soon was counting pages to see how much more I had to read.
May 10, 2010
I enjoyed this book because Lawrence Block is one of my favorite authors and I knew so little about his life. It was a little heavy on the marathon aspect, but I loved the pilgrimage on the Camino.
wish-list
May 27, 2009I met the author at my first racewalking clinic, and I've been looking forward to this ever since he announced it was in the works more than a year ago.
October 24, 2009
Very funny, interesting memoir especially if you like to walk or run races.
Interview with Lawrence Block
Interview with Lawrence Block
Want to read
September 28, 2009AKA: Sheldon Lord, Jill Emerson, Paul Kavanaugh, Chip Harrison, Lawrence Block
November 20, 2010
Honestly, it's more of a 2 star book for most people. But I share many similar experiences with the author. Also, I'm in the book (as a "race official" at Wakefield :-).
July 30, 2012
I bought this because it was 3.99 on ibooks and loved it. Makes me want to learn to racewalk and it made me immediatly go get a few more books by Lawrence Block.
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