The Memory of Running
Author: Ron McLarty
Narrator: Ron McLarty
Length: 13 hrs and 10 min
Publisher: Recorded Books
Release Date: 1/16/04
The Memory of Running has been on my TBL pile since I came across Stephen King’s glowing recommendation on EW.com. (The best book you can’t read. No, ”The Memory of Running” isn’t in print, but you can still hear it.)
I would always think about this book when I was looking for my next listen but I kept passing it by for some new sci fi or fantasy novel. Perhaps I just had to be in the right mindset before I could really appreciate this book.
I finally used up an Audible credit for this book almost a year ago and it just there in my library until last week. I had finally used up my last audible credit and I needed something to listen to.. Upon browsing through my audible library I found this title and loaded it on my iPhone.
The character of Smithson Ide struck a chord with me almost immediately. The journey he embarks on is at times tragic, emotionally draining, horrifying and funny. All of these elements when combined with McLarty’s excellent narration resulted in an incredible listening experience that should not be missed.
If you haven’t already.. give this audiobook a chance!
Publisher’s Summary: Award-winning actor and playwright Ron McLarty is well known for his audiobook performances. What fewer people realize is that he’s also an accomplished author. In this wonderfully quirky novel, available exclusively as an audiobook, McLarty takes readers on a quest to find hope and redemption with an unlikely hero.
Smithson Ide is 43 years old and weighs 279 pounds when his parents die in an accident. Lost in memories of childhood, Smithson uncovers his old Raleigh bicycle in the garage and begins a cross-country journey to find his beautiful, but tragically psychotic sister. Keenly aware of how ridiculous he must appear, Smithson nonetheless perseveres through a journey that is hilarious and horrifying. It is a trip, he soon realizes, that might provide his last chance to become the person he has always wanted to be.
In late 2003, in his column in Entertainment Weekly, Stephen King called The Memory of Running “the best novel you won’t read this year.” This glowing endorsement of the audiobook resulted in Ron McLarty receiving a $2 million two-book deal from Viking Penguin. Also, Warner Brothers has shelled out big bucks for the movie rights to The Memory of Running, for which McLarty will write the script.
©2002 Ron McLarty; (P)2002 Recorded Books, LLC
Disclosure: I purchased this audiobook from Audible.com
If you would like to listen to The Memory of Running you can purchase it from one of the following locations: Audible or Recorded Books
