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Ron McLarty
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English
Art in Americaby Ron McLartyISBN 0670018953 (0-670-01895-3)
Hardcover, Viking Pr
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Art in America Cby Ron McLartyISBN 0316730785 (0-316-73078-5)
Softcover, Little, Brown Book Group Limited
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The Memory Of Runningby Ron McLartyISBN 1846170443 (1-84617-044-3)
Hardcover, Ulverscroft Large Print Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Memory of Running'Book summary:Ron McLarty has joined the ranks of writers of the quirky hero with The Memory of Running. His hero, Smithy Ide, is in the grand tradition of Ignatius J. Reilly of A Confederacy of Dunces and Quoyle of The Shipping News. What these gentlemen have in common is their lumpen-loser looks, their outsider status and their general befuddlement about the way the world works and their place in it. Smithy rises above them because of his self-effacing nature, his great capacity for love, his inability to show it and his endless willingness to forgive.
Smithy is a 279-pound, hard-drinking, chain-smoking, 43-year-old misfit who works in a G.I. Joe factory putting arms and legs on the action heroes. (How did McLarty come up with that?) He is also the most beguiling anti-hero to come into view in a long, long time. McLarty, an award-winning actor and playwright best known for his many appearances on TV in Law & Order, Sex and the City, The Practice, and Judging Amy, has added another star to his creative crown with this novel.
The first sentence of the book is: "My parents' Ford station wagon hit a concrete divider on U.S. 95 outside Biddeford, Maine, in August 1990." This tragic accident eventually claims both their lives. It is on the day of their funeral that Smithy finds a letter to his father about Bethany, his beloved and deeply troubled sister, stating that, "Bethany Ide, 51, died from complications of exposure... and she has since that time been in the Los Angeles Morgue West." Beautiful Bethany, given to taking off her clothes in public places, holding impossible poses for long periods of time, responding to voices that only she can hear, and disappearing for no known reason. This time, she has been gone for many years and now Smithy knows that she died destitute and alone. When he reads the letter, he is drunk, grief-stricken and, despite a house full of people, he is alone. He goes out to the garage to smoke and have another drink and spies his old Raleigh bicycle. He sits on it, flat tires and all, wheels it to the end of the driveway--and--Smithy doesnt know it yet, but he is going to ride a bicycle from Maine to Los Angeles to claim his sister's remains.
On the road he meets the good, the bad, and the really bad. He frequently calls Norma, the Ides' across-the-street neighbor, confined to a wheelchair for years, and always in love with him. He has never acknowledged nor returned her ardor, but he starts to count on her friendship during his travels. Their conversations are sweet and revelatory. McLarty has done a superb job of showing us who Smithy is and who he is becoming. It's a wonderful story told with great poignancy and humor. --Valerie Ryan [via]
More editions of The Memory Of Running:
- The Memory Of Running: ISBN 0143036688 (0-14-303668-8)
Softcover, Penguin Group USA - The Memory of Running: A Novel: ISBN 0316729744 (0-316-72974-4)
Softcover, Little, Brown Book Group Limited - The Memory of Running : A Novel: ISBN 0751537365 (0-7515-3736-5)
Softcover, Little, Brown Book Group Limited - The Memory of Running : A Novel: ISBN 0751537373 (0-7515-3737-3)
Softcover, Little, Brown Book Group Limited - The Memory of Running : A Novel: ISBN 0316728608 (0-316-72860-8)
Hardcover, Little, Brown Book Group Limited - Memory of Running Signed: ISBN 0356240711 (0-356-24071-1)
Hardcover, Little, Brown Book Group Limited - The Memory Of Running: ISBN 0670033634 (0-670-03363-4)
Hardcover, Penguin Group USA - The Memory Of Running: ISBN 0786273550 (0-7862-7355-0)
Hardcover, Thorndike Pr - The Memory of Running: ISBN 1846170443 (1-84617-044-3)
Hardcover, Ulverscroft Large Print Books
- The Memory Of Running: ISBN 0143036688 (0-14-303668-8)
Travelerby Ron McLartyISBN 0143112880 (0-14-311288-0)
Softcover, Penguin Group USA
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Travellerby Ron McLartyISBN 1847441300 (1-84744-130-0)
Softcover, Little, Brown Book Group Limited
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German
Die unglaubliche Reise des Smithy Ideby Ron McLartyISBN 3442301041 (3-442-30104-1)
Softcover
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Spanish
Una Historia En Bicicleta/the Memory of Runningby Ron McLarty , Maria Jose DelgadoISBN 842046788X (84-204-6788-X)
Softcover, Santillana USA Pub Co Inc
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