Rating: 
Summary: The best running novel I have ever read!
Review: Being an avid runner, I'm no stranger to reading running novels. Unfortunately, most of these books are written by people who simply chose to write about running and aren't runners themselves. They figured that by doing a little research, they can write with the proficiency of someone who has been running hard their entire life. Usually, their creative efforts wind up being ridiculous, because reading a novel about a high school runner breaking 3:40 in the mile seems a little extreme. This book, on the other hand, gets to the heart of the most serious runner. Parker recognizes and accentuates the highs of victory and the pitfalls of training. He brings to life the desire of a champion and the sacrifice needed to get to that level. This book is a must-read for any runner who is passionate about their sport. I enthusiastically give it a ten
Rating: 
Summary: what fabulous reviews
Review: I read the fabulous reviews for this book and being a runner decided to order it. I haven't read a lot of running novels so I can't really compare but I found the book easy to read and inspiring. Like one other reviewer I'm not sure if non runners would appreciate all the terminology and sometimes (not being a college 'jock') I found some of the references confusing. I think it's kind of normal that other (non-running) characters and elements are somewhat flimsy, when you are an 'obsessive' runner that is more or less how you perceive the world. That being said, when people ask me 'what it is about running...' when I find myself trying to explain the relation between pleasure and pain and end up just sounding like some 'sicko', I think of some lovely passages in the book, that explain it beautifully. I think the people that waxed lyrical about this book were 99% runners themselves and maybe we 'just do it' and rarely find the words ourselves. If we're over reacting to a piece of quality writing that centers around a sport we love, so be it. That's runners for ya.....
Rating:
Summary: good book
Review: This was a good book and I did a book report on it. I liked it, but I the true stories in Running Forward, Looking Back better. I'm going to get more running books.
Rating:
Summary: An injection of spirit as it captures the soul of a runner.
Review: Once a Runner is a largely uneven and unsatisfying work if it is judged by the traditional criteria of literature. But if you are reading this as a runner, Parker's novel will remain as one of the most poignant and memorable stories you will ever read. Filled with a few plot twists and climactic moments, this book is ultimately an extraordinary glimpse of the runner's soul. As Quentin devotes his life to the sport, we experience The Trial of Miles of first hand, and witness all the obsessive nuances that a miler's life entails. This book will make you want to dedicate your life to running; it will wrap you in its isolated until all you can see is the road stretching out into the horizon and all you can hear is the pitter-patter of your footstrike. If you are a runner, this book will become your injection of spirit; it will reinvigorate that passion, and will become a part of your life.
Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Runner's Cult Book
Review: The first time I read this book it was a friend's...worn and tattered, passed through the hands of my cross country team, loved and cherished by every runner I know. I now own it, and read it as often as possible. I never tire of Quentin Cassidy's quirky, resilient personality. The writing is phenomenal. I am a writer (who sometimes attempts to write about running), and Parker's metaphors are the example of the century. Oftentimes I will open the book to the best chapter, "The Interval Workout," and feel Cassidy's pain through Parker's near-poetic verse. There is no comparison between this life and the life of a treadmill runner. This is for those that itch to hit country roads, to run for miles and to pretend, just for a moment, that you are invincible. For the milers, for the sprinters, for the runners of the soul, read this book. You will love it.
Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: I find it hard to believe that anyone who has ever run track would not enjoy this book. If you know what it's like coming to the last straightaway at the end of a 1600 or a 800, you realize how well Parker captures that moment and all the training behind it.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I did not like this book.
The narrative, loosely structured, concerns itself with the ambitions of a college runner, Quenton Cassidy. He is approaching a four-flat minute mile, and is friends with an upper classman who has already won an Olympic medal in a longer-distance race. The book rambles about, focusing on the jocularity of the tracksters' dorm life, Cassidy's brief relationship with college woman Andrea, Cassidy's tricks on his fellow teammates, the idiocy of the coaches and university administration, Cassidy's memories of training, growing up, training, past races, training and university politics. The final section of the book deals with Cassidy preparing for a meet in which he will take on a world one-mile champion from New Zealand.
The problems I had with the book stemmed first from the poor writing. Some of the plot points were too oblique (Henry James, anyone?), there were anachronisms for the 1970s in which the book was supposed to take place (Andrea has a computer class...), some of the language of the athletes was alternating crude then falsely cleaned up (one character says such crass things about women, I won't retype them here, then turns around and says "fanny"), and much of the description is pretty self-conscious, heavy-handed and reaching. For the most part the writing didn't support true characters.
And these characters were poorly drawn. Cassidy and his close friends on the team are the only remotely sympathetic characters. Andrea is somewhat respectfully drawn, but the others are all very two-dimensional. The book is sexist in that it portrays both secretaries at the university who are mentioned by name as having or wanting to have sex with their bosses. The author also likes to tell the reader directly whom we should not like by naming them to indicate their character, "Hairlepp" and "Prigman." The runners seem to look down on everyone, although Cassidy, patronizingly finds himself thinking "this is real life" whenever he is around very poor, hardworking people. It reminded me of Marie Antoinette playing in her village hamlet with her friends, enjoying the "real life" of the peasants.
And I personally didn't like the main characters, particularly Cassidy. I just don't find these people likeable in their haughty jocularity, and Cassidy's wiser-than-thou translation of their behavior in expository scenarios for the reader.
There is one nice chapter toward the end as Cassidy prepares for the big meet (after a completely unbelievable scenario in which he is thrown off the team and then entered into the meet as a Finnish runner). The day before the meet, he goes to the track and walks the quarters, thinking through each segment, what he will feel and think, what he needs to think and feel to win, etc. As a runner, I do understand all those mental calisthenics that must go into not quitting, doing better, trying harder, etc. (But then this lovely interlude was ruined by a gratuitous and needless flashback.) There is also a TEENY TINY TINY TEENY TEENY TEENY ITTY BITTY bit of suspense about the final race, which helped me finish the "last lap."
I was a little surprised this book could find a publisher. I, however, do not recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: It's not a good book
Review: This book is a disappointing read, and it makes me wonder if the publisher and writer think so little of running readers that they would allow something to be published that is so subpar. The plot is rambling, the writing is poor and overwrought, self-conscious and inconsistent, the characters are unlikeable, the time-frame is unclear, the characters shallowly drawn and the events unbelievable. There are a FEW interesting sketches of the runner ethos, but they are few and far-between, and not worth slogging through this book to read.I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. I think runners deserve better fiction than this.
Rating:
Summary: From a non-runner
Review: I am not a runner. I read this book soley to do an essay for my english class, But it is the most phenomenal peice of work I have ever read. No one describes the feel of running or sparks an interest in running better than Parker. After I finished this book, my cat-killing curiosity got the best of me and I went out into the feild behind my house, and I ran.
Rating:
Summary: A great novel for former sub 4:35 High School Milers
Review: A great book for former (and probably current) competitive runners. Good for all ages but especially if you ran in the 70's and can pick up on some of the historical details. Really takes you back into the mind and fun of a distance runner. Probably not as interesting to a non runner who can't relate to the experiences as described in the book.
Great vacation reading.
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