Rating: 
Summary: A Runner's Dream...
Review: I believe that "Once a Runner" is the authors dreamscape. It is a past he wishes on some level he had lived. Quenton Cassidy is the authors archetype of the ultimate runner. Dedicated, single minded, intellegent and most of all filled with boundless potential. The novel is peopled with running greats such as thinly vield John Walker and Jack Bachelor as well as the American running icon Frank Shorter. Once a Runner is every truly competitive runners ultimate fantasy. The question always crosses the runners mind..."what could I do if I really trained myself to the sharpest point possible? What would I be capable of? Once a Runner gives one possible answer to these questions. It is fiction, but contains vast amounts of reality. Read it and go run 10 miles. You'll know what I mean. It is the greatest running novel ever written.
Rating:
Summary: Better than a 3:50 mile...
Review: If your family and friends don't understand your running ways, get them this book. They may disown you, but they'll have an idea what it's like. "Once A Runner" is a great story, very well-written, funny and with an amazing climax and wrap-up. There's nothing bad about it. I don't re-read books, but I've re-read this one. As I runner, it inspires me and reminds me there are other people out there who are like me. Really, there are. It's the best book I've ever read. I only wish I knew about it before this summer. It has my highest recomendation. I'd give it six stars if I could. Or more. A great piece of writing even non-runners should enjoy. I don't know why it's not a movie. Oh, wait, yes I do. That'd ruin this little-known, cult classic gem.
Rating:
Summary: A Truly Inspiring Novel
Review: I was lent this book by a friend and fellow runner, and he's obviously read it many times. I am planning on buying my own copy, because this book is so inspiring. It's simply and elegantly written, and it captures the heart and soul of a true distance runner. I can't recall a more inspiring passage in any book on any subject than the 400 workout in Once A Runner (you'll know what I mean when you read it). Perhaps this novel can only be appreciated by serious runners, but if you are a runner, I encourage you to buy it and read it, again and again.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and inspiring book!
Review: What a great book - I have not read another book that captures the essence of running and competing like this book does...
Rating:
Summary: A Runners BIble Brought Back
Review: After reading this book brought to me by my son, an All American college distance runner, I ordered a copy for myself. My son told me he has been through everything in this book, and to understand a true runner this book is the one to read. If you have a runner in the family this book is a must.
Rating:
Summary: The Gold Standard
Review: Once a Runner is the best running book I have ever read. Unlike training guides or running stories that spend far too much time explaining the beauty of running and trying to introduce people to the wonders of jogging around, Once A Runner really goes into the life and mind of a runner (though the book uses fictional characters, they are easily recognizable and realistic). It describes the dedication, hard work, and goofiness that is required to be successful and what makes runners a very unique, though cetainly interesting breed. The story itself, of a young college-aged runner and his quest to run the fastest mile he could while in school and after he got kicked out, is extremely well paced and smootly written, just as a good race. It is a fantastic book and I would highly recommend it for beginners, enthusiasts, or someone who just needs a little motivation.
Rating:
Summary: The dream of every serious competative runner...
Review: "Once a Runner," is regarded as the greatest running novel of all time but it is not for everyone. It is written from the perspective of the elite and will offend some runners who do not allow themselves to dream of fanciful possibilities. That aside, the majority of runners who read this will want to go out and run 10 miles everytime they pick it up. The novel is the story of a runner who, deciding to throw away convention, pushes himself to the limits, and finds out exactly how far he can go. The story, though fictional, is repleat with thinly veiled historical running figures, and stories surely inspired by the hijinks of the author himself, and his college buddies. Though it is not flawlessly (how do you spell that word?)written, the strengths of its reading pace, and the realism of its descriptions will capture the imagination of the reader. It was written with the runner in mind, and exceeds extraordinarly. A MUST OWN for the college runner.
Rating:
Summary: Captures the Runner Mentality
Review: With his character Quentin Cassidy, John Parker captures the mentality, work ethic, satisfactions, and frustrations of what it is to be a runner. He delves into Cassidy's non-running antics which include highly elaborate pranks, law school aspirations, and romantic relationships. In addition, he shows the amazing lack of understanding that non-runners have for runners. There is an excellent scene where Quentin is at a social function and is assaulted with all the customary runner questions and comments. People ask him what he thinks about when he runs and mention how they don't drive as many miles as he runs. Parker also excellently depicts the daily grind and competitiveness of running. His book includes passages that berate Runner's World and, instead, focus on the quest for glory that running can become. He makes Quentin a very real and believable character. This book is a running classic and rightfully so. It has an excellent story, great characters, and great discussions on running. To be a runner and have not read this book is equivalent to blasphemy.
Rating: 
Summary: Obviously Fictional and male focused runner's only novel
Review: If you are not someone who runs, this book will read like a poorly constructed novel in which the author places far to much emphasis on the act of placing one foot in front of another. You will wonder, 'is 4-minutes a fast time for a mile?', 'why does this runner train 20 mile days if his race is only four laps of a track', and 'who cares about he Wannamaker mile'. This is only a good runners book because so few authors have created passable books on the subject. And it has a happy, but not completely care-free ending. The book addresses all the questions runners have, but only those that elite runners have. Elite male runners, a select few in the United States. But mixed in with this running theme, the author attempts to dramatize the main character, Quentin's, life to include love, boyish pranks, an early drowning death as a child, and a fight against the annoyingly strict rules of a football focused college. It's as if the author were reliving what he wished was his college experience, mixing an amalgum of what he actually did in college, what he heard about being done in college, and what he wished he had done in college. Taken together this leads to a barely believable novel. I was offended by the minor role women play. Many women run now, making up the fastest growing segment of the running population. On the elite level, female runner fare better than the men. So why are the only females completely in the dark about what their crazed men do? I suppose it's what would be expected from a male author, but I hoped for more. A good read, for runners, but only the aging, male distance coach, with starry eyed remembrances, and could-have-beens, will really love it, perhaps even sleep with it under his pillow at night. Sweet dreams.
Rating:
Summary: Trial of Miles, Miles of Trials
Review: You think you are a runner? Well, if you are you'll love this book. Go out and buy it.
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