Book Review: What I talk about when I talk about Running

Recently we drove to Texas to visit family and had to spend much more time than is healthy sitting in a car.  Because I was the primary driver of the vehicle and hoped to not fall asleep while performing this important duty, I checked out some books on CD from the library.  Wanting something about running, I did a search on the library's website and reserved the first thing that looked somewhat interesting:  What I Talk about When I Talk About Running, by Haruki Murakami.  He's a Japanese novelist who happens to run marathons and decided to write a book about his experiences.
I'll do this review based on the same criteria Jason used in his book reviews a while back...

1. Entertaining: is it a page turner?  Is it hard to put it down?
2. Informative: Does the book give good advice?  Is the advice (in my experience) accurate? 
3. Inspirational:  When I finished a chapter, did I get my butt off the couch and onto the trails?

Before I get into the formal review I'll give some "background" info on the book.  First of all, this book is more of a memoir than anything.  It reads like his personal journal.  The back cover states that it is centered around his training for the NYC marathon; that is partly true but not completely.  The first chunk of the book is written in context of his NYC marathon race prep but then he runs the race and the book continues, talking about triathlon training and other stuff for quite a while.  So while it is a major theme in the book, it is not the "central thesis" if you will, like the back cover suggests.  There isn't really a central thesis, its just a collection of thoughts, memories and experiences.
Another important thing to mention is that running is NOT the exclusive topic of the book.  It's basically this guy's journal and running is not his life.  He talks a lot about writing (because he is a novelist), a bit about triathlons (mostly swim training) and some about his life story - how he got to where he is now.
OK.  If there end up being more caveats I'll mention them in the formal review section.  Here goes.

• ENTERTAINING - 7
• While this book doesn't sound like the most riveting story (and it really isn't) there is something about the way he writes that makes you want to keep reading (or listening).  I don't think he meant for this book to be anything like the novels he usually writes.  To be honest I got a little tired of it at the end because he focused on swimming - for triathlon training - and I'm not really into swimming or triathlons right now. But the running parts were entertaining enough for me.
• INFORMATIVE - 4
• The informative material in here wasn't necessarily about running.  He really didn't say too much that I didn't already know.  He even omitted some key components like nutrition; he never mentions eating anything during a run or drinking anything other than water.  The cool things that qualify under "informative" in my book are the locations.  He gives detailed descriptions of running all over the globe.  It starts in Hawaii, goes to Massachusetts, a few places in Japan, Greece, Colorado, and of course, the NYC Marathon.  He ran the original marathon course in Greece on his own in the middle of summer - how cool is that.  It was informative (and entertaining and inspiring, too I guess) to "experience" all these new running settings for me through this book.
• INSPIRING - 6
• Nothing really earth-shattering here.  It's kind of like the entertainment section; just something about it made me want to run more.  I didn't pull over the car to search for a trail to run, but I did come away thinking to myself, "I really do want running to be a lifelong thing for me."  It did not inspire me to become a novelist or take up swimming...but for me and running, I'd call it moderately inspiring.
• OVERALL - 5.67
• It really is a  pretty good book and definitely worth reading.  The reason the score seems low here is because this is a running blog and I my evaluations are done in the context of running.  I do think most runners would enjoy this book, not because it teaches some new technique or lights the fire under them to hit the trails, but because they can relate to the experiences the author relates.  He makes it clear that he considers himself an average runner at best...but he writes about running because it has become part of him.  I think there are a lot of runners who can relate to this sentiment, myself included.