What I Talk about When I Talk about Running: A Memoir by Haruki Murakami; Translated by Philip Gabriel; Unabridged MP3 Audio Book; Narrator Ray Porter

Equal parts training log, travelogue, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon. Settings range from Tokyo, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston among young women who outpace him. Through this marvelous lens of sport emerges a cornucopia of memories and insights: the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer, his triumphs and disappointments, his passion for vintage LPs, and the experience, after fifty, of having seen his race times improve and then fall back.

“Murakami crafts a charming little volume notable for its good-natured and intimate tone….An early section recounting Murakami's transition from nightclub owner to novelist offers a particularly vivid picture of an artist soaring into flight for the first time.”—Publishers Weekly “Murakami's single-minded focus on the task at hand will impress runners and athletes of all levels….His discipline also extends to his writing, which he approaches with the simple but devoted attention of a master craftsman….as always Murakami employs his artful, lucid prose to good effect.”—Kirkus Reviews