Every decade seems to produce a novel that captures the publicas imagination with a story that sweeps readers up and takes them on a thrilling, unforgettable ride. Ron McLartyas "The Memory of Running" is this decadeas novel. By all accounts, especially his own, Smithson aSmithya Ide is a loser. An overweight, friendless, chain-smoking, forty-three-year-old drunk, Smithyas life becomes completely unhinged when he loses his parents and long-lost sister within the span of one week. Rolling down the driveway of his parentsa house in Rhode Island on his old Raleigh bicycle to escape his grief, the emotionally bereft Smithy embarks on an epic, hilarious, luminous, and extraordinary journey of discovery and redemption. aSmithy is an American original, worthy of a place on the shelf just below your Hucks, your Holdens, your Yossarians.a aStephen King aEndearing . . . itas a ride worth taking.a a"USA Today" aIn "The Memory of Running," professional actor and long aspiring novelist Ron McLarty has invented a character so fully and elegantly defined that the book soars with originality and life.a a"San Francisco Chronicle" aCaptivating . . . McLarty unspools passage after passage of devastating grace and melancholy, and his taciturn hero hooks himself to your heart.a a"Entertainment Weekly"