Long Distance: Testing the Limits of Body and Spirit in a Year of Living Strenuously
by Bill McKibben
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In his late thirties, celebrated essayist, journalist, and author Bill McKibben -- never much of an athlete -- decided the time had come for him to really test his body. Cross-country skiing his challenge of choice, he lived the fantasy of many amateur athletes and trained -- with the help of a coach/guru -- nearly full-time, putting in hours and miles typical of an Olympic hopeful. For one vigorous year, which would culminate in a series of grueling, long-distance races, McKibben show more experienced his body's rhythms and possibilities as never before. But the year also brought tragedy to McKibben and his family as his father developed a life-threatening illness. Forcing a deeper exploration of both body and spirit, the arrival of this illness transforms McKibben's action-packed memoir into a moving account of two men coming to terms with the limits of the flesh. The author of such impassioned and groundbreaking books as "The End of Nature" and "The Age of Missing Information," Bill McKibben is re-nowned as an original thinker. Here, writing with his trademark honesty and insight, he once again creates a provocative a show lessTags
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When you earn your living writing about climate change, overpopulation, and the imminent demise of humanity, what do you do for fun? Take up the most grueling endurance sport ever devised, of course.
Master of non-fiction horror McKibben describes 12 months spent carving himself into a competitive cross-country skier. His account goes beyond (often funny) jokes about lycra, heartrate monitors, and oatmeal to give an obsessive-eye’s view of the blissful ascent into exercise addiction.
The author’s road to Nordic glory took an unexpected turn when his father was diagnosed with brain cancer. McKibben weaves his father’s slow death into the narrative with impressive restraint and almost no schmaltz.
A fascinating meditation on what our show more bodies can and cannot do. show less
Master of non-fiction horror McKibben describes 12 months spent carving himself into a competitive cross-country skier. His account goes beyond (often funny) jokes about lycra, heartrate monitors, and oatmeal to give an obsessive-eye’s view of the blissful ascent into exercise addiction.
The author’s road to Nordic glory took an unexpected turn when his father was diagnosed with brain cancer. McKibben weaves his father’s slow death into the narrative with impressive restraint and almost no schmaltz.
A fascinating meditation on what our show more bodies can and cannot do. show less
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50+ Works 6,677 Members
Bill McKibben grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts. He was president of the Harvard Crimson newspaper in college. Immediately after college he joined the New Yorker magazine as a staff writer, and wrote much of the "Talk of the Town" column from 1982 to early 1987. After quitting this job, he soon moved to the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New show more York. His first book, The End of Nature, was published in 1989 by Random House after being serialized in the New Yorker. It is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change, and has been printed in more than 20 languages. Several editions have come out in the United States, including an updated version published in 2006. His next book, The Age of Missing Information, was published in 1992. It is an account of an experiment: McKibben collected everything that came across the 100 channels of cable tv on the Fairfax, Virginia system (at the time among the nation's largest) for a single day. He spent a year watching the 2,400 hours of videotape, and then compared it to a day spent on the mountaintop near his home. This book has been widely used in colleges and high schools, and was reissued in 2006. McKibben's latest book is entitled, Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet. Bill currently resides with his wife, writer Sue Halpern, and his daughter, Sophie in Ripton, Vermont. He is a scholar in residence at Middlebury College. 030 (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Classifications
- Genres
- Sports and Leisure, Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir, General Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Health & Wellness
- DDC/MDS
- 796.932 — Arts & recreation Recreation, sports, and performing arts Athletic and outdoor sports and games Winter sports Skiing and snowboarding Cross-country
- LCC
- GV855.5 .R33 .M34 — Geography, Anthropology and Recreation Recreation. Leisure Recreation. Leisure Sports
- BISAC
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