Mistaken Identity

I went to the library the other day. As per usual, I was browsing the running books section, hoping something new had come in since I was there about a month ago. I know this is quite unlikely - they have several copies of a running guide that is so old I think a caveman wrote it. In defense of the library though, they don't have a ton of coin to spend on much of anything.

I did happen upon a title that I had not noticed before. It was The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner. My friend/cousin(in-law)/half-marathoner-in-training, Adam, had mentioned it on his blog just a few weeks ago. I didn't remember all that he said about it, but I read the back cover, decided that the book looked funny and entertaining, so I promptly took it to the front counter to check-out.

I am not disappointed by the book - it is by some British guy, and he uses some of my favorite "British" terms like "smashingly", "bloody", "bloke", and "trainers." And, as with any book I read by a male author from England, I read it in my Eric Idle voice in my head. I read Good Omens like that as well. It makes it that much better.

Some time later, I was on the ol' computer and I decided to do some background research on the book. Or at least read some reviews of it. The Google result for the book gave me the following:

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is a story by the British writer Alan Sillitoe, and it is contained in a collection of short stories published under the same title. The main character is a young man confined in a youth prison for delinquent young people, which is called a borstal institution. He seeks solace in long distance running.

Wait, what? My copy isn't like this at all. That description is not nearly as light-hearted as my book is. I stare at the wiki entry a little while longer, re-Google the title, and come up with the same results. I grabbed my copy of the book and stared at it for a good 2 minutes before I realized that I had the book The LOONINESS of the Long-Distance Runner (An unfit Londoner's attempt to run the New York City Marathon from Scratch).

So Eric Idle and I will finish up our book. I am still enjoying it. I think it is good for the blues-y mood that I have been in this week. I will hopefully get to that other book once I am done with this one.