How a Rescue Donkey Inspired a Rag-Tag Gang of Runners to Enter the Craziest Race in America
Christopher McDougall: Running with Sherman (2020, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group)
352 pages
English language
Published Sept. 14, 2020 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
McDougall influenced me like many others with Born to Run and this book landed in my lap, so I went for it. Probably won't be as life-changing a read for me, but you never know. Taking a donkey's perspective for a while was a relief, and the portrayal of Sherman's community is rich and admirable.
"A job? What was I going to do with a donkey, prospect for gold? Pioneer westward?"
I went into this with zero expectations beyond "this is a story about a donkey, and I like animals". I was delightfully surprised to see how lighthearted, cheerful, and wholesome the story was, and by the end I was absolutely rooting for Sherman and his merry band. Sherman was rescued from an animal hoarder, and during the process of rehabilitation, a friend told the author that for a donkey to find joy in life, they have to have a purpose. That purpose, it ended up being, was to be a racer in the donkey race World Championships in Colorado.
The book was a little meandering in places, as fair warning. The strict format of the book is, he runs into a problem involving Sherman's training or the race, he meets someone/knows someone/is put in …
"A job? What was I going to do with a donkey, prospect for gold? Pioneer westward?"
I went into this with zero expectations beyond "this is a story about a donkey, and I like animals". I was delightfully surprised to see how lighthearted, cheerful, and wholesome the story was, and by the end I was absolutely rooting for Sherman and his merry band. Sherman was rescued from an animal hoarder, and during the process of rehabilitation, a friend told the author that for a donkey to find joy in life, they have to have a purpose. That purpose, it ended up being, was to be a racer in the donkey race World Championships in Colorado.
The book was a little meandering in places, as fair warning. The strict format of the book is, he runs into a problem involving Sherman's training or the race, he meets someone/knows someone/is put in contact with someone who can fix the problem, and then you get a chapter or two about this person's history and why they're involved with donkeys or marathons or any number of tangents. The author knows a lot of people as it turns out, and this pattern can get a bit tedious in the middle. The ending is also a bit abrupt, and I would have liked more detail about how things wrapped up.
All in all though, I really enjoyed this donkey/human story. I liked the messages of persistence and confronting things that scare you, and am glad I spent time reading this book.
