Run

Hardcover, 295 pages

English language

Published Dec. 17, 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers.

ISBN:
978-0-06-134063-5
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(9 reviews)

Since their mother's death, Tip and Teddy Doyle have been raised by their loving, possessive, and ambitious father. As the former mayor of Boston, Bernard Doyle wants to see his sons in politics, a dream the boys have never shared. But when an argument in a blinding New England snowstorm inadvertently causes an accident that involves a stranger and her child, all Bernard Doyle cares about is his ability to keep his children—all his children—safe. Set over a period of twenty-four hours, Run takes us from the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard to a home for retired Catholic priests in downtown Boston. It shows us how worlds of privilege and poverty can coexist only blocks apart from each other, and how family can include people you've never even met. As in her bestselling novel Bel Canto, Ann Patchett illustrates the humanity that connects disparate lives, weaving several stories into …

3 editions

Review of 'Run' on 'Goodreads'

The almost melodious writing style of Ann Patchett is, of course, this book's best feature. And, as I am coming to understand is typical Patchett, the story before the story truly brought me in: a stolen Virgin Mary statue, a question of what it means to be family, rife with sibling rivalry, single parenting and trans-racial adoption. That was a story that was full of potential.

And I really liked huge chunks of Run, but most of it felt just like that -- palpable potential resting underneath: the woman who claimed to be the birth mother, and was she or was she just a groupie and the creepy, loving way she stalked her biologic sons. The saintly, dying Catholic priest uncle, and the did he or didn't he actually have the power to heal the sick. The forgotten mayor of Boston, fading into obscurity, trying to live by proxy through …

Review of 'Run' on 'Goodreads'

I read this book for my book club, so I have to admit up front that this is not the sort of novel I normally choose when left to my own devices (although I had previous read The Magician's Assistant). But I felt that the characters were underdeveloped and ultimately left me cold, except for Sullivan, who probably receives the least attention from the author. The theme of good intentions (of Doyle protecting Sullivan after the accident, of Tennessee trying to save Tip but ultimately hurting her daughter, and of Sullivan trying to save the poor with crime) gone awry resonated with me, but the author barely explored it. At the end of the day, it was a somewhat interesting story but not a book I would recommend to friends.

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Subjects

  • American Contemporary Fiction - Individual Authors +
  • Fiction
  • Fiction - General
  • General
  • Fiction / General
  • Boston (Mass.)
  • Domestic fiction
  • Family secrets