Run

By: Ann Patchett

Narrated by: Peter Francis James

Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

It's a winter evening in Boston and the temperature has drastically dropped as a blizzard approaches the city. On this fateful night, Bernard Doyle plans to meet his two adopted sons, Tip the older, and more serious and Teddy, the affectionate dreamer, at a Harvard auditorium to hear a speech given by Jesse Jackson. Doyle, an Irish Catholic and former Boston mayor, has done his best to keep his two sons interested in politics, from the day he and his now deceased wife became their parents, through their childhoods, and now in their lives as college students. Though the two boys are African-American, the bonds of the family's love have never been tested. But as the snow begins to fall, an accident triggers into motion a series of events that will forever change their lives.

Run is at its very center, is a novel about what truly defines family and the lengths we will go to protect our children. As she did in her best-selling novel Bel Canto, Patchett beautifully weaves together seemingly disparate lives to show how intimately humans can connect. Stunning and powerful, Run is sure to engage any Patchett fan and bring her even more admirers.

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©2007 Ann Patchett (P)2007 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

" Run is a book that sets out inventively to contend with the temper of our times, and by the end we feel we really know the Doyle family in all its intensity and with all its surprises." ( Publishers Weekly)

I love Ann Patchett but...

I just finished the latest Ann Patchett - read by Tom Hanks and LOVED IT. This one not so much- it is an interesting story of white and black becoming a family and was engaging enough. Ms. Patchett excels at character development and i could see all of them in the story. Ultimately though this recording was significantly marred by the ghastly inter chapter MUZAK which some idiot decided was a good idea. It never felt right and destroyed the mood and the flow- but if the whole presentation had been better i don’t think i would have paid so much attention to the gak music.

Disappointed

Arduous to get through. Again, another book tied together in last few pages. Seems to be the norm today.

What’s with the musical interludes

I loved this book and really enjoyed the reader. I really did not like the weird music between many chapters.

Good narration, annoying music

The story is great, and so is the narrator. I can’t get past the annoying guitar music they weave randomly in the middle of chapters. It adds nothing to the story.

boring

boring no movement did imiss
the plot...... blah blah blah... I wish I get my money back on this one

Uneven

Four stars is probably more generous for this selection than I should be. This book has good points and bad points. Although the main characters are interesting, to me they were extremes. One son is too scholarly, another son is too sentimental, the third son is too messed up. The father is, well I am not sure what he is. I think he could have been more. The little girl gives us most of the story, but her character at the end is not consistent (or less than complementary) of my perception of her in the main story.

There were many pieces that I did not get. The statue of the madonna was one. With the beginning building it up so, I figured it would carry more significance throughout the main story. If it did, I missed it. The birth mother should have been a bigger piece. But again, I must have missed it if it was there. There were such minute details about events and feelings, but these were not all pulled together.

The narration was good. I did not find it awful as another reviewer said. Voices were differentiated well.

All in all, it wasn't "painful" to listen to, but I was not thrilled. If others say her previous books were better, I would choose to get them and not bother with this one.

So good, you'll read it twice!

Oh, what beautiful writing! I finished this morning and immediately went back to the beginning to listen again. Didn't want to leave these characters.

What’s the deal with the music in between chapters?

Please don’t include music between chapters. That is annoying and jarring. This story also doesn’t do well with the choice of narrator. I don’t know if I’d appreciate the book more without these two things. I love Ann Patchett but this book is not one of my favorites.

Characterscompelling read!!! Wonderful listen.

Loved the individuals as I came to know them and story unfolded like a fascinating well wrapped gift! Layers peeled back revealed some things more precious or curious or compelling. Warm hearted and intelligent plea for wisdom and disciplined actions to come rescue our world from what comes naturally to human doings.

Boring

The narrator is desperately boring. Too sing song and not entertaining. This should have been an interesting story. It was not mostly because of the narrator.