Pre: The Story of America's Greatest Running Legend Steve Prefontaine Book

This book has a lot of problems. Let's begin with the first one -- it's poorly written.

I went into this book very excited -- I love running. Prefontaine is a huge inspiration. But the details of his life and character are very flimsy -- the author doesn't even include one interview from Pre's family or key head coaches -- a very telling omission. Instead, we are stuck getting bombarded with times, a few rivalries that don't seem to amoung to much and are interchangeable as we learn so little about the human character of the competitions, and a few moments where Pre is dismissive or pissy.

Pre's well known front running is barely mentioned and it would have been interesting to hear more thoughts on that -- from coaches, sports therapists, his family. The Olympics and the disappointment after that event are also essentially a passing reference. I also would have appreciated learning more about his relationships (both notable girlfriends are barely mentioned), his financial struggles, and the accident. The author also spends some time justifying Pre's drinking ahead of the car crash. I'm not saying saying Pre was driving impaired, and it appears that we'll never know for sure. But the author dismisses the idea Pre was drunk in an almost 'hero worship' manner -- it's pretty unprofessional.

So basically, I didn't like this book and clearly wanted a lot more. Two stars feels generous -- I think one was for Pre.