The Running Ground: A Father, a Son, and the Simplest of Sports

In this pensive memoir, Atlantic CEO Thompson (The Hawk and the Dove) ruminates on the lessons he’s learned from fatherhood and distance running. From the first time he ran a mile alongside his father at age five, running became a source of connection for the pair, with Thompson believing “it would both bring me closer to my father and help me to avoid becoming him.” Thompson’s childhood was bumpy: his father came out as gay while working for the Reagan administration, leaving his mother to raise the author largely on her own. As he recalls his sometimes strained efforts to keep his relationship with his father alive, he muses on teaching his own sons to run and shares proud anecdotes including the time one of his sons asked Joe Biden what his favorite book was during a CBS Mornings taping. Interspersed throughout are interviews with five professional runners (including Bobbi Gibb, the first woman to complete the Boston Marathon, and Michael Westphal, a marathoner with Parkinson’s) about the significance of the sport in their lives. The book’s family angle is often more stimulating than Thompson’s rapturous reflections on running, but he manages to weave everything into an appealing whole. It’s a satisfying self-portrait. Agent: Rafe Sagalyn, CAA. (Oct.)