Book: Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts
Author: Josie Shapiro
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Completed this for the Popsugar Reading Challenge Prompt #39 (a book about book with a character who runs a marathon) and the 52 Book Club Reading Challenge Prompt #18 (provokes strong emotion)
Mickey Bloom had the makings of a misfit from childhood. Short, dyslexic and awkward, with a father who doesn’t seem to like her anymore, she discovers a strange sanctuary in the act of running.
When she runs, she is everything she thought she couldn’t be: strong, talented and a winner.
However, the world of professional running is fraught with perils: cutthroat coaches, high pressure, body shaming, and placing performance over health.
She breaks down mentally and physically, leaving running, she thinks for good.
When, years later, a series of incidents nudge her back towards running, and she crosses paths with a former Olympian, Mickey starts to dream of racing again – and starts to heal.
I discovered this book thanks to the Popsugar reading challenge, and I am ever so glad I did.
This is a story of a girl finally finding her place in the world – one who is misunderstood and perennially underestimated. The way she writes about running is poetic and beautiful, and even made someone like me, who has sworn off the activity, tempted to start again. (To be clear, I have never been a serious runner, but I have enjoyed running short distances during various phases of my life.)
It is about pursuit in the face of challenges – grit, endurance, and resiliency on one hand, but also scars and healing on the other. I forget the exact quote, but there is a line in the book about scars being a sign that you were stronger than your obstacles, which is such a beautiful thought.
It is about the balance between self-care and victory – and the value of nourishment – both physical and emotional. It questions the nature of winning – who is it you’re competing against? And teaches us that sometimes we are just competing against ourselves.
There is a definite gender angle here – in the approaches shown in her early coaching, as well as a commentary about the way men look at women who run.
Ultimately this book an ode to the act of running – and a beautiful one at that. And who knows? It may just inspire you to put on a pair of trainers and go outside.
Happy reading.
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