Running with Sherman

McDougall had to narrate his own audiobook. How else could we believe that one of our own, a freelance writer working in Philadelphia, backed gleefully into the nineteenth century, there to butcher his own meat and clear the penis of a rescue donkey? Can Sherman, the eponymous donkey in question, be rehabilitated for the World Championship Donkey Race? Inspired by the Gold Rush, said sport means scampering up mountains behind a beast burdened with a prospector's gear. Since burros are famously intractable, the contest challenges brain and brawn alike. Having celebrated the Tarahumara, a Mexican tribe that appeared at the Leadville 100-miler to slaughter contemporary runners, in his earlier book BORN TO RUN, McDougall is looking back in time once again and finding excellence. Why Leadville you ask? Because it's steep. B.H.C. � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

Starred review from May 1, 2020

What began as a New York Times series becomes a captivating book--and with McDougall narrating, quite the aural gift. Sherman arrived on McDougall's Pennsylvania farm close to death, rescued from an (unintentionally) abusive hoarder. A supportive herd--McDougall's family (human and animal), their rural community, farflung friends, and kind strangers--rally to save Sherman. "You need to give this animal a purpose. You need to find him a job," McDougall's horse trainer neighbor insists. That job eventually leads to the Leadville Boom Days International Pack Burro Race, with donkeys carrying a 33-pound packsaddle of prospector's tools as people run alongside them. This all takes place in the highest city in the continental United States: Leadville, CO. Once again, McDougall summons training guru Eric Orton who got him ultrarunning in Born to Run. Overcoming training challenges, unforeseeable setbacks, and even broken bones, McDougall, his wife Mika, their young neighbor Zeke, and their burros Sherman, Flower, and Mathilda all arrive in Leadville, aiming for the finish line. VERDICT McDougall's infectious tenacity never wavers, resulting in a can't-press-stop audio delight, which also includes the Sherman-inspired original song, "Happy I Was Wrong," by Andrew Marsini.--Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon, Washington, DC

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