Review by Sheilaread -- Dolphins Don’t Run Marathons
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[Following is a volunteer review of "Dolphins Don’t Run Marathons" by Sam Brand.]
Dolphins Don’t Run Marathons by Sam Brand is a fun even-paced story for adults. At first, you are hooked in with a fun reference to a three-way animal-human comparison. He groups people into three categories: the human ant, the human chimp, and the human dolphin. The human ant is him, a male runner, running long distances. The human ant tends to always be tired and sad, almost never smiling and has personality disorders. They live a very anxious and stressful life. The human chimp does not like sports. They seem to be happier and nicer and more intelligent than the ant. Human dolphins however, are athletic people who achieve a balance between all types of sports and other life activities. They enjoy life in general. They also enjoy and value relationships and usually have a social network of friends. They strive for happiness and well-being.
In the beginning, while living his adult life as a runner ant, Brand shares how he transformed into a human dolphin and into a much happier life than he was living as a marathon runner. Along the way, you are introduced to various self-help tips. These are introduced in an easily understood and applicable way. As you read through the book, you will see different scenarios that real people face in their daily lives. The ant analogy shows a section of the population who are so focused on succeeding, that they forget how to just live their life and have fun. Their focus in life is very narrow. Very few friends, almost no social life or healthy relationships. Their goal is to work, run but not have fun. Dolphins show how to live life and have fun in everything they do. They don’t usually stress or show much anxiety. Dolphins represent the social and working areas of the human population. This group participated in a way that allows them to have fun and be an active part of the social group as well. The Chimp section shows a very supportive side where they do a lot for others and they still have fun. They cheer others on in sporting events and in life. Yet, they tend to have no worries or stress in the world. This is how monkeys choose to live their life.
Brand organizes the book into 26.2 chapters (miles) based on the length of a marathon. He shares information about his life in short chapters with usually only a single paragraph or two per chapter. This book feels like a creative way for Brand to present his perspective on life, with humor mixed in, to get the deeper message he wants to get across. His main point is to encourage the reader to just enjoy life. Brand structures this book as an easy read. Instead of chapters, he calls them miles. Each mile allows him to take us along on his journey as he shows us his transformation from a human ant to a human dolphin. In Mile 18, he explains his injuries and how he had to take a break from running marathons.
During this break, he realized that he was enjoying being a part of the human dolphin life a lot more than the human ant life as a runner.
I gave this fun, easy-to-read self-help book, Dolphins Don’t Run Marathons4 out of 4 stars because I feel this book was professionally edited and the author uses a humorous, advice based approach to explain to the reader how to live a better life. This book is for marathon runners who are trying to decide if they want to continue running or not, for adults who have a sense of humor and can use some advice for living an overall better life and because he does mention the word “sex” many times, it probably is not a good book for younger readers. For example, in Mile 16, He mentions having shorter runs and longer sex mileage!
For human ant runners, GPS stands for Ground, Pace and Speed. That’s what they care about. Now for the human chimps and dolphins, GPS stands for Games, Pleasure and Sex.
There is no vulgarity or graphic content in this story. The only caution would be the “sex” words here and there and his Mile 16 that speaks lovingly about time spent with his wife and having sex and comparing himself to a dolphin who also has sex for pleasure. Overall, from the very whimsical front cover to the very last “Mile”, I truly enjoyed this entire book and would recommend it to all adults
******
Dolphins Don’t Run Marathons
View: on Bookshelves |
Dolphins Don’t Run Marathons by Sam Brand is a fun even-paced story for adults. At first, you are hooked in with a fun reference to a three-way animal-human comparison. He groups people into three categories: the human ant, the human chimp, and the human dolphin. The human ant is him, a male runner, running long distances. The human ant tends to always be tired and sad, almost never smiling and has personality disorders. They live a very anxious and stressful life. The human chimp does not like sports. They seem to be happier and nicer and more intelligent than the ant. Human dolphins however, are athletic people who achieve a balance between all types of sports and other life activities. They enjoy life in general. They also enjoy and value relationships and usually have a social network of friends. They strive for happiness and well-being.
In the beginning, while living his adult life as a runner ant, Brand shares how he transformed into a human dolphin and into a much happier life than he was living as a marathon runner. Along the way, you are introduced to various self-help tips. These are introduced in an easily understood and applicable way. As you read through the book, you will see different scenarios that real people face in their daily lives. The ant analogy shows a section of the population who are so focused on succeeding, that they forget how to just live their life and have fun. Their focus in life is very narrow. Very few friends, almost no social life or healthy relationships. Their goal is to work, run but not have fun. Dolphins show how to live life and have fun in everything they do. They don’t usually stress or show much anxiety. Dolphins represent the social and working areas of the human population. This group participated in a way that allows them to have fun and be an active part of the social group as well. The Chimp section shows a very supportive side where they do a lot for others and they still have fun. They cheer others on in sporting events and in life. Yet, they tend to have no worries or stress in the world. This is how monkeys choose to live their life.
Brand organizes the book into 26.2 chapters (miles) based on the length of a marathon. He shares information about his life in short chapters with usually only a single paragraph or two per chapter. This book feels like a creative way for Brand to present his perspective on life, with humor mixed in, to get the deeper message he wants to get across. His main point is to encourage the reader to just enjoy life. Brand structures this book as an easy read. Instead of chapters, he calls them miles. Each mile allows him to take us along on his journey as he shows us his transformation from a human ant to a human dolphin. In Mile 18, he explains his injuries and how he had to take a break from running marathons.
During this break, he realized that he was enjoying being a part of the human dolphin life a lot more than the human ant life as a runner.
I gave this fun, easy-to-read self-help book, Dolphins Don’t Run Marathons4 out of 4 stars because I feel this book was professionally edited and the author uses a humorous, advice based approach to explain to the reader how to live a better life. This book is for marathon runners who are trying to decide if they want to continue running or not, for adults who have a sense of humor and can use some advice for living an overall better life and because he does mention the word “sex” many times, it probably is not a good book for younger readers. For example, in Mile 16, He mentions having shorter runs and longer sex mileage!
For human ant runners, GPS stands for Ground, Pace and Speed. That’s what they care about. Now for the human chimps and dolphins, GPS stands for Games, Pleasure and Sex.
There is no vulgarity or graphic content in this story. The only caution would be the “sex” words here and there and his Mile 16 that speaks lovingly about time spent with his wife and having sex and comparing himself to a dolphin who also has sex for pleasure. Overall, from the very whimsical front cover to the very last “Mile”, I truly enjoyed this entire book and would recommend it to all adults
******
Dolphins Don’t Run Marathons
View: on Bookshelves |
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