Can Someone Give Me A More Detailed Summary Of Again to Carthage?

Why is he accused of doping?

Because of some dbag who makes a totally unfounded claim to try to stop him from running the race because of his own personal vendetta.

why did he have the crisis?

Because everyone is dying or something like that.

does he make the team?

Yes, but the US boycotts the Olympics that year.

I skim read some of the book recently, and here is what I remember (I skipped the beginning, non-running parts):

Accused of doping because he ran a 4:10 mile (or something similar) against a 4 x 440 relay of lawyer coworkers and beat them. One of the lawyers figured he had to be doping to beat the relay team by himself.

He hallucinates in the race imagining that Nubbins is in the race with him. He finishes thinking he placed 4th, but since the Nubbins ahead of him was imaginary he actually placed 3rd. Nubbins actually was dead. So he makes the team, but doesn't go to the Olympics due to the Carter boycott.

The journals that he's written over the year are revealed to be "Once a Runner" at the end.

He still has a relationship with Andrea.

Accused of doping because he ran a 4:10 mile (or something similar) against a 4 x 440 relay of lawyer coworkers and beat them. One of the lawyers figured he had to be doping to beat the relay team by himself.

That wasn't why he was accused, that was why the lawyer dude testified against him.

A lot of fishing. Too much fishing to be honest. Wise choice to not read the book (unless you like fishing).

- boring first half - some lawyering, some fishing

- midlife crisis thing

- decides to train for the 1980 marathon trials

- does the hermit type thing again, runs more mileage, fewer intervals, ie marathon specific work

- coached by Denton

- 3rd at the trials, US boycots the Oympics

- gets the girl

- decides to keep racing on the roads

- writes Once A Runner

- needs to study basic college English

My favorite chapter is 27 "Correspondence" after he gets through the overwritten rambling to Andrea. It gets really good when he's talking about "ascendance".

Good chapter about Mizner in Vietnam. Lots of fishing, which I didn't mind because it pointed out how mundane things had become for him. Completely messed up chronology: He ran in Montreal in OAR, finished school, went to law school, and practiced for a few years, all before beginning his comeback for the 1980 Trials, motivated by (among other things) Mizner's death in Vietnam ten years earlier even though Mizner was his teammate in '75.

Ghost of Ashenfelter wrote:

Good chapter about Mizner in Vietnam. Lots of fishing, which I didn't mind because it pointed out how mundane things had become for him. Completely messed up chronology: He ran in Montreal in OAR, finished school, went to law school, and practiced for a few years, all before beginning his comeback for the 1980 Trials, motivated by (among other things) Mizner's death in Vietnam ten years earlier even though Mizner was his teammate in '75.

This made me nuts. That, and Denton saying that Bob Schul is the only American 5K OG medalist. In the OAR universe, DENTON WAS AN OLYMPIC 5K GOLD MEDALIST. I wouldn't have thought an author would need a concordance when they've only written one book.

Again to Carthage is the "breathtaking, pulse-quickening, stunning" sequel to Once a Runner that "will have you standing up and cheering, and pulling on your running shoes" (Chicago Sun-Times). Originally self-published in 1978, Once a Runner became a cult classic, emerging after three decades to become a New York Times bestseller. Now, in Again to Carthage, hero Quenton Cassidy returns.

The former Olympian has become a successful attorney in south Florida, where his life centers on work, friends, skin diving, and boating trips to the Bahamas. But when he loses his best friend to the Vietnam War and two relatives to life’s vicissitudes, Cassidy realizes that an important part of his life was left unfinished. After reconnecting with his friend and former coach Bruce Denton, Cassidy returns to the world of competitive running in a desperate, all-out attempt to make one last Olympic team. Perfectly capturing the intensity, relentlessness, and occasional lunacy of a serious runner’s life, Again to Carthage is a must-read for runners—and athletes—of all ages, and a novel that will thrill any lover of fiction.

So much this wrote:

In the OAR universe, DENTON WAS AN OLYMPIC 5K GOLD MEDALIST.

Denton won the 10k.

College teammate dies in Vietnam after helicopter is shot down. Cut to Cassidy, who works as a lawyer and goes fishing a lot in the Caribbean with his fat friend where they act like pseudo gourmands. Lives in Florida with his decathlete boyfriend. Visits his relatives in the sticks of NC. Decides he needs a new challenge and takes two years off from work to train for the Olympic marathon. Consults with Denton (now retired and unable to run) on training. Goes to the sticks of NC to train and live in a shack next to his grandma. Runs 120 mpw. Reconnects with his ex girlfriend who is now divorced. Chooses running over ex girlfriend. Goes to Olympic marathon trials in Buffalo. Improbable sub-plot where ex-rival attemps to have him barred from trials for doping and then has his sons try to tackle him mid-race after attemps to get him barred from race are unsuccessful. Places third in race while bleeding (from being tackled) and hallucinating. Misses Olympics due to 1980 boycott.

It sounds bad in summary, but it's worse when you read it all.

The account of the OT race is pretty inspirational stuff, though. If you can't at least enjoy that part of the book, you need to start looking for another sport.

More crappy writing for people who read crap.

Nope wrote:

So much this wrote:

In the OAR universe, DENTON WAS AN OLYMPIC 5K GOLD MEDALIST.

Denton won the 10k.

Yeah, no. From OAR. p. 34, regarding the Denton's performance at the USOT: "True to form, Denton powered across the finish line in the 5000 meters..." Three paragraphs later, Parker writes about Denton's Olympic gold medal.