Reviews

"Best-selling author Jacques Steinberg might not have an Ironman finish under his belt, but he certainly deserves an honorary finish certificate for his excellent portrayal of our sport. With an outsider's view of multi-sport training and racing, the trained eye and ear of a "New York Times" reporter and a captivating writing style, Steinberg has managed to describe the world of Ironman in a book that reads like a suspense novel while also capturing the inspiration and emotion of our sport."---Ironman.com

As he did in The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College, Steinberg follows six subjects through a rigorous set of tasks. This time, instead of gaining admission to a Little Ivy League school, it's completing Ironman Arizona in 2009. Detailed background profiles of the triathletes show that each came to the event for different reasons ranging from the mundane to the inspiring. Former couch potato Bryan, for example, was getting in shape after he was declared a "heart attack waiting to happen." Scott, however, loved challenging himself after a double lung transplant that stemmed from his lifelong struggle against cystic fibrosis. Because the book bounces back and forth among the athletes' stories, training regimens, and lives, it's sometimes difficult to keep track. Steinberg doesn't miss an opportunity to dramatize the difficulty of the sport; though some of this comes from the competitors themselves, it quickly becomes grating. Kirby Heyborne clearly and carefully narrates, but the overly serious tone makes for a slow listen. This is an optional purchase for libraries where triathlon is popular. [The Penguin pb will publish in June 2012.-Ed.]-Douglas C. Lord, Connecticut State Lib., Middletown (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.