BRAVEY

A celebrity running memoir on the outside; on the inside, an instruction manual for thriving based on a lifetime of hard-earned wisdom.

Add writing to Pappas’ domains of success. Her debut book is decidedly more literary in sensibility and execution than the average career retrospective of a professional athlete, which befits the author’s artistic bona fides. She starred in two feature films, Tracktown and Olympic Dreams, both of which she co-wrote and the former of which she also co-directed. Prior to her film career, she turned down multiple offers to MFA programs in poetry in order to pursue her track career, and she set a national record in the 10,000-meter race for Greece in the 2016 Olympics. That’s a lot of material, but Pappas doesn’t merely list her accomplishments; she aims to tell the story of her becoming. Throughout her psychologically astute text, she draws valuable insights for readers, whom she imagines as younger versions of herself. From the first page, Pappas is vulnerable, honest, and courageous—not to mention funny. Whether writing about social awkwardness, professional disappointments, or her mother’s suicide, she maintains a buoyant spirit that becomes wonderfully contagious. Keeping the right distance from her stories, the author is able to write with deep feeling without being overcome by those feelings. Each essay reaches its own satisfying conclusion while also contributing to the arc of the narrative. Pappas is clearly experienced at turning the material of her life into meaningful lessons. “For every fun moment of victory in this book, there are uncomfortable and humiliating moments, too,” she writes. “I am the sum of all of them. I want to show you the whole picture, the bad pain and the good pain. This book is gore and glory. This book is about making a life, not just living a life. We will grow up together here.”

Inspiring, yes, but more to the point, genuinely empowering. An utterly winning collection of personal essays.