An eye-opening and potentially mind-expanding read for runners and stoners alike, not to mention the culturally curious.
A journalist discovers running while high—and discovers he’s not the only one who enjoys it.
Readers may be surprised by the overlap between the running community and weed culture. In his nonfiction debut, investigative journalist Hesse, who has written extensively about marijuana news, upends numerous misconceptions about cannabis and well-being. After a lifelong antipathy toward sports, the author turned away from drinking and smoking (cigarettes) in favor of running and getting high. Weed helped him find the groove and pleasure of running, but when he signed up for his first marathon, he didn’t yet know about “the hand-in-glove relationship between pot and sports.” As he began to notice how many other runners ingested marijuana, his reporting instincts led him deep into medical research, the long history of global cannabis use, the criminalization and ongoing trend toward legalization in the U.S., and the retrograde treatment the drug receives from the governing bodies of the sports world. This last is key. One takeaway from the book is that athletes in all sports use cannabis in one form or another at extraordinary rates. NBA and NFL players have estimated cannabis use at above 80% of players despite the drug still being banned. The reasons for use are myriad, but of particular interest to runners may be the relationship between the runner’s high and marijuana high. The cannabinoids we ingest in drug form are so chemically similar to the endocannabinoids our bodies naturally produce when running that for many runners, there is a kind of experiential convergence when the two practices are combined. To be sure, this is a work of advocacy, but—jokes aside—it’s a sober one. Hesse is circumspect in his enthusiasm, reminding readers that he’s “just a guy who likes to get stoned and run."
An eye-opening and potentially mind-expanding read for runners and stoners alike, not to mention the culturally curious.Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-19117-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.
The chef, rapper, and TV host serves up a blustery memoir with lashings of self-help.
“I’ve always had a sick confidence,” writes Bronson, ne Ariyan Arslani. The confidence, he adds, comes from numerous sources: being a New Yorker, and more specifically a New Yorker from Queens; being “short and fucking husky” and still game for a standoff on the basketball court; having strength, stamina, and seemingly no fear. All these things serve him well in the rough-and-tumble youth he describes, all stickball and steroids. Yet another confidence-builder: In the big city, you’ve got to sink or swim. “No one is just accepted—you have to fucking show that you’re able to roll,” he writes. In a narrative steeped in language that would make Lenny Bruce blush, Bronson recounts his sentimental education, schooled by immigrant Italian and Albanian family members and the mean streets, building habits good and bad. The virtue of those habits will depend on your take on modern mores. Bronson writes, for example, of “getting my dick pierced” down in the West Village, then grabbing a pizza and smoking weed. “I always smoke weed freely, always have and always will,” he writes. “I’ll just light a blunt anywhere.” Though he’s gone through the classic experiences of the latter-day stoner, flunking out and getting arrested numerous times, Bronson is a hard charger who’s not afraid to face nearly any challenge—especially, given his physique and genes, the necessity of losing weight: “If you’re husky, you’re always dieting in your mind,” he writes. Though vulgar and boastful, Bronson serves up a model that has plenty of good points, including his growing interest in nature, creativity, and the desire to “leave a legacy for everybody.”
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4478-5
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
“Protect your passion,” writes an NBA star in this winning exploration of how we can succeed in life.
A future basketball Hall of Famer’s rosy outlook.
Curry is that rare athlete who looks like he gets joy from what he does. There’s no doubt that the Golden State Warriors point guard is a competitor—he’s led his team to four championships—but he plays the game with nonchalance and exuberance. That ease, he says, “only comes from discipline.” He practices hard enough—he’s altered the sport by mastering the three-point shot—so that he achieves a “kind of freedom.” In that “flow state,” he says, “I can let joy and creativity take over. I block out all distractions, even the person guarding me. He can wave his arms and call me every name in the book, but I just smile and wait as the solution to the problem—how to get the ball into the basket—presents itself.” Curry shares this approach to his craft in a stylish collection that mixes life lessons with sharp photographs and archival images. His dad, Dell, played in the NBA for 16 years, and Curry learned much from his father and mother: “My parents were extremely strict about me and my little brother Seth not going to my pops’s games on school nights.” Curry’s mother, Sonya, who founded the Montessori elementary school that Curry attended in North Carolina, emphasized the importance not just of learning but of playing. Her influence helped Curry and his wife, Ayesha, create a nonprofit foundation: Eat. Learn. Play. He writes that “making reading fun is the key to unlocking a kid’s ability to be successful in their academic journeys.” The book also has valuable pointers for ballers—and those hoping to hit the court. “Plant those arches—knees bent behind those 10 toes pointing at the hoop, hips squared with your shoulders—and draw your power up so you explode off the ground and rise into your shot.” Sounds easy, right?
“Protect your passion,” writes an NBA star in this winning exploration of how we can succeed in life.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9780593597293
Page Count: 432
Publisher: One World/Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
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