{"product_id":"books-the-runner-by-david-samuels","title":"The Runner","description":"\u003ci\u003eThe Runner\u003c\/i\u003e tells the remarkable true story of a teenage drifter and petty thief named James Hogue who woke up one cold winter morning in a storage shed in Utah and decided to start his life anew. Re-imagining himself as a self-educated ranch hand named Alexi Indris-Santana who read Plato under the stars and could run a mile in under four minutes, Hogue applied and was accepted to Princeton University, where he excelled academically, made the track team, and became a member of the elite Ivy Club. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEchoing both \u003ci\u003eThe Great Gatsby\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Talented Mr. Ripley\u003c\/i\u003e, the story of Hogue's life before and after he went to Princeton is both an immensely affecting portrait of a dreamer and a striking indictment of the Ivy League meritocracy to which Hogue wanted so badly to belong. Drawing elegant parallels between Hogue's ambitions and the American myth of self-invention, while also examining his own uneasy identification with his troubled subject, David Samuels has fashioned a powerful metaphor for the corruptions of the American dream, revealing exceptional gifts as a reporter and literary stylist. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"World of Books ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54425305907473,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781595581884.jpg?v=1787611022","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/books-the-runner-by-david-samuels","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}