“The angel of death had cruised him. Death, that hustler, that last lover.”

 

Published between the era of Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best, and the AIDS crisis, The Front Runner is a very blunt and honest look at homosexuality in the world of American sports, circa 1975. By its time’s standards — as well as the current day — this book is progressive; the ideas are daring, the revelations unflinching. The front cover calls it “controversial” and “unusual” and “as moving as any love story ever written.” I would agree with all those descriptors. What is this novel? It is a tragedy.

 

The first person narrator is a college track coach quickly entering middle age. In the fall of ‘74 he received three candidates for his team — three boys kicked out of their previous school for their homosexuality. He, the coach, being gay himself, takes them under his wing; a romantic relationship between he and one of the boys soon develops.

 

This book is almost certain to make any reader a little uncomfortable; good literature does that. This challenges every societal norm of its time and even some that are still in place today. While a bit excessively dated at times (some of the male characters are a bit too chauvinistic for my tastes), this story can be enjoyed by modern audiences. The pacing, too, is an issue — the middle is a bit of a slog, at times — but the noteworthy beginning and extraordinarily written finale more than make up for it.

 

Recommended!

I read this book on the recommendation of my brother, he says it is his favourite book and I can see why. The first thing I would say is don't read this if you want an easy read - though beautifully written, nothing about this book is easy. It is however heartbreaking.

This book reads so like an actual auto-biography I had to check that it was indeed fiction. Written from the first person perspective of Harlan Brown, it tells us of his uneasy acknowledgement and eventual acceptance of his sexuality in the late 50's to 70's.
Brought up as a man of strict religion and 'high moral code' this ex-marine has a hard time accepting that he is gay. The one passion in his life he is able to indulge is running, it is while he coaches track at college that he meets the love of his life Billy Sive.

This story is about the fight for human rights. Simply because he is gay Billy, a supremely talented athlete, and Harlan have to fight every step of the way to be able to compete at athletic meets and eventually the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. It is also about an athlete's personal fight to be able to give the best performance they can. And lastly, but most certainly not least, it is about love and fighting your own demons.

One of the things that struck me most when I read this is how,40 YEARS after this is set, some of the same issues are still occurring. In fact with the Russian winter Olympics around the corner and the current political stand of that country maybe it is time everybody read this book. Have no lessons been learnt in 4 decades? It is easy for me, in my safe, straight, white world to sit at home and write about this. I can cry as much as I like, I'm not the one made to suffer by small minded ignorance.

The fight that Harlan and Billy faced was made all the more poignant and difficult because they didn't want to fight. They wanted to love and run, it really wasn't asking for the world. I don't think they really even cared what people thought of them if only they were left alone. Aren't these rights we should all be allowed, whoever we are?

This book does not have a happy ending but I am not sorry I read it. Please everyone read this book.

Absolutely Brilliant
and sad...

It gripped me from the first page, and I just couldn't stop reading

I’ve wanted to read this book since I first heard about it a year or so ago. Actually, I got really close once, found it at the library, but returned it without opening it. Last week, after reading two depressing books in a row, I decided to finally find this book and just start. I thought the story about a runner and his coach in love would be just what I needed to get me out of, what I call, a ‘book-sorrowful state’. I was right about one thing: the story is about the love between a runner and his coach. The rest though … If you’ve read the book, you know what surprise was waiting for me (and you’re probably laughing at my bad luck).Before I get ahead of myself, let’s start with a synopsis. This book is about Harlan Brown, a bitter coach who’s gay. He is down on his luck – his dream of running in the Olympic Games has long been thwarted and he has lost his position as a coach in one of the best universities because of rumors of him being gay started spreading. In comes 3 young runners, Billy, Vince and Jacques – they’re brilliant, well-known in the amateur running-world and also gay. Harlan falls in love with Billy’s self-confidence and personality, though he fights the attraction with teeth and nails. Billy dreams of The Olympic Games and Harlan helps him toward that goal. It feels almost impossible, since homosexuality is not accepted in the sports world and many want to stop Billy’s way to Montreal before it even begins.Well, I liked this book. The story gripped me from the start and I fell for Billy. He’s a character I don’t usually see in fiction – he knows what he wants and who he is and isn’t ashamed of his wants and faults. He was my favourite character all the way through. Harlan, on the other hand, is completely different. He’s strong, but keeps himself guarded. He also has a very biased view of the world. His comments about women especially are very hateful. But as he changed throughout the book, I found myself warming up to him a little bit. The other characters are great too, especially Vince. I like how protective he is of his friends.The ending destroyed me. I cried, and cried, and cried. I don’t know if I liked the ending or if I feel cheated by it. Maybe both. Billy’s death served the purpose of showing the reader how far people can go when they follow their hatred and ignorance. But I’m tired of seeing those people win all the time. I think a different ending, with Billy winning would’ve been more effective. But maybe this ending was the only ending that could’ve work at the time it was written, I don’t know.I liked the book over-all. I just feel emotionally manipulated by the author.

Creo que si me encontrara a Patricia Nell Warren por la calle (cosa que dudo , je ) iría corriendo a abrazarla y le gritaría TE AMOOOO en la cara (asi tipo Guido Suller TEAMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO) .

O al menos la agarraria por los hombros y le lloraría : AMO A HARLAN , LO AMO , LO AMOOOO , LE JURO QUE LO AMO ! GRACIAS POR INVENTARLO!

5 recontra estrellas para este clásico de la literatura LGBT .

La historia de amor ideal salvo por el final, claro. [La voy a releer toda la vida] Forever.

Forever

Forever

Forever....