Running the Bulls

By Cathie Pelletier

Book Overview

2006 Paterson Prize for Fiction "That master juggler of literary tears and laughter is at it again: Cathie Pelletier's Running the Bullsis a ribald, ruminating, and redemptive read."-Wally Lamb, author of She's Come Undone In small-town Maine, unhappily retired Howard Woodsis shaken awake one morning by his wife, who confesses to a devastating affair. Unable to forgive his wife, Howard sets out on a journey in hope of finding life after tragedy. Determined to follow in the footsteps of Hemmingway, Howard travels to Pamplona, Spain to join the running of the bulls. His life promptly descends into chaos. But how does a middle-aged homebody, who has never even done his own laundry, salvage his manhood and pride and learn how to rebuild his lifeon his own? At once funny, insightful, and heartbreaking, Running the Bullsis perfect fans of Olive Kitteridge (Elizabeth Strout), The Language of Flowers (Vanessa Diffenbaugh), and The Good House(Ann Leary) who will be transfixed by this coming-of-age story of a late-middle-aged man. Also from Cathie Pelletier, The Mattagash Series: The Funeral Makers (Book 1):Welcome to Mattagash, Maine where everyone's personal lives are as entwined as their family trees. A Wedding on the Banks (Book 2):Amy Joy Lawler just announced her engagement-to an outsider! The Weight of Winter (Book 3): Surviving the winter will be hard; dealing with each other is another story. The One-Way Bridge (Book 4): Return to Mattagash-the anything but tranquil town where a mysterious dead body has just been found in the woods. What readers are saying about Running the Bulls "Running the Bullsis filled with humor, and frailty, and heroism, and is so very human." "Cathie Pelletier has once again given us a gift from the heart to both tickle and break our hearts." What reviewers are saying about Running the Bulls "Masterful work...subversive, humorous, and heartbreaking."--Publishers Weekly "Nobody walks the knife-edge ofhilarity and heartbreakmore confidently than Cathie Pelletier. In Running the Bullsshe's at her skillful, sure-footed best." -Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls What people are saying about Cathie Pelletier "Cathie Pelletier generates the sort of excitement that only writers at the very top of their form can provide."-Stephen King "It is Pelletier's gift to be able to coax the drama from stony ground without artifice or sentimentality."-Boston Globe "An ambitious, fearless novelist."-The Washington Post "Cathie does a wonderful job of capturing [her characters'] moods and loves and losses, and yearnings...Her writing is lovely and so descriptive"-- Annie Philbrick, Bank Square Books, Mystic, CT "Sharp stuff...Her sentences are powerful andunique as snowflakes."-New York Times

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1402294840
• ISBN13: 9781402294846
• Release Date: August 2014
• Publisher: Sourcebooks, Incorporated
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

So funny, so sad, so fabulous!

I laughed and cried all the way through this marvelous book. I am a Cathie Pelletier fan of many years and was thrilled to find this new offering. Dare I say that the book is heart warming? Not in a sappy way, however, but because likeable people do unlikeable things but love and common sense triumph in the end.

Another Winner for Pelletier

Cathie Pelletier's new novel, Running the Bulls, is wonderful. I found it far more poignant than her Mattagash novels, but the lack of thigh-slapping humor on every other page should not deter fans from reading this book. It's still unmistakably Pelletier--witty, sad, smart, and beautifully written. And, like all her books, filled with characters you'll love forever.

Another great book

I discovered Cathie Pelletier when I heard one of my favorite writers (Richard Russo) say that she was one of HIS favorite writers, at a reading in NY. I started with her first novel, The Funeral Makers, and read everything she's written. I've loved her work ever since. And what a joy it is to finally have a new novel. While many of us are still waiting for a Mattagash novel (it says in the author interview she's working on one now) it's a delight to pick up any book of hers. Howard Woods made me laugh, made me cry, as the film reviews say. There is so much intelligent information in the book, as well as funny and sad stuff , that you learn a lot about the world and even yourself.

Brilliant and Beautiful!

Cathie Pelletier has once again given us a gift from the heart to both tickle and break our hearts. She has always written with such a delicate touch in honest, hard-hitting ink that the reader can do nothing but keep turning every page and look forward to flipping back to page one when the last page has turned. In Running the Bulls, Pelletier masterfully delivers so much pleasure, so much emotion, that she can have us slapping our knees in laughter and then punch us in the gut with a scene, a moment, or even a single line that drops us to our knees. It is quite a mirror she holds up to life, and she holds it with confidence, wisdom, and, as always, with brilliance. David Logan

pure joy

What I've always liked about Cathie Pelletier's books is her smooth, engaging way of penetrating the modern psyche. Clever without being obtuse, and intricate without too much complexity. And this, in my opinion, is the best. She has a way of carrying you into the story, like settling into a deck chair with a blanket, for a few hours of super enjoyable reading. Paul Gahlinger