The Front Runner: A Novel | 
| Author: Patricia Nell Warren
Publisher: Wildcat Press
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $4.49
You Save: $10.46 (70%)
Rating:  62 reviews
Media: Paperback
Edition: 20 Anv
Pages: 320
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.3 x 1
ISBN: 0964109964
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780964109964
ASIN: 0964109964
Publication Date: June 1, 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
First published in 1974, The Front Runner raced to international acclaim - the first novel about gay love to become popular with mainstream. In 1975, coach Harlan Brown is hiding from his past at an obscure New York college, after he was fired from Penn State University on suspicion of being gay. A tough, lonely ex-Marine of 39, Harlan has never allowed himself to love another man. Then Billy Sive, a brilliant young runner, shows up on his doorstep. He and his two comrades, Vince Matti and Jacques LaFont, were just thrown off a major team for admitting they are gay. Harlan knows that, with proper training, Billy could go to the '76 Olympics in Montreal. He agrees to coach the three boys under strict conditions that thwart Billy's growing attraction for his mature but compelling mentor. The lean, graceful frontrunner with gold-rim glasses sees directly into Harlan's heart. Billy's gentle and open acceptance of his sexuality makes Harlan afraid to confront either the pain of his past, or the challenges which lay in wait if their intimacy is exposed. But when Coach Brown finds himself falling in love with his most gifted athlete, he must combat his true feelings for Billy or risk the outrage of the entire sports world - and their only chance at Olympic gold.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 57 more reviews...
 A reminder of what it means to be yourself November 19, 2008
R. Lambert (Asheville, NC United States)
Though from another era, this book speaks eloquently of the bigotry gay people suffer as well as the love of one man for another that made them feel complete in their lives. The struggle of the protaganist to accept what he was and how he felt made me (a septuagenarian) remember similar feelings I had in my younger days.
 This novel lives up the hype...and then some September 23, 2008
Michael L. Wiersma (Springfield, MA United States)
Harlan Brown is a semi-disgraced gay track and running coach "hiding out" at an also-ran university althletic program minding his own business and enjoying a reasonable portion of normalcy, until a gifted young runner named Billy Sive and his two friends show up at the college looking for him because they have been dismissed from their program for admitting to being gay. Now Harlan must deal more publicly with his own homosexuality, he must learn and teach these young men about being gay, and he falls madly in love with Billy. To say this is a forbidden love is a vast understatement.
Let's be clear that this novel was published in the '70's. It is not a novel written recently and placed "as if" it was written in the '70's. So the cultural and terminology disconnects with today can be at once both frustrating and very insightful. (We've come a long way, baby. But we have so far, unfortunately, to go.) This wonderful novel is SO worth wading through the unfamiliar and arguably-dated references. Don't let it deter you.
This is possibly one of the most moving and interesting books I have ever read, and certainly so among gay-themed literature. (I don't get goose-bumps and teary-eyed often when I am reading; "Runner" did both.) The characters are likable, human, and interesting. The conflict feels genuine and is gut-wrenching. The story is wonderful and the writing transports you skillfully and fully into settings and scenes in which you feel involved and you really care about what happens. This is a sports novel that isn't really about sports. It's about love.
This gets my highest recommendation. The 300+ pages fly. Read it and enjoy.
Compelling Writing September 20, 2008
William P. Merriam (Scottsdale, AZ)
The author's writing style is very compelling, and the theme of the book, at the time it was written, would have been a difficult subject. But it is treated realistically and empathetically. Her subsequent book `Harlan's Race' is also excellent, though less emotionally intense, in my view. I haven't yet read the 3rd part of this story.
the front runner September 2, 2007
C. kugel
this is very human story of love born of a front runner and his coach. It's funny, sad, and moving, all the aspects of real life in print. You can't help but fall alittle in love with Ms. Warren's characters. Ms. Warren has a wonder grasp of the gay male psyche. I reread this book after twenty some years and loved it all over again. you won't regret buying the book or reading over and over. ENJOY!
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