The Invisible Mile
David Coventry
(Author)
21,000+ Reviews
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Description
This acclaimed novel based on true events in the 1928 Tour de France "is a powerful story of grim determination and one man's forlorn hope to conquer fear" (Publishers Weekly).
In 1928, the Ravat-Wonder cycling team became the first English-speaking peloton to compete in the Tour de France. The riders, hailing from New Zealand and Australia, were treated as exotics and isolated by language and cultural barriers. Underfinanced and undertrained, the team faced one of the toughest routes in the race's history: 5,476 kilometers over unsealed roads through a landscape heavy with the legacy of the Great War. 162 cyclists began the race that year; only 42 finished.A deeply introspective book, The Invisible Mile is narrated by a fictional, unnamed rider on the Ravat-Wonder team. Speaking no French and knowing few of his fellow riders, his race becomes a confrontation with memories of the Great War and a quest to understand his own place in its history. He rides on the alternating highs of cocaine and opium, pain and pleasure, victory and defeat. As he nears his final mile along the northern battlefields, trauma, exertion, and his personal demons take over. "Bruising, beautiful and ultimately transcendent, there's a perfect thought on sport, humanity or endurance on just about every page."--Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief
Product Details
Price
$17.00
$15.81
Publisher
Europa Editions
Publish Date
May 30, 2017
Pages
320
Dimensions
5.3 X 1.1 X 8.2 inches | 0.9 pounds
Language
English
Type
Paperback
EAN/UPC
9781609453978
BISAC Categories:
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About the Author
David Coventry's top-ten bestselling debut novel, The Invisible Mile, was published in his native New Zealand by Victoria University Press (publishers of Eleanor Catton) and became a finalist for the prestigious Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
Reviews
Praise for The Invisible Mile
-Bruising, beautiful and ultimately transcendent, there's a perfect thought on sport, humanity or endurance on just about every page.-
--Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief
-Written with poetic beauty. The Invisible Mile is an important and impressive debut.-
--Sunday Star Times
-Fictionalised accounts of sporting events don't always work, but this has the same feeling of total immersion as I remember feeling when I read David Peace's The Damned United.-
--Ned Boulting, author of On the Road Bike
-A truly extraordinary first novel.-
--NZ Listener
Praise for The Invisible Mile
"Bruising, beautiful and ultimately transcendent, there's a perfect thought on sport, humanity or endurance on just about every page."
--Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief
"Coventry's tense, dark debut novel is a powerful story of grim determination and one man's forlorn hope to conquer fear and pain."
--Publisher's Weekly
"Written with poetic beauty. The Invisible Mile is an important and impressive debut."
--Sunday Star Times
"Fictionalised accounts of sporting events don't always work, but this has the same feeling of total immersion as I remember feeling when I read David Peace's The Damned United."
--Ned Boulting, author of On the Road Bike
"A truly extraordinary first novel."
--NZ Listener
Praise for The Invisible Mile "Bruising, beautiful and ultimately transcendent, there's a perfect thought on sport, humanity or endurance on just about every page."
--Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief "Coventry's tense, dark debut novel is a powerful story of grim determination and one man's forlorn hope to conquer fear and pain."
--Publisher's Weekly "The sensuous language Coventry deploys to externalize the sensations of racing in packs, as well as the self-conscious intimacies of men 'roughhousing the love out of the late evening' or exposing their souls in the down times like jittery troops steeling themselves before battle."
--New York Times Book Review
"Written with poetic beauty. The Invisible Mile is an important and impressive debut."
--Sunday Star Times "Fictionalised accounts of sporting events don't always work, but this has the same feeling of total immersion as I remember feeling when I read David Peace's The Damned United."
--Ned Boulting, author of On the Road Bike "A truly extraordinary first novel."
--NZ Listener
-Bruising, beautiful and ultimately transcendent, there's a perfect thought on sport, humanity or endurance on just about every page.-
--Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief
-Written with poetic beauty. The Invisible Mile is an important and impressive debut.-
--Sunday Star Times
-Fictionalised accounts of sporting events don't always work, but this has the same feeling of total immersion as I remember feeling when I read David Peace's The Damned United.-
--Ned Boulting, author of On the Road Bike
-A truly extraordinary first novel.-
--NZ Listener
Praise for The Invisible Mile
"Bruising, beautiful and ultimately transcendent, there's a perfect thought on sport, humanity or endurance on just about every page."
--Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief
"Coventry's tense, dark debut novel is a powerful story of grim determination and one man's forlorn hope to conquer fear and pain."
--Publisher's Weekly
"Written with poetic beauty. The Invisible Mile is an important and impressive debut."
--Sunday Star Times
"Fictionalised accounts of sporting events don't always work, but this has the same feeling of total immersion as I remember feeling when I read David Peace's The Damned United."
--Ned Boulting, author of On the Road Bike
"A truly extraordinary first novel."
--NZ Listener
Praise for The Invisible Mile "Bruising, beautiful and ultimately transcendent, there's a perfect thought on sport, humanity or endurance on just about every page."
--Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief "Coventry's tense, dark debut novel is a powerful story of grim determination and one man's forlorn hope to conquer fear and pain."
--Publisher's Weekly "The sensuous language Coventry deploys to externalize the sensations of racing in packs, as well as the self-conscious intimacies of men 'roughhousing the love out of the late evening' or exposing their souls in the down times like jittery troops steeling themselves before battle."
--New York Times Book Review
"Written with poetic beauty. The Invisible Mile is an important and impressive debut."
--Sunday Star Times "Fictionalised accounts of sporting events don't always work, but this has the same feeling of total immersion as I remember feeling when I read David Peace's The Damned United."
--Ned Boulting, author of On the Road Bike "A truly extraordinary first novel."
--NZ Listener
