I am usually hesitant to write reviews when something is remarkable because I’m worried that my words will taint it or influence anyone’s experience when they do come into contact with it, but in this case - I feel like this is an important enough book that warrants an effort to capture my experience.Throughout “The Running Body” Emily masterfully interrogates some of the most pressing and haunting elements of the human experience through the lens of her own personal journey. Before I started reading this book, a friend saw it on my bookshelf and asked what it was about. “I think it’s about the author’s relationship with her body as a competitive runner.” Generally speaking you could say that that is an accurate statement, but it’s also about suffering. Grief. Obsession. Pain. Love. Lust. Insecurity. Fear. Shame. Pride. Success. Failure. Recovery. Existence. Purpose. Life.One of Emily’s talents is that in a mere 192 pages she is able to delve into all of those elements of humanity, further complicate (and simplify?) them by attaching them to cultural norms and biases, rope you in to her own story (gut-wrenching with courageous vulnerability and honesty), and force you (without asking or telling you) to consider how these themes look through the lens of your own story and experience.If you or someone you care about is interested in collegiate and professional sports (participating, watching, or coaching), this is an important read. If you or someone you care about has struggled with an eating disorder or body image issues, this is an important read. But regardless of your connection (or lack thereof) with college sports or eating disorders, this is still an important read that will leave you feeling raw and with an urgent sense of needing to understand your own relationship with your motives and passions.“Isn’t acceptance the most devastating step in the grieving process because it is inside a state of acceptance that you risk losing what you have lost?”