The Runner: A True Account of the Amazing Lies and Fantastical Adventures of the Ivy League Impostor James Hogue - Softcover

"Hogue, for all his deceptions, was genuinely an elite runner . . . and Samuels is an elite narrative journalist, a master at teasing out the social and moral implications of the smallest small talk, of the way people turn their heads or slide into non sequitur as they try to explain themselves." --Keith Gessen, "The New York Times Book Review"

"[T]erse, passionate, and complicated." --James Hannaham, "The Village Voice"

"Haunting . . . Samuels succeeds in showing a man who's not really sure if he even exists." --Richard Rayner, "Los Angeles Times"
"Hogue, for all his deceptions, was genuinely an elite runner . . . and Samuels is an elite narrative journalist, a master at teasing out the social and moral implications of the smallest small talk, of the way people turn their heads or slide into non sequitur as they try to explain themselves." --Keith Gessen, The New York Times Book Review

"[T]erse, passionate, and complicated." --James Hannaham, The Village Voice

"Haunting . . . Samuels succeeds in showing a man who's not really sure if he even exists." --Richard Rayner, Los Angeles Times

A true tale based on an acclaimed New Yorker article follows the efforts of a homeless itinerant who assumed a false identity was accepted at Princeton University, an endeavor during which he dated a millionaire's daughter, achieved top grades, and gained entry into the elite Ivy Club before his deception was exposed. Reprint.