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Vybarr Cregan-Reid
Author of the FT and Daily Mail Best Science Book of 2018.
Dr Vybarr Cregan-Reid is a writer and academic. He is a professor of English and Environmental Humanities at the University of Kent, and won the 'most popular lecturer' award in 2015. His first book, DISCOVERING GILGAMESH (Manchester University Press), focuses on the rediscovery of the epic in 1872 and its tremendous cultural impact. His second book, FOOTNOTES: HOW RUNNING MADE US HUMAN was published by Random House in 2015 to great critical acclaim. He is also a blogger and popular speaker at festivals and events on the topics of running, freedom, philosophy and what it means to be human. He lives in London where he likes buying records and being outside. His most recent book PRIMATE CHANGE: HOW THE WORLD IS REMAKING US (Cassell) looks at what modern life is doing to the inside and the outside of our bodies. Listen to Vybarr Cregan-Reid on BBC's Open Book talking about the literature of running here. Listen to Vybarr on NYC Radio. Follow Vybarr on Twitter. |
Praise for Vybarr Cregan-Ried
Praise for Primate Change
'A work of remarkable scope' Guardian
'An excellent evaluation of our bodily shortcomings' Financial Times
''Nature and nurture commingle to fascinating effect in this study of how the environment humans have so thoroughly altered is altering us physiologically.' Nature, International Journal of Science
'Entertaining and thought-provoking' Literary Review
'Eye-opening' Bradford Literary Festival
Praise for Footnotes:
'Insightful and intoxicating. Vybarr Cregan-Reid's book makes you take your shoes off and run through a world of ideas about nature.' Lynne Truss
'It’s hard to imagine a more compelling or poetic running companion than Vybarr Cregan-Reid. He inspires us not just to run, but to be truly alive while we are doing it.' Scarlett Thomas
'Here is a book in which the striding energy of the prose matches its subject.' Iain Sinclair
'A brilliant, broad-ranging and beautiful book about one man’s passion for outdoor running, Footnotes reclaims this life-affirming act, gently revealing how it is essential to our physical and psychological wellbeing. Like a great run into a wild landscape, this book opens the heart and the mind, taking you off into the unknown, delighting at every turn and returning you changed for the better.' Rob Cowen, author of Common Ground
'Wonderfully authoritative vindication of what ought to be a self-evident truth: that running should be about being alive, not being a consumer.' Richard Askwith, author of Running Free: A Runner’s Journey Back to Nature
'Cregan-Reid isn’t the first running enthusiast to make the case for the physiological and psychological benefits of getting out into nature and working up a sweat. Yet few before have done it so artfully or completely…delightful bare-footed vignettes reveal Cregan-Reid’s passion for his subject, but also his deftness as a nature writer. Footnotes puts forward an impassioned and energetic case for the mechanics behind the joy of running.' Oliver Balch, Literary Review
'Delightful…an entertaining combination of personal narrative and rich literary episodes.' James Canton, TLS
'In this offbeat but entertaining take on the fitness memoir, Cregan-Reid shares his discovery of and love of running, occasionally adding intimate details from his personal life and frequently from his runs. It’s a mashup that’s equal parts philosophy, neuroscience, history, and love note to the author’s exercise of choice. The book’s greatest strength...is in its explanation of running’s benefits and in the author’s mystical, Anglicism-sprinkled descriptions of running.' Publishers Weekly
'The connections he draws between our bodies and souls — from the tricky relationship between psychological pleasure and physical exertion to the pictures our sensory systems paint during a run — are accessible and thought-provoking.' Washington Post
'Overflowing with ideas from science and philosophy, rich in literary allusions and filled with evocative descriptions of the landscapes he has run through, this is a wonderfully subtle and ambitious book' The Guardian
Praise for Primate Change
'A work of remarkable scope' Guardian
'An excellent evaluation of our bodily shortcomings' Financial Times
''Nature and nurture commingle to fascinating effect in this study of how the environment humans have so thoroughly altered is altering us physiologically.' Nature, International Journal of Science
'Entertaining and thought-provoking' Literary Review
'Eye-opening' Bradford Literary Festival
Praise for Footnotes:
'Insightful and intoxicating. Vybarr Cregan-Reid's book makes you take your shoes off and run through a world of ideas about nature.' Lynne Truss
'It’s hard to imagine a more compelling or poetic running companion than Vybarr Cregan-Reid. He inspires us not just to run, but to be truly alive while we are doing it.' Scarlett Thomas
'Here is a book in which the striding energy of the prose matches its subject.' Iain Sinclair
'A brilliant, broad-ranging and beautiful book about one man’s passion for outdoor running, Footnotes reclaims this life-affirming act, gently revealing how it is essential to our physical and psychological wellbeing. Like a great run into a wild landscape, this book opens the heart and the mind, taking you off into the unknown, delighting at every turn and returning you changed for the better.' Rob Cowen, author of Common Ground
'Wonderfully authoritative vindication of what ought to be a self-evident truth: that running should be about being alive, not being a consumer.' Richard Askwith, author of Running Free: A Runner’s Journey Back to Nature
'Cregan-Reid isn’t the first running enthusiast to make the case for the physiological and psychological benefits of getting out into nature and working up a sweat. Yet few before have done it so artfully or completely…delightful bare-footed vignettes reveal Cregan-Reid’s passion for his subject, but also his deftness as a nature writer. Footnotes puts forward an impassioned and energetic case for the mechanics behind the joy of running.' Oliver Balch, Literary Review
'Delightful…an entertaining combination of personal narrative and rich literary episodes.' James Canton, TLS
'In this offbeat but entertaining take on the fitness memoir, Cregan-Reid shares his discovery of and love of running, occasionally adding intimate details from his personal life and frequently from his runs. It’s a mashup that’s equal parts philosophy, neuroscience, history, and love note to the author’s exercise of choice. The book’s greatest strength...is in its explanation of running’s benefits and in the author’s mystical, Anglicism-sprinkled descriptions of running.' Publishers Weekly
'The connections he draws between our bodies and souls — from the tricky relationship between psychological pleasure and physical exertion to the pictures our sensory systems paint during a run — are accessible and thought-provoking.' Washington Post
'Overflowing with ideas from science and philosophy, rich in literary allusions and filled with evocative descriptions of the landscapes he has run through, this is a wonderfully subtle and ambitious book' The Guardian
