Customer Rating: 
Summary: Perfect Ending to a Durned Good Read
Comment: This is one of the most real-world inspiring and beautifully understated pieces of fiction that I have read. The protagonist, Louden Swain, is a 17-and 18-year-old who is doing his very best to become the best (the most alive, capable) person he can figure out how to become. It's durned good to see such a life as Louden's promoted in a fine piece of writing instead of the maladjusts we often find in contemporary, "cool" literature. Although Vision Quest is listed as a young adult title, the writing transcends that genre. This is not so much a book for adolescent readers (although they'll likely enjoy it) as it is a fun read for adults who powerfully connect with good novels. The ending: it's downright perfect. The wrestling match between Louden and his opponent is not the point of the story. The journey of becoming is what matters here.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: If you loved the movie..don't buy this book!
Comment: My husband is perhaps the biggest fan of the movie Vision Quest. He bought this book hoping it would be as good or better and was HORRIBLY disappointed. It was shallow and Godless! You are left feeling disconnected from the main character. You feel like you need a bath after reading it. Seriously, this is not the book you had hoped for if you loved the movie. Save your money on this one.
Customer Rating:
Summary: This remarkable book helped make me a writer.
Comment: This book not only helped me become a writer, it confirmed that there are folks out there working in each moment to be the best people they can be. I've carried the protagonist, Louden Swain, with me every day of my life since I read VISION QUEST in late 1979. And I'm glad for it.
When I came to VISION QUEST in my mid-twenties, I was striving to connect with a life I could care about. I was not a reader, other than the few older novels I was required to read in freshman comp. and American lit. classes. For me, VISION QUEST was revelatory in teaching me that American literature was not something of the past: it didn't die with the likes of Fitzgerald and Steinbeck and Hemingway. Even more important (more enriching) to me, it showed that it was possible to write books and stories that would be accessible and relevant to (and resonant in) many people's lives who would not otherwise be interested in reading. What's more, VISION QUEST helped me recognize and honor the connections between my life and those of others around me. You can't ask for more than that from a book.
And it's not something you often find. For these reasons and others, VISION QUEST is a novel to honor and to celebrate.
The life that Louden Swain lives in this book was something I could indeed recognize as A LIFE! Louden was awake and alive to the possibilities. This was a theme I was (and remain) passionate about pursuing in my own life and work. I hope that I've done an OK job of making that happen.
Davis Miller, author of THE TAO OF MUHAMMAD ALI: A FATHERS AND SONS MEMOIR and THE TAO OF BRUCE LEE: A MARTIAL ARTS MEMOIR
Customer Rating:
Summary: Much better than the movie
Comment: Seventeen years ago, as a junior going through a rather undistinguished high school wrestling career and frustrating first relationship with a member of the opposite sex, this book really hit home with me. The story was much more complex than the movie, as were the characters. It was about more than wrestling, it was about the insecurities, fears and hang-ups of a young man trying to find his place in the world. It wasn't just about Loudon's relationships with Carla and Kuch, it was about his whole world. His family, his friends, his teachers. It's a cliche, but it's true. It made me laugh and it made me cry. It still does.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Go on a Vision Quest and find your place in the circle.
Comment: I wrestled in high school, and saw this movie before I read the book. I was nowhere near a state champ, but this story inspired me to do more and work harder than I ever have in my life. It is about goal setting, and dreaming big dreams. Trust me, if you haven't read this DO!!! It is one of the most inspirational books I have ever read, and one of the most quotable as well. It celebrates the triumph of the human spirit. We all have our own Shute to get on the mat with, in all walks of life. You will be inspired by Terry Davis, and the story of a young man who is looking to find his place in the circle. "Ready gentlemen? Let's wrestle!"
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