Divided into 26 chapters (one for each mile of the marathon), The Other Shulman runs the gamut from contemplating the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac ("Is this what faith was? Submission to an insecure God with the hope that he’ll say, ‘Just kidding,’ before it’s too late?"), to the nature of physics -- "’Clocks are lies, Shulman, because there is really no such thing as time.’"

Shulman is an affable everyman whose commitment to run the New York City Marathon is his emotional response to the rest of his stationary life crumbling around him: his small stationery business is being squeezed out by a "world where convenience replaced charm. Where quaint took a backseat to bulk"; his once vibrant marriage is "doing great except he stood a better chance of getting laid if his dick were attached to a feng shui catalogue"; and he is stalked by his doppelganger, a man who seems to have taken the opposite approach to life than the live-and-let-live Shulman.

Not only is author Alan Zweibel’s novel filled with wry and good-natured humor, it’s also an astute portrayal of a man stuck wondering the old question "Is that all there is?" Second-guessing the past so hard that he is unable to step into the future, in danger of poisoning his present if he doesn’t get off the dime. What better cure then, for lethargy, than motion?

"’And once you do come to realize that finishing is winning – then you’ll realize that you’ll only be running against yourself. So then it will be up to you, and only you, to do what it takes to win.’"

Toward the last hundred yards of Shulman’s race, this "you’ll only be running against yourself" line becomes figuratively literal when the other Shulman who’s been shadowing Shulman throughout comes at Shulman with fists and weaponry. But this present Shulman is ready and beats back the other Shulman with superior force, allowing himself the opportunity to finish his race.

"So now it was time for Shulman to turn and continue. Forward. Running faster. And faster. Propelled not by the death of the Other Shulman as much as by the realization that he himself was the Only Shulman and better make the best of it."

Bang! Great ending. And there is absolutely nothing more to say. But, Zweibel (where were his editors?!) has Shulman trundle on for eight more sappy pages, wherein all the loose ends maritally and professionally and whatever else-ally are tied up in a nice and made-for-television bow. Like Phidippides covering the 26 miles from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens, The Other Shulman runs a terrific race, delivers a great punch line and then, sadly, dies.