People Who Sweat

My Middle-Aged Adventures Among Tree Climbers, Mall Walkers, Surfing Housewives, and Other Unlikely Athletes

by Robin Chotzinoff

Harvest Books, 224 pp., $13 (paper)

Westword staff writer Robin Chotzinoff has a magnificent obsession: She must find truly interesting people and document their magnificent obsessions. And the most wonderful part of her single-minded pursuit is that she lets glimmers of herself leak out through the process, illuminating (and documenting) the stuff of life — both the good and the bad. People Who Sweat hangs together better than her previous investigation into all things gardening-related, People With Dirty Hands. Sports are her focus this time; Sweat is about Chotzinoff accepting her athletic mediocrity while loving the fact that she can move. She meets marathoners, eco-challengers, mall walkers, and tree climbers — each of whom has an engaging, enlightening story to tell. Chotzinoff’s dry, self-deprecating humor speaks to those of us in a similar boat, who enjoy physical activity but bring new meaning to the words “awkward” and “breathless.”

This article appears in August 18 • 2000.

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