Rabbit, Run

Rabbit is a little lost boy. His greatest days were spent on the high school basketball courts; he is bewildered to find that the rest of life is not nearly as wonderful. He marries and has a son, works in a tedious job. One day, he goes out for cigarettes and he just doesn't come back. He takes up with a woman and is befriended by a minister who longs to restore him to his previous existence. When his wife has their second child, Rabbit returns home, but Rabbit just can't seem to make everything work.

I see now why this novel is one of those books that is on so many great contemporary novel lists. I want to read the three sequels just to see what becomes of this fellow. I am pretty sure I know Rabbit.