# 📔 What Makes Sammy Run (Book) # ℹ️ Information **Author**:: Budd Schulberg **Category**:: Non-Fiction **Tags**:: #note/literature📖 **Medium**:: Paperback **Price**:: 15.64 Tags: [[Happiness (MOC)]] **Rating**:: 5 --- # 🏔️ What It's About The story follows two primary characters, acting as friend-foils, who both "aspire", in radically different ways, to find successful careers and ultimately happiness in life. The story evolves by juxtaposing ambitions between the two main characters, Sammy and Al, as they both ascend (and descend) as Hollywood screenwriters in the 1940s. The story, while fiction, is an incredible depiction of ignorantly blind and reckless ambition; a masterful far fetched yet relatable character creation that leaves you questioning your values and the meaning of life and happiness. # 🧠 Overall Thoughts I think *What Makes Sammy Run?* Is an incredible depiction of the American heel; this ferocious "win by any means/step on whoever" ambition that Americans are especially groomed to see as a path to happiness. While it is a fictional work, it executes a far fetched yet relatability from the two main characters, Sammy and Al. I find their character development to leave you feeling a level of relative depth, but actually pretty stale from an objective take. Normally this would be a criticism, but I actually kind of *like* that in this context. This is because the characters, at least to me, are more symbolic: representing the discovery of happiness in life. However, asking the question the story begs: ## What Makes Sammy Run? As a general response, it feels evident that Sammy is running *from* his youth/from his past - not *towards* anything. Kit mentions several times throughout the book, “find his childhood, find why he runs”. However, I think the great mystery of the book is that... we don't really know what makes Sammy run - at least Al never really answers it. It doesn't appear that it is ever explicitly indicated. Which I think is one of the beautiful ironies and is likely deliberate by the author; it further enables the fruitlessness of “being on top” mindset or Sammy’s. We find Al unable to resist investigating Sammy’s stomping grounds and talking with his family. We find a sort of fielty associated with Israel and his mother that appears lost on Sammy. He sends money, but is this only a necessary form of penance? As his moral foil, we find Al, in the end, extremely happy with his life, even though, in comparison to Sammy, it has been a turbulent journey to even some fork of stability. This speaks to a sense of wisdom and true happiness; Al adores Kit for who she is, not for what she can bring him (in opposition to Laurette for Sammy). In the end, I believe the illusion of an answer is the answer: it isn't clear what makes Sammy run; for, it doesn't matter; the realization of the true happiness that evades his life nearly each rung of the proverbial ladder of success. I will likely never forget the final written departure between Sammy and Al - it is incredibly representative of the reserved moral pitty that Al has - an indifference to Sammy’s “momentous” success: understanding that true happiness is found where you are, not where you can be. This is the lesson: you can find happiness wherever you are. ## 👍 What I Liked - I think Bud creates an "over the top" yet dually relatable character in Sammy - He never skips a beat, he also leaves you awestruck - you want to envy him, you want to love him... - But the wise part of you knows that his aspirations are fruitless; you can just see him devolve in one plane, but evolve in the other - morally vs. what society defines as success on the surface. - The nod to psychoanalytical theory was actually a neat prod to interpret it in this manner - Al once equates Sammy to being an id - It is therefore interesting to ask, if Sammy is the id, is Al the ego/superego? - Where does that leave Kit? - I love Budd's additional thoughts at the end of the book - The tussles and arrogance from Hollywood elite, such as John Wayne, regarding the reception of the book is actually really interesting - It is funny how people assimilate baseless ideas to fit their narratives; John Wayne conflates criticism of the "Hollywood heel" as anti-America, therefore Socialist 🤣. - He points to a readical change in generational interpretation of the book (between the 40s and the 70s) and ushers dire sentiment about the future: - He closes with the sentiment of: if this is the reception, those inspired or desiring to replicate Sammy, I worry heavily about the spike in indvidualism that - I think this is almost the definition of 2022 - Everyone wants to be themselves, but they're nearly mirrors of each other - People want to be TikTokkers, Instagram Celebrities - every one is their own brand ambassador and biggest fan, but not their biggest critic; the loss of societal humility is deranged. - Individualism is a hoax, a surface-level comfort - I noted in the book that the individualism that he refers to is a known characteristic of the boomer generation. And as mentioned again, lays a critical foundation for future generations, such as Gen Zs (my generation), enabled by social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) - it really is a perfect storm to creating a self-centered and value difficient worldview. ## 👎 What I Didn't Like * I did feel like it ended appruptly. To some, this could be a bit jarring, as I know it was for me. Primarily because I felt like the threads were beginning to tie, but that's about all you get. It leaves you with more exploratory intepretation. * I could see how less introspective readers, or those who haven't experienced "a rise of success" in some form like Sammy could interpret the ending in a non-critical way - "Wow, that kind of sucks, but WOOOO! He's still got everything and I'd find a way to be happy!" * I feel like I really saw a lot of myself in this book (maybe not in the same sense of having a galaxy EQ like Sammy), but "reaching the top", exhausting your ambition, and finding yourself with... nothing... * I want to believe that Budd closed it there, as mentioned above, somewhat abruptly, for those series of lonely scenes being the one that you really dwelled on. For example, "Is this happiness? Is that what I want? Is that who I am?" # ☘️ How the Book Changed Me %% How my life / behavior / thoughts / ideas have changed as a result of reading the book. %% * It helped bring further clarity and a reinforcing fondness for my growth and outlook on career aspirations; the rediscovery of what generates happiness in my life since leaving [[00 The McAlear Group]]. * It reminded me to focus on internal vs extern motivations and catalysts of happiness; we can find happiness wherever we are, we don't need external inputs, such as money, fame, etc., to make us feel fulfilled and loving life. It certainly enables a [[Stoicism (MOC)]] mindset. # 🔍 How I Discovered It It is one of [[Ryan Holiday]]'s favorite books/in his reading list and I really liked the prospect of it. Additionally, I'd really been wrestling with the idea of "success" and goals since receiving the director promotion at [[01 Ibotta]], which was only further disenfranchised from a true sense of aspiration for the role beyond the current. # 🤝 Who Should Read It? * Anyone who idolizes success through external means, especially people with insatiable career ambitions. * Those looking to probe deeper meaning of inner happiness, regardless of where you are in your life/career # ✍️ My Top 3 Quotes > [!quote]