Jono Lineen
Perfect Motion
Penguin Australia, 2019
A riveting exploration of the remarkable power of walking.
Since our first ancestor rose up to place one foot in front of another, our desire to walk has produced fundamental changes in our bodies and minds.
In Perfect Motion, Jono Lineen investigates that transformation, and why walking has made us more creative, helped us to learn, constructed our perception of time, strengthened our resilience and provided a way of making sense of our life – and death.
After the tragic loss of his younger brother, Lineen experienced walking’s regenerative power firsthand. Grief-stricken and adrift, he set off on a 2700-kilometre solo trek across the Himalayas. He walked for months until his legs ached and feet blistered, and by the end of the expedition something had changed in him. He was stronger – not just physically, but psychologically and emotionally.
What had happened? What had given him this feeling of peace; joy even? Determined to find out, he began researching the science and history of walking and running, and discovered that there were fascinating reasons for his metamorphosis. Now, weaving together his own remarkable personal stories with evolutionary research, psychology, neuroscience, anatomy and philosophy, Lineen reveals for the first time the powerful effect that even the shortest strolls can have on us. And why walking is what we’re made to do; it is our perfect motion.
“To read Perfect Motion is like taking a rambling walk along a picturesque path. Lineen . . . has lived an extraordinary life, and each page brings new discoveries and fresh anecdotes . . . Ultimately, Lineen’s book is a love letter to the art of walking, and to the ‘thousands of generations of bipedal motion’ that make it a natural part of our existence.”
About the Author
Jono Lineen was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, at the start of the ‘Troubles’. He moved to Canada as a young boy and then spent almost 20 years travelling the world working as a forester, mountain guide, ski racer, humanitarian relief worker and writer. He is a curator at the National Museum of Australia. His books include River Trilogy, Into the Heart of the Himalayas and Perfect Motion.
