The Road Runner / An American Odyssey The Road Runner is a memoir detailing the life, loves and times of John Stover. The story is loosely based on Homer's Odyssey entailing the search described by Homer almost 2,700 years ago. The themes are similar-the quest for identity, the search for love, the value of hearth and family and the continual challenge of being true to one's values and ideals. Many of the temptations encountered by Odysseus are placed before the title character. He meets the one-eyed Cyclops, is tempted by Circe and Calypso and walks among the lotus-eaters. The story begins...