the places she 'd underlined and the little notes she 'd written had all been blurred out by the soaking , but the book was still mostly readable , and i was thinking i would take it back to my room and try to read it even though it was n't a biography when i flipped to that page , toward the back : he was shaken by the overwhelming revelation that the headlong race between his misfortunes and his dreams was at that moment reaching the finish line .