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Books Archive

Interview: Maggie Estep

Writer Maggie Estep talks to Salon about her books, dog, childhood, and new project: “The new book happened because I fell in love with Smarty Jones. Every time he won a race, I thought, ‘Someone’s gonna write a book about him.’ When he won the Derby I thought, “I could write a book about him.” I wrote a proposal and we got a bunch of offers. Then bad things happened. The horse lost the last race of the Triple Crown. I talked to his humans and they wanted money to tell their story.
“I had this nice new book contract but nothing was going right. I went and talked to my new editor, who happens to have grown up around horse racing. He said, ‘Why don’t we do an overview of racing in the U.S.?’ I jumped up and hugged him, because I realized that’s exactly the book I’ve been wanting to write for a long time: the rise and slow decline of racing in America.
“I’m a little nervous about it. But I’m still in the meandering, delicious stage of researching, reading, going to the racing museum. Once I have to start actually organizing it I’m sure I’ll panic. But you know what? It’ll probably be fine. I love reading about racing, and I love going to the track. Plus, I don’t have to talk to too many living people, which is not my forte and which I would have had to do if Smarty had won that race. ” (Salon)

Posted in Books on October 1, 2004

The Female Fan Guide to Thoroughbred Racing

What? I can’t believe I haven’t heard of “The Female Fan Guide to Thoroughbred Racing,” by Betsy Berns (DRF Press) before today. It promises to teach me everything from placing a bet to throwing a Kentucky Derby party. An order has been placed. I can hardly wait for this essential book to arrive.

Posted in Books on July 11, 2004

Recently Read

Definitely aimed at horseplayers who have the handicapping basics down, “Handicapping for Bettor or Worse,” by John Lindley (Eclipse Press), covers some familiar territory, but most of its pages are devoted to topics given short shrift in other handicapping guides, such as the thinking of horses. Do horses know they’ve won or lost? Probably not, says Lindley, and you shouldn’t let such assumptions about a horse’s knowledge get in the way of betting.

Posted in Books on July 2, 2004

The Big Horse

“From the instant the bell goes off and the front panels of the starting gate spring open, time, and life itself, seem suspended. The animals surge forward like water pouring over a falls, quickly forming themselves into a moving stream, wider in some spots than others, but flowing forward at what seems a constant rate. Should one have a stake in the outcome whether it be a simple matter of money, or something more complex and mysterious, such as a hope or a dream one’s heart is in one’s mouth from start to finish. Adrenalin floods the bloodstream, the pulse races, the skin either tingles or grows cold, and strange noises, ranging from abject whimpers to blood-curdling screams, escape from one’s mouth. The race is over in a millisecond but takes a lifetime to run. And no matter the result, there can be no going back, and life will never be quite the same.” — From “The Big Horse,” by Joe McGinniss, out this week from Simon & Schuster.

Posted in Books on July 1, 2004