Monday, February 28, 2011

Staff Pick of the Week



Susan's Pick

Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon.

National Book Award Winner.
A 2011 Tournament of Books Title.
http://www.themorningnews.org/tob/#


The racetrack of Lord of Misrule is not Churchill Downs, or the Dick Francis’ Ascot races. This fictional WV track is on lowest rung of the horseracing world with its subculture of grafters, low-lifes, used up horses, and get-rich-quick schemes, The action is not of a fast paced horse ride, but rather the slower complexity of the lives of four horses and their humans in the worn-out horse sheds and the stalls. The genius of this book is the telling of the story, slowly building intensity toward the final important race through the lyrical, colloquial narratives of the characters. At the book’s end, you will sadly walk away from the evocative world of Indian Mounds Downs.

“…. As if a compelling story, an authentic sense of places, a colorful cast of hustlers, losers, and memorable petty crooks weren’t enough, Gordon add a style at once deeply interior and vividly cinematic.” Stuart Dybek, author of The Coast of Chicago.

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