Day at the Races [Hardcover]

Barry Gifford (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

These transcribed tapes of talks with various racetrack types are divided into three areas. There is the backside, which involves trainers, grooms, a horse-shoer, exercise riders, jockeys and their agents; the frontside, where the contributors are a groundskeeper, a general manager, clockers, veterinarian, a steward, a pricemaker, starters and a track announcer; and, the grandstand, with a pricemaker, a tout and a professional handicapper. All the interviewees are very caught up in their work, and almost all have been around tracks for much of their lives. Many stress their feeling that horseracing as a sport is somewhat boring and that gambling alone makes it absorbing for spectators. Taken together, these pieces by the author of Jack's Book and Saroyan give a sweeping picture of life in and around the sport of kings, but it is doubtful that the book will interest those not involved in the sport. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Here's a novelist, smitten by the racing bug as a kid, who sets out to discover the real world at the racetrack. In candid interviews, Gifford lets the track workers tell us about their lives. From eloquent to raunchy, the men and women talk about making a living on the backside, frontside, and grandstand. Everyone from jockeys to grooms, from clockers to clerks, from veterinarians to owners, discuss their feelings, pro and con, for the track. This is the gritty reality behind the glitzy facade and carnival-like lure of racing. Highly recommended for academic and public libraries.Susan Hamburger, Florida State Univ. Lib., Tallahassee
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 189 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press; 1st edition (November 27, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871131951
• ISBN-13: 978-0871131959
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,979,761 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amusingly cynical (and with Liz Lundberg to boot!), November 25, 2000

By 

Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Lakewood, OH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Day at the Races (Hardcover)

Barry Gifford, whose markedly jaundiced eye is probably best known from the book Wild at Heart (made into the David Lynch film of the same name starring Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern), has been a longtime railbird. As all writers with the obsession do, Gifford turned his eye, and his pen, to the sport so many of us love.

When you've read enough books about racing from the fan's point of view, you start recognizing the same patterns over and over again. The backside of any track is full of cagey characters, not necessarily because they're dishonest, but because they're used to harassment from folks outside the industry (INS, DEA, OSHA, various other alphabet-soup organizations). But Gifford, as is usually obvious from his books, is a personable sort, and it seems he was able to get backstretch people talking in ways few other authors have been able to. Of course, I may be partial, as one of the folks he interviewed was Liz Lundberg, than a groomer at Tampa Bay Downs, who was one of the best-respected jocks at my home track, Thistledown, when I first got involved in the game.

If you've read Gifford before, you're aware enough of his style, and no one should need to tell you you're going to adore this book. If you're a racetracker who's used to Bill Murray, Mike Helm, and others of that stripe, you may find Gifford's book more accessible than most.