Customer Reviews

The Racing Tribe: Watching the Horsewatchers

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If Sally Baker would care to get in touch with me (my e-mail address is richardson@tote.co.uk) I would be happy to help her make contact with Kate Fox, the author of The Racing Tribe. I commissioned the original research project undertaken by Kate whilst I was marketing director at the British Horseracing Board, and from which the book came to be written. I can't, therefore, review with any real objectivity this book, as I am naturally biaised(!); safe to say it is a truly fascinating read, and successfully debunks various myths associated with horseracing and it's participants.

I read Kate Fox's "Watching the English" some time ago, and it was excellent. Both funny and insightful, and a real joy to read. So, I bought a copy of "The Racing Tribe" with considerable anticipation. Alas, it was very disappointing. Tedious and superficial; filled with crashingly obvious "insights" and uninteresting anecdotes . She obviously "emptied her notebook". Save your money and buy a few of the racing novels of Dick Francis instead. You'll learn more about the racing scene, and have a better time as well.

I am currently studying Social Anthropology at the University of Kent. Thus this book was a refreshing change for me - instead of reading about far away, bizarre locations - it was something I could actaully connect with and properly understand. I am also doing a dissertation this year on the topic of Foxhunting: A Rural Ritual - and I would be very interested to somehow contact Kate Fox and maybe get some input from her on the topic. Does anyone know how I might be able to get in touch with her? Her approach to the Racing Tribe is similar to my project - participant observation and interviewing a group of people withing the England - with an equine theme.