The Sporting Life: Horses, Boxers, Rivers, and a Russian Ball Club - Tapa blanda

BILL BARICH is the author of seven books, among them Laughing in the Hills, Big Dreams: Into the Heart of California, Carson Valley, a novel, and most recently, Crazy for Rivers. Barich has written extensively for The New Yorker, contributing short stories as well as pieces on such varied subjects as Italian culture and his favorite English pub. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and lives near San Francisco.

Bill Barich's widely praised work doesn't get any better than these intimate glimpses into the stories behind the stories, the real lives behind the public facade of the sporting world. Barich delves into both participatory and spectator sports, examining:

three different types of horse racing: down-and-dirty bush racing in Cajun country; an elegant steeplechase at Ascot, England; and a big-time Santa Anita thoroughbred heading for the Kentucky Derby
two boxers from radically opposite ends of the spectrum: Pat Lawlor struggling to make it in San Francisco, and Mike Tyson battling his emotions
two fly-fishing adventures on legendary California rivers
and the world's strangest baseball club, the Moscow Red Devils, barnstorming the United States with Soviet trinkets for sale and skills on par with a good American high school team.

Every piece shines with Barich's distinctive voice, an approach that splendidly balances both enthusiasm and intelligence with healthy doses of humor. The result is the very best kind of sports writing from one of the master prose stylists of our time.