A month ago I began reading Not by a Long Shot, author T.D. Thornton's behind the scenes account of one year at the hard scrabble New England track Suffolk Downs. Mr. Thornton, in a hat tipped to bloggers, sent advance copies to a few of us, and after plowing through the first hundred pages in furious delight, I promptly lost mine--sacrificed to a Muni bus or a BART train, most likely. I hope it finds a good home, and although I feel boneheaded for losing it, I enjoyed it so much I felt I should have paid for it anyway. My newly ordered copy should arrive any day now.
Hopefully I'll finish it before the Belmont Stakes and write a review, but in the meantime I can tell you the ultimate answer already. You should put this book on your reading list, racing fan or not. Not only do you get descriptions of the inner workings of a racetrack, but also what many of my readers come here for, which are the human interest stories that are intrinsically embedded in racing. Thornton delivers both with grit and flair. Both Mother's Day and Father's Day are coming up. Put it on your shopping list for the readers who brought you into the world.
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