![]() ![]() I think my previous books were usually dominated by one reckless human being, usually a young woman, whose fortunes would horrify and interest the reader. I wanted to write a social novel of a kind, I wanted to represent, in one way or another, all the orders of humanity of this world. Just as quickly we meet characters, both equine and human, whose lives, language and trials feel entirely new. But anyone who opens it will recognize instantly the real old American thing: horses, jockeys, trainers and touts with Damon Runyon names like Medicine Ed and Suitcase and Two-Tie, loners and outcasts on their own crummy racetrackers’ planet in far West Virginia. It may never get noted in the Times Sunday Book Review. ![]() Lord of Misrule was reviewed in the Daily Racing Form before it was noticed by the New York Times. ![]() The 40-to-1 payoff is for readers who, but for the big prize, might never hear of non-commercial fiction or savor it’s very distinctive pleasures. She is this winter’s longshot winner of the National Book Award, for her gorgeous racetrack novel Lord of Misrule. Jaimy Gordon impels us to find the other great small-press writers we’ve never heard of. Jaimy Gordon’s Racetrack Revelation in Lord of Misrule ![]()
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