Some Horses: Essays

Some books are hard to classify, in spite of their seemingly simple titles. Among them are "Rats, Lice, and History" by Hans Zinsser, most of John McPhee's natural history books, and "Some Horses" by Thomas McGuane. One could call them philosophy as focused through Nature--the very opposite of religion as focused through the tribal mind. I've been on enough horses to know that you don't tell them what to do. You ask them,... Read Full Review

I greatly enjoyed this well-written and amusing book of essays by novelist Thomas McGuane. Although I have ridden a horse and get out to the occasional rodeo, it's mostly my interest in Western literature that got me to read "Some Horses." And it turned out to be an entertaining journey into the complex relationship that can exist between human and equine intelligence.One essay is about rodeo calf-roping and another about... Read Full Review

Some Horses is an honest work by someone with a mastery of saying just what they mean. The prose is spare enough to stay out of your way, but descriptive enough to carry you deep into the story. They key to how good I think the book is comes from my response, I am not a "horse person" yet nowhere feel snubbed by the fact that the horse world is really a pretty tight sphere of people, horses, situations, and landscapes... Read Full Review

What a wonderful book for all horse lovers! I enjoyed every page, and am looking forward to reading more by the author on this subject. This is not another piece written on "horse whispering" in order to cash in on the latest craze. McGuane reveals himself as a true horse person with just the right amounts of humor, insight and truth. Great Christmas gift for your horse lover friends, whether they are into cutting, dressage,... Read Full Review

Granted, fans of McGuane novels may whine a bit about this book. It's not very long; it's not fiction; it doesn't take us under the uncomfortable skins of some misaligned characters. But like the McGuane we've loved for decades, this is good writing. A master at the art of conjuring up a world and peopling it with folks that seem at the same time like escaped mental patients and our own relatives, McGuane in this book sets... Read Full Review