The Sporting Life: Horses, Boxers, Rivers, and a Russian Ballclub

Bill Barich’s widely praised work is at its peak in these intimate glimpses into the stories behind the stories, the real people behind the public façade of the athletic realm. In this collection, Barich takes readers behind the scenes of both participatory and spectator sports, whose wide variety include:

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 different 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 a ride with the Moscow Red Devils, the world’s strangest baseball club, as they barnstorm the United States with Soviet trinkets for sale, and with technical skills equal to that of a good American high school team.

Every chapter shines with Barich’s distinctive voice, one that skillfully pairs both passion and intelligence with an ample dose of humor. The result is the very best kind of sports writing—from one of the most elegant prose stylists of our time.

Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.

Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.