Rating: 
Summary: Horse of a different color--LAME
Review: I really enjoyed Seabiscuit, so I figured I'd give Horse of a Different
Color a try. This book focuses on the money and the dumb-luck of the
breeder (and author) of Monarchos, Derby winner from a few years back.
The author uses self-depricating humor and name-dropping en masse to
turn an undoubtedly exciting story into a painful, annoying tale. In a
few paragraphs of unwisdom, author Jim Squires mentioned
Seabiscuit, only compounding my fury at what this book is not.
Instead of interesting characters (although I imagine they were there,
Mr. Squires just didn't let us know them), we got names and
generalities. Instead of heart-pounding tales of horse races, we got
ho-hum descriptions of only two races. I will admit that there were a few worthwhile pages. I was unaware of
the foreign interest in horse racing nor the internal politics of racing and
breeding, but I would have rather read that in a short magazine article. Maybe this book is selling to all the hopeful newspaper editors turned
lucky breeder. If that's not you, I'd stay away.
Rating:
Summary: Horse of a different color--LAME
Review: I really enjoyed Seabiscuit, so I figured I'd give Horse of a Different
Color a try. This book focuses on the money and the dumb-luck of the
breeder (and author) of Monarchos, Derby winner from a few years back.
The author uses self-depricating humor and name-dropping en masse to
turn an undoubtedly exciting story into a painful, annoying tale. In a
few paragraphs of unwisdom, author Jim Squires mentioned
Seabiscuit, only compounding my fury at what this book is not.
Instead of interesting characters (although I imagine they were there,
Mr. Squires just didn't let us know them), we got names and
generalities. Instead of heart-pounding tales of horse races, we got
ho-hum descriptions of only two races. I will admit that there were a few worthwhile pages. I was unaware of
the foreign interest in horse racing nor the internal politics of racing and
breeding, but I would have rather read that in a short magazine article. Maybe this book is selling to all the hopeful newspaper editors turned
lucky breeder. If that's not you, I'd stay away.
Rating: 
Summary: Informative and fresh
Review: I really enjoyed this book. Mr. Squires is a good writer with a self-deprecating sense of humor. I am a reader of most thoroughbred books and find a lot of them just rehash the same old stories. Mr. Squires tells the story as he was in it and imparts the knowledge he learned along the way and also explains that "knowledge" may be mostly luck. He explains things without over simplifying and without being sentimental. He also gives some insights into the breeding industry that I found interesting, such as discussions of sales and especially two- year old sales. Since Point Given was a horse racing at this time we do have to have some of the obligatory Bob Baffert blather, but the author kept it simple. (Unlike Three Strides before the Wire and My racing heart--which had long adoring profiles of him which I skipped over. Been there, read that, bored with it, more interested in the horse.)
If you want to get a feel for the thoroughbred breeding industry this is a good book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting and Very Funny
Review: Jim Squires had good fortune when he combined the genes that produced Monarchos. We racing fans have an equally fortunate combination of a fantastic story told by a great writer. Like a classic war movie, this is a gripping story even though we know how it ends. And Squires' self-deprecating humor is extremely funny. Many thanks to 'the breeding genius' ...
Rating: 
Summary: In the Winner's Circle!
Review: Jim Squires' former editorial background serves him well in this well-written, witty, informative book about the high stakes horse breeding world. It's nice to know that an "outsider" who really knows little about breeding race horses was able to produce a grade I stakes winner who won last year's Kentucky Derby. Even if you aren't familiar with the horse world, Squires is able to entertain the reader with his tongue-in-cheek style and his own view of the Kentucky horse breeding world. This book, like its famous horse, is a winner.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent, but not great.
Review: Jim Squires, Horse of a Different Color (Perseus, 2002) Horse of a Different Color is an autobiographical account of Jim Squires getting into the horse breeding business and, three years after he started, breeding 2001 Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos. Whether that was a stroke of luck or breeding genius remains to be seen, but following Monarchos through the eyes of his breeder is engaging enough to make a decent book. Where it falls short is in Squires' writing style. First, note the word "autobiographical" in that first paragraph. Squires insisting on using the third person would have been an amusing trick for a chapter or two, but he persists throughout the novel. It gets old after a few pages. Also, there's something vaguely disquieting about his attitude towards women here; it almost seems too deferential to be real (and thus, a cover for something else). This could certainly be a literary device; the book's subtitle does mention that there are an excess of dominant females within these pages. Still, some of the descriptions in here made me read twice. When he focuses on the horse, though, everything works just fine. Even the annoyance of the insistent third person narrative fades into the background. Monarchos was one hell of a horse, and Squires' book captures that well enough. Not as well as Hillenbrand captured Seabiscuit or Farley captured Man o' War, but enough for the Derby-and-Breeders' Cup horse fan to relive some good memories. Recommended, though it won't make the top twenty-five list this year. ***
Rating:
Summary: the worst horse racing book ever written by far!!!
Review: out of the dozens of horse racing books i've read, this one is undoubtedly the worst. the entire book is written in a third-person perspective... the author refers to his wife throughout the book as the "dominant female." not once or twice, but EVERY single time he makes reference to her. this might have been clever if it had been done a couple of times spread throughout the book but [it's not]. this book also confirms the cliche that "every dog has his day" because it is amazing that this [guy] could have been a managing editor of a major newspaper, and could have bred the kentucky derby winner monarchos ...
Rating:
Summary: A Runaway Winner
Review: The audio set (which is unabridged) contains 8 two-sided tapes that are never once dull. In fact, I often laughed out loud and almost wept during his telling of the Kentucky Derby race that the colt from his breeding farm won, even though he tells the listener in the prologue how the race ends. The author (who is also the reader)casts the story around a David (himself and all small-time breeders) vs. Goliath (the California/Arab breeding machines)theme; a former newspaper editor, he writes fluently and with grace. His baritone voice and soft Tennessee accent make for pleasant listening. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: terrible
Review: The breeder of Derby winner Monarchos writes of his second career as a Kentucky horseman and his improbable luck in quickly breeding a super horse. In the course of the book we learn a little about the author, lots about the business of horse breeding and meet some of the big players in the industry. Comparisons to the recent book about Seabiscuit (which is better) are unavoidable and probably unfair. "Horse of a Different Color" covers a different territory and is as much about a business as a single horse. The book has a few faults. At times, Squires gets stuck in arcane detail that interrupts the flow of the narrative. Also, his device of referring to himself in the third person(e.g. "the breeder" or "the genius") and his wife as "the dominant female" are at first wierd and then become tedious. They are odd mis-steps for an ex-newspaper editor to make.
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughbred breeding, Monarchos and racing
Review: The breeder of Derby winner Monarchos writes of his second career as a Kentucky horseman and his improbable luck in quickly breeding a super horse. In the course of the book we learn a little about the author, lots about the business of horse breeding and meet some of the big players in the industry. Comparisons to the recent book about Seabiscuit (which is better) are unavoidable and probably unfair. "Horse of a Different Color" covers a different territory and is as much about a business as a single horse. The book has a few faults. At times, Squires gets stuck in arcane detail that interrupts the flow of the narrative. Also, his device of referring to himself in the third person(e.g. "the breeder" or "the genius") and his wife as "the dominant female" are at first wierd and then become tedious. They are odd mis-steps for an ex-newspaper editor to make.
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