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Rating: 
Summary: More Horse, Less Author
Review: "Horse of a Different Color" shines when it shines the spotlight on Monarchos, winner of the 2000 Kentucky Derby. It sinks when the author looks at himself.Somewhere along the line, an Editor should have warned the author against using a second person narrative style. It just gets annoying after a while. And his dubbing of his wife as "The Dominant Female" is kind of cute at first, but after 300 pages it really grates on the nerves. Cutesy writing has no place in a book for adults.
Rating: 
Summary: Ego + Ego+ More Ego= Don't waste your money.
Review: As an avid fan of the sport of horse racing and owner of several race horses I purchased "Horse of a Different Color" eager to glean from it's pages the 'secret' of one who had attained the improbable. Winning the Kentucky Derby is something we all dream about.
Unfortunately, this boorish narrative begins with and maintains the overwhelming self-aggrandizement found in too many people involved in the sport of racing. Upon reaching page 175 I put the book back on my book shelf and have no plans to re-open it.
What could have been a wonderful story about an unlikely champion was, in fact, one man's story about what is clearly his favorite subject: himself. With so many other wonderful books available on the champions of horse racing I would recommend passing on this one to take a chance on any other.
Rating: 
Summary: A very exciting story and fun to read
Review: Having just returned from my first trip to the greatest race of them all, the Kentucky Derby, I purchased Jim Squires' book. Mr. Squires is a wonderful writer with a great story to tell. His tale was as exciting as the Derby! Many emotional elements woven into the fabric of his book will have you laughing on one page and crying on the next. Don't miss out on this one, you will love it from its very beginnings to the thrilling climax.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I am not a horseman, but I live in horse country. After considerable urging from my horse friends, I read Jim Squires' book. The story is about horses and people in today's world, and what a fascinating story it is. I imagine after many years as a journalist, he is very adept at keeping the reader, like me, turning page after page, non-stop. This tale is for everyone, not just horse lovers. Usually, it takes me 50 pages to get into a book, not this time! You're off to a quick start, and before you realize it, a thrilling climax. I found myself laughing out loud. His humor is all at his own expense. My wife likened herself to Mr. Squires' spouse, who he refers to as the dominant female. This is a remarkable true story told firsthand by the man who lived it.
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: 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: 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: Please end!
Review: While reading the book I really struggled to stay interested in the story line. I was finding nuggets of information in the thoroughbred industry that sparked my interest, and when I ponder back on what I learned I would give the book rave reviews because it did capture a lot of detail that could easily be skipped over. But there was a lot of the story line that had me wishing the book would end early.
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