Blind Your Ponies

Rating:
Summary: A Superb Read!
Review: Blind Your Ponies is a must read even if you don't like sports books. I love basketball and found the on-court narrative fast paced and masterfully written; as if you are right there with these struggling players. The only drawback is getting through his writer's school technique of using three similes in a row. One, or maybe two, would have made the point. I have purchased three other books by this author and can't wait to start reading. I have suggested it to my book club.

Rating:
Summary: Blind Your Ponies
Review: If anyone said I'd like a book about a basketball team I'd say they were nuts. But Stanley Gordon West has quickly become one of my favorite authors. Blind Your Ponies is the fourth book I have read by West and it is now my favorite. Blind Your Ponies is about so much more than basketball.It's about overcoming adversity, false perceptions and personal fear. It's about courage. West peoples his books with wonderful characters. He totally engages his reader with wit and humor in some of the most challenging situations. By the end of the book the reader is very involved with and invested in a large cast of colorful characters intent upon a winning season for the local high school basketball team. West makes you laugh, cry and turn each page with amazement as crazy events unfold in this forlorn little town in Montana. Broken and flawed characters bond to accomplish the unthinkable. West demonstrates so poignantly that given a chance the human spirit will triumph. This book is appropriate for readers 14 years old through adults. Male and Female.

Rating:
Summary: Too Annoying!
Review: Like the other reviewers, I was irritated by the author's overuse of similes; and for me, they did seriously detract from my enjoyment of the story. This is a great little story; the characters and place are well done, and West makes you care about them. However, every time I would get drawn into the story, start to lose myself in it, here would come the avalanche of similes (some of them very bad)! Please, Mr. West, you are a good enough writer to do without this overload!

Rating:
Summary: Too Annoying!
Review: Like the other reviewers, I was irritated by the author's overuse of similes; and for me, they did seriously detract from my enjoyment of the story. This is a great little story; the characters and place are well done, and West makes you care about them. However, every time I would get drawn into the story, start to lose myself in it, here would come the avalanche of similes (some of them very bad)! Please, Mr. West, you are a good enough writer to do without this overload!

Rating:
Summary: NO LIMITS ON PERSEVERENCE
Review: Montana is one of my favorite places to visit. As a filmmaker, I produced a documentary there last year. Earlier this year, I visited an old friend who maintains a second home in SW Montana,
where Blind Your Ponies is set. We spent a day driving through
numerous little towns, many of which are settings for Blind Your
Ponies. He then suggested I read the book. Having been there made the scenes in the book come alive for me, but having been to Montana or being a sports fan is NOT a prerequisite for enjoying this tale of overcoming against all odds, and marveling at the diversity and experiences of characters which come to life on the page. I would agree with other reviewers about the author's overuse of similies, but that's a minor point against an overall
great read! Read it...it'll be time well spent!

Rating:
Summary: NO LIMITS ON PERSEVERENCE
Review: Montana is one of my favorite places to visit. As a filmmaker, I produced a documentary there last year. Earlier this year, I visited an old friend who maintains a second home in SW Montana,
where Blind Your Ponies is set. We spent a day driving through
numerous little towns, many of which are settings for Blind Your
Ponies. He then suggested I read the book. Having been there made the scenes in the book come alive for me, but having been to Montana or being a sports fan is NOT a prerequisite for enjoying this tale of overcoming against all odds, and marveling at the diversity and experiences of characters which come to life on the page. I would agree with other reviewers about the author's overuse of similies, but that's a minor point against an overall
great read! Read it...it'll be time well spent!