Book Review -- Rough Magic

Rough Magic: Riding the World’s Loneliest Horse Race by Lara Prior-Palmer I became aware of the Mongol Derby, a 1,000 kilometer race across the Mongolian steppes recreating the horse messenger system developed by Genghis Khan, at my kitchen table a few years ago from a woman recounting her experience riding this dangerous and lonely race. Most people trained hard for the race, sleeping on the ground, and riding miles a day. The Mongolian ponies are untrained so the daily selection process is a total crap shoot. Injuries are commonplace.  And many entrants never made it to the finish line. Prior-Palmer enters the Derby on a whim with a love of horses under her belt, a deep seated internal anxiety caused by who knows what, and no series training. She ultimately becomes the first and youngest woman to win the grueling race. It is an exciting book in the telling of her story but what I found truly amazing is her extraordinary insightfulness into herself, others in her orbit, her spirituality, soulfulness and blunt honesty. I found myself going back and rereading passages to be sure I caught her meaning. She has a profound and unique way of weaving her thoughts with what’s happening in the natural world. I love this book and can’t wait to see what she writes next. Clearly an author to watch. Carol Lloyd is the Director of the Churchill County Library and has always enjoyed reading books about people’s relationship with the natural world; including Edward Abbey, Terry Tempest Williams, Pam Houston, Rick Bass, Jim Harrison, and Gretel Ehrlich.   Sign up to receive updates and the Friday File email notices. Support local, independent news – contribute to The Fallon Post, your non-profit (501c3) online news source for all things Fallon.