Bill Barich

Twenty-five years after Laughing in the Hills, his racetrack classic, Bill Barich gives us another--about how he fell in love and found a new life in Dublin, where he was soon caught up in the Irish obsession with horses and luck.At venues grand and lowly, Ireland's steeplechase season hits its stride in October and reaches a crescendo at England's Cheltenham Festival in March, when the Irish take on the Brits for bragging rights before a crowd of 50,000. To prepare himself for the fierce rivalry, Barich traveled his adopted country and met the leading trainers and jockeys; such champion jumpers as Florida Pearl and the quirky Moscow Flyer; the beleaguered bookies who work rain or shine; and a host of passionate, like-minded fans--from Father Sean Breen, the "Racing Priest," to T. P. Reilly, whose peculiar betting system turns on a horse's looks.Witty and philosophical, vividly written, A Fine Place to Daydream is a paean to the real Ireland, a moving account of a surprise romance, and the thrilling record of a hugely exciting season at the track.From the Hardcover edition.

Since 1893 the Torelli clan has owned one hundred productive vineyard acres in Carson Valley, but the traditions tying them to the land are now in flux. Victor, the aging patriarch, must care for his ailing wife and has summoned his daughter, Anna, from New York to help with the family's affairs. For Anna, a return to the farm provokes an emotional awakening. While reassessing her life she becomes involved with Arthur Atwater, the newly hired vineyard manager, a maverick type whose independence matches her own. Burned by love in the past, both Anna and Atwater are at first cautious with their hearts. But before them is the renewable promise of the natural world: its raw power and rich harvests. And as Atwater struggles to reap the promised yield for the Torellis, he draws on the skill and sweat of a generation of seekers who have come north from Mexico to make their fortune in the fields.

1 volume ; 23 cm

An Angle on the World is a brilliant tribute to Bill Barich's extraordinary range as a writer. Gathering together more than thirty years of work, this book addresses such diverse subjects as a murder trial in the Caribbean, a visit to a juju doctor in Nigeria, and the author's youthful escapades in Italy and the Haight-Ashbury.

Bill Barich's heartfelt homage to the traditional Irish pub - and to the central piece of Irish culture disappearing along with it.