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""Because ultimately, this is a story about unconditional love, about warming to the notion of commitment, about setting off on a voyage away from the shores of self-involvement and self-obsession. My Year of the Racehorse is a poignant, unsentimental, zappingly written and regularly side-splitting investigation of what it truly means to care about others, four-legged, and yes, even two."" -- National Post

The story of a man, a horse, and a foul-mouthed trainer in the (once) glamorous world of horse racing.

Kevin Chong has grand plans. He draws up a to-do list of major milestones that will give him the life he always wanted -- and the life that will inspire awe and envy in his friends. Then Chong makes an unconventional decision: he buys a racehorse. He becomes part-owner. Just don't ask him which part. Thus Chong meets Blackie, the horse that will win his heart, even if she doesn't always win the race. He meets Randi, the cantankerous trainer with a heart of gold. He meets assorted characters who work, live, and drink at the track. And, one by one, the items on his to-do list are replaced with horse-related ambitions.

Written with keen observational humour, My Year of the Racehorse is strewn with fascinating tidbits and infused with the excitement and faded glamour of the horseracing world. Ultimately, it is the moving tale of a young man's discovery that a meaningful life can arise from the most unexpected of circumstances.

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Kevin Chong was born in Hong Kong and raised in Vancouver.He’s the author of four other books, including the racetrack memoirMy Year of the Racehorse, which was cited as a book of the year onAmazon.ca and in the National Post. As a journalist, his work hasappeared in a range of publications, including Taddle Creek, Chatelaine,Maclean’s, Maisonneuve, Vancouver Magazine, and The Walrus. Heteaches creative writing at the University of British Columbia and livesin Vancouver with his partner, Holly, and her son, Joe.

Kevin Chong's profile page