Merryland
Two Years in the Life of a Racing Stable
By Josh Pons

Pub Date: May 2008. Thrills. Sadness. Challenges. Adventures galore. All things Josh Pons provides in his second diary-style book titled Merryland: Two Years in the Life of a Racing Stable.

Merryland first appeared as a popular series in The Blood-Horse magazine in 2005, just four years after the Pons family purchased the training facility in Maryland. Fifth-generation horseman and Eclipse Award-winning author Josh Pons wrote Country Life Diary: Three Years in the Life of a Horse Farm, in 1992, also published by Eclipse Press.

Read a Q&A with Josh Pons.

Praise for Josh Pons and Merryland:

"Josh Pons, the Samuel Pepys of American Thoroughbred writers, has once again fashioned among the most readable, entertaining, and gracefully written books in the canon of modern Turf literature. A true supplement to his original Country Life Diary, this volume traces further the horseman's life in the historic, rolling Maryland countryside north of Baltimore. Merryland: Two Years in the Life of a Racing Stable is a day-by-day chronicle enriched with local color, telling anecdotes, and prose that comes alive with wisdom, insight, and even love. For anybody who cares for this game, this is a wonderful read.
--William Nack, seven-time Eclipse Award-winning author

****

"I challenge anyone who has read the 288 thought-provoking diary pages to declare there was nothing new for them in the book or that they didn't witness their own past experiences in the moving vignettes about life and family."
--Paul Daley, The Lowell Sun

****

"Pons is a fluid and talented writer who makes it look easy--which means he works desperately hard at the craft, getting it done after 16-hour days and making the rest of us look like slackers in the bargain."
--Jay Hovdey, Daily Racing Form

****

"His diary is an hypnotic read, a deeply moving human and equine drama ... Oftentimes, sequels are poor imitations of the original, whether it be that of a movie, play, or book. Merryland: Two Years in the Life of a Racing Stable is, however, as enthralling as Country Life Diary; a book to be savored, read again and again, and occupy a permanent place on a bookshelf."
--The Horse of Delaware Valley

Softcover
6x9
288 pages
Product #B11-1133
b&w photos throughout
List Price: $16.95
ISBN: 978-1-58150-182-7