Blind Your Ponies

By: Stanley Gordon West

Narrated by: Traber Burns

Sam Pickett never expected to settle in this dried-up shell of a town on the western edge of the world. He’s come here to hide from the violence and madness that have shattered his life, but what he finds is what he least expects. It seems that every inhabitant of this forgotten outpost has a story, a reason for taking a detour to this place—or a reason for staying.

As the coach of the hapless high-school basketball team, Sam can’t help but be moved by the bravery he witnesses in the everyday lives of people—including his own young players—bearing their sorrows and broken dreams. How do they carry on, believing in a future that seems to be based on the flimsiest of promises? Drawing on the strength of the boys on the team, sharing the hope they display despite insurmountable odds, Sam finally begins to see a future worth living.

Author Stanley Gordon West has filled the town of Willow Creek with characters so vividly cast that they become as real as relatives, and their stories—so full of humor and passion, loss, and determination—illuminate a path into the human heart.

©2011 Stanley Gordon West (P)2011 HighBridge Company

Life Is All Around You

If you are one who questions, this book just might give you some answers. And if you like high school basketball, it will be an unforgettable adventure through the lives of many.

Courage and tenacity

It was a great story. I felt like I knew the boys and Sam.
The love story was heart warming

A great story of triumph over insurmountable odds

Readers who have grown up in small towns will really identify with the story of this hapless, demoralized high school basketball team -- a reflection of the community as a whole. Each character in the story is well drawn and positioned to advance a more complex story than "small team triumphs over odds." Basketball fans will appreciate the strategies used by the coach to keep the team (or remnants of it) on the court and in the game. Fans of interpersonal/family dynamics will appreciate the back-stories of pivotal characters. The only thing that didn't fit for me was the title, which to me is gruesome, even if it is only a metaphor for some of the tensions in the book.

Loved it!

I had no idea what this book was about. Don't remember what made me buy it. So I started listening with some trepredation. And I loved this book! I am NOT a sports fan. Have never voluntarily watched a basketball game in my life. Didn't matter. The book was so well written that it was easy to understand what was going on. But most of all, the real story in this book was one anyone, sports fan or not, would love.

I loved this book.

My husband read this book several years ago. He coached basketball for 40 years. my regret is not reading it before he died....so I could of shared in his enjoyment of this story. He gifted several copies to graduating players. Blind Your Ponies!