Biting the Dust

At his best, Johnson, Denver bureau chief of the New York Times , composes prose that shows him to be something of a poet as he offers tribute to the last romantic figures of the Old West: rodeo cowboys. Mostly from the plains states, they grow up with horses, some starting to ride as young as age four. Virtually all of them dream of making enough money to become ranchers. Their lives are hard. Participating in dozens of rodeos throughout the year, they run the risk of serious injury and even death on the job, if not on the wild rides they take traveling from event to event, often hundreds of miles apart. Detailing their triumphs and disappointments as well as their tragedies, Johnson brings these cowboys into the arena as, one by one, they fly out of the chute. Author tour. (Sept.)