Gold Buckle Dreams: The Rodeo Life of Chris LeDoux

LeDoux, who became world champion bareback rider in 1976, began entering rodeos at age 12 and focused single-mindedly on riding competitions throughout his teens and 20s until he reached the top. He did, however, devote spare moments to composing songs, and music has become his post-rodeo career. Brown, himself a rodeo rider, portrays life on the circuit: the camaraderie, the inadequate prizes, the dry spells between victories when cowboys are reduced to a diet of pork and beans. Permeating this hard life is the constant threat of injury. By the time he retired, LeDoux had been badly banged up, but notunlike many of his less fortunate peerspermanently crippled. Each chapter is introduced by rodeo song lyrics, many by LeDoux, which will appeal to country-western fans. Photos not seen by PW. (June 16)