Kesey misses the mark on this potentially powerful tale of the early days of the Pendleton Round Up, when racial prejudice and exploitation bulled their way into the infant competition. It's further tangled by narration that bounces between 1911 and the mid-1980s with no transition. There's still a helluva story about the Jackson Sundown - George Fletcher - John Spain competition, but this historically-based novel doesn't really tell it.

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