What do you think?
Rate this book
Rodeo in America: Wranglers, Roughstock, and Paydirt
Rodeo in America celebrates a great national pastime and tradition. Taking the reader "behind the chutes," Wayne Wooden and Gavin Ehringer reveal the essential character of rodeo culture today and show why it retains such a strong hold on the American imagination.
As the authors detail, contemporary rodeo has evolved into a much publicized big-time phenomenon even as it strives to stay close to its fundamental cowboy roots. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) now sanctions 750 to 800 annual rodeos worth more than $22 million in prize money, attended by nearly 20 million spectators, and watched by millions more on ESPN and TNN. The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) alone offers more than $2 million in prize money and is attended by 170,000 spectators every December in Las Vegas.
Filled with telling anecdotes and insightful observations, the authors highlight rodeo's glamour and glory, hazards and hardships, while clarifying its many dimensions as sport, profession, business, community event, family tradition, and pop cultural icon. Bareback and bull riders, calf ropers and steer wrestlers, barrel racers and saddle bronc busters, bullfighters and arena clowns, stock breeders and local organizers, judges and journalists, the famous and aspiring, winners and losers—all are given their due in a work that reflects the enormous allure and demands of rodeo life.
Based on research and interviews conducted at the National Finals, as well as at rodeos large and small in San Francisco, Denver, Houston, Cheyenne, Calgary, Dodge City, Pendleton, and Prescott, among many others, Rodeo in America provides an entertaining and highly readable guide for aficionados and novices alike.
As the authors detail, contemporary rodeo has evolved into a much publicized big-time phenomenon even as it strives to stay close to its fundamental cowboy roots. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) now sanctions 750 to 800 annual rodeos worth more than $22 million in prize money, attended by nearly 20 million spectators, and watched by millions more on ESPN and TNN. The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) alone offers more than $2 million in prize money and is attended by 170,000 spectators every December in Las Vegas.
Filled with telling anecdotes and insightful observations, the authors highlight rodeo's glamour and glory, hazards and hardships, while clarifying its many dimensions as sport, profession, business, community event, family tradition, and pop cultural icon. Bareback and bull riders, calf ropers and steer wrestlers, barrel racers and saddle bronc busters, bullfighters and arena clowns, stock breeders and local organizers, judges and journalists, the famous and aspiring, winners and losers—all are given their due in a work that reflects the enormous allure and demands of rodeo life.
Based on research and interviews conducted at the National Finals, as well as at rodeos large and small in San Francisco, Denver, Houston, Cheyenne, Calgary, Dodge City, Pendleton, and Prescott, among many others, Rodeo in America provides an entertaining and highly readable guide for aficionados and novices alike.
310 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1996
1 person is currently reading
13 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 11, 2017
Rodeo in America is a book that i enjoyed reading because i could connect to the book. This book was a book that i could connect to very well. It was a book that i could connect to very well because it tied into what i enjoy doing everyday.
One of the things that i learned in this book was that they have a college for kids that are interested in rodeo. They will usually have rodeos at these different colleges every weekend. One of the biggest colleges that offers rodeo is Montana. Montana was the first college to offer rodeo.
I give this book a five star because it was a book that taught me a lot about a topic i can relate to. I feel like anybody that has an interest in agriculture would enjoy this book. It is a book that tells a lot of information about the rodeo world and how some of these rodeos work.
One of the things that i learned in this book was that they have a college for kids that are interested in rodeo. They will usually have rodeos at these different colleges every weekend. One of the biggest colleges that offers rodeo is Montana. Montana was the first college to offer rodeo.
I give this book a five star because it was a book that taught me a lot about a topic i can relate to. I feel like anybody that has an interest in agriculture would enjoy this book. It is a book that tells a lot of information about the rodeo world and how some of these rodeos work.
September 21, 2009
This is awesome information for The Cowgirl Way Society. Also just generally illuminating about the allure of rodeo to cowboys (it ain't the money!!)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews