Lord of Misrule is filled with tough characters at a 1970s racetrack, all down on their luck and all fairly horse-obsessed. The book is filled with great descriptions of their lives and the world they live it. However, I felt the descriptions sometimes went too far and too long and I found myself getting lost. This particularly happened because there are no quotation marks for dialogue. Sometimes I was unsure what was inner monologue and what was actually said! The book switches characters, who generally speak in a slang that I was very unfamiliar with. Basically, while I liked this book, it wasn't something that really appeals to me (I'm not very into sad gritty realism and I didn't find the book engaging). Still, I cannot deny that it was well-written, and the prose is often very beautiful. The story does keep moving, and though I put the book down on several occasions, it wasn't because nothing was happening. If you like great descriptions, distinctive characters who live tough lives, don't mind the occasional violent sex detour, I would recommend Lord of Misrule.