Lord of Misrule

This quirky novel won the National Book Award - appropriately, as a dark horse entry.  It was issued by a very small publisher, who reluctantly increased the initial printing from 2,000 to 8,000 only when the book was chosen as an Award finalist.  The author, Jaimy Gordon, has taught writing at Western Michigan University for 30 years - the Times ran a very interesting story about her  - here's their description:

Ms. Gordon, who has a graduate degree in writing from Brown but also spent time working at a racetrack and briefly lived with an ex-convict who set fire to their apartment, has never been very conventional. She has a huge corona of springy, tightly curled hair that suggests prolonged exposure to a light socket, and a personality to match: forthright, disarming, uncensored. She is a wiser, chastened version of the reckless young female character who turns up in many of her books and never misses a chance to endanger herself.

 I really liked the book, which tells of some disastrous happenings at a second-rate racetrack.  The chapters (and title) are taken from names of the protagonist horses: Mr. Boll Weevil, Little Spinoza, Pelter and Lord of Misrule.  Kind of like a contemporary Damon Runyon, with very colorful language punctuated by laugh out loud humor - and a streak of darkness.