Virgin of the Rodeo
Sonja Getz, an outcast from small-town Texas, teams up with an over-the-hill trick roper to search for the father who abandoned her as an infant.
Sonja (Son) Getz’s brain, butt and mouth are all too big to ever allow her to be the small-town Texas cutie her mother dreams of. With creditors and high school tormentors closing in on her, Son busts out of Dorfburg, hitches up with Prairie James, an over-the-hill roper, and goes in search of her lost father on the offbeat rodeo circuit.
“Waggish and wonderful…as flamboyant, skillful and fun to behold as a loop-spinner’s lariat.”
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Sarah Bird is a fiercely original writer who combines an acerbic wit with a genuine affection for humanity. Virgin of the Rodeo shines like a new copper penny.”
Chicago Tribune
“I like Sarah Bird and every line she’s written…Anyone who can make me laugh like Sarah does becomes God. I seek her out in times of travail; I search her books for holy words. She never fails me.”
Texas Observer
Barnes & Noble’s Discover Great Writers Series Selection
A Book of the Year, Southwestern Critics
