King of the Cowboys

This breezy autobiography is an excellent insider's glimpse into the roughshod world of the contemporary competitive rodeo business, of which Murray is undoubtedly a superstar. The youngest rider to win the world all-round championship, Murray is also the first to win it seven times, the first to win more than one million dollars in prize money, and the first to successfully market himself to a wider sports-world audience. Although Murray is only in his early 30s, he manages to cover substantial ground here, from family roots in the famous Miller Brothers' 101 Ranch in Arizona and riding his mother's Singer sewing machine--""the perfect mechanical bull for a thirteen-month-old""--to early professional success at age 19. Part of the book's charm comes from Murray's gleeful acknowledgment that he is living the life he has always wanted to live,""from the time I was old enough to walk."" Murray also credits growing up in a family of riders, and gaining early support and training from legendary rider Larry Mahan--whose six-time championship record Murray would go on to break--and successfully recovering from serious knee and shoulder surgeries that he describes in unsparing detail. Murray's story embodies the substantial change in the rodeo-rider image from old Western movie cliches to its current incarnation in the slick but still entertaining Professional Bull Riders organization. Murray's sizable fan base is certain to rope this one in, but the book's engaging style has the ability to draw in readers unfamiliar with his story.