THE MUDGE POND EXPRESS

A very fine biography of a race car driver. Posey began life as a fat boy who had everything (money, good schools, travel) but never won anything until he got behind an Alfa Romeo at Lime Rock. But he still never won the big ones, or realized his dream of driving in the Grand Prix: the car always ran out of gas, or the brakes blew on the final stretch, or someone forced him into a crash or spin. Especially appealing is his disarming candor--he is still in awe of some of the more famous dryers he races against--though one suspects that his sense of humor about both his career and private life may ironically be the very thing that keeps him from the kind of single-minded determination that top winners need.