In McCoy's stunning portrait of poverty and powerlessness during the Great Depression, two struggling young actors risk everything to participate in a dance contest as their last-ditch effort at survival in Hollywood.

When a dance marathon craze sweeps the country, Hollywood film extras Robert and Gloria join dozens of other desperate young men and women to compete in a multi-day, dance-till-you-drop spectacle. Most dancers are hoping to get noticed by major movie studios. But as live audiences cheer and jeer, bodies drop, fists are thrown, and the trendy contest quickly becomes a cutthroat nightmare for its participants.

They Shoot Horses, Don't They? stands next to The Grapes of Wrath as one of the most convincing-and heartbreaking-fictional portraits of America during the Great Depression. It was also made into a classic film starring Jane Fonda and directed by Sydney Pollack.

This ebook features an extended biography of Horace McCoy.