They Shoot Horses Don’t They? – Horace McCoy

"Sordid, pathetic, senselessly exciting. . . has the immediacy and the significance of a nerve-shattering explosion."—The New Republic

The depression of the 1930s led people to desperate measures to survive. The marathon dance craze, which flourished at that time, seemed a simple way for people to earn extra money dancing the hours away for cash, for weeks at a time. But the underside of that craze was filled with a competition and violence unknown to most ballrooms.