How do you meet a mid-life crisis? Sports car, Italian villa, inappropriate love interest? Margaret Winslow, an overworked college professor in New York City, answered a for-sale ad for a “Large White Saddle Donkey” in the American Donkey and Mule Society’s magazine, The Brayer.

Hilarity ensues, alongside life-threatening injuries and spirit-enriching insight. Through training traumas, expert-baffling antics, and humiliating races, she comes to understand of Caleb’s true, undeniable gifts: a willingness to be true to himself no matter the circumstances, to “speak truth to power,” to trust, and to forgive. As she and Caleb learn to thrive, you’ll learn the importance of being true to your own pure and powerful self.

"This unusual, engaging story of a woman and her donkey will undoubtedly win many hearts."
— Publishers Weekly

“I love Margaret Winslow’s book and all it teaches us about the true nature of life, from the power of love to the reality of animal communication.”
— Dr. Bernie S. Siegel, author of Love, Animals & Miracles and 365 Prescriptions for the Soul

“Heartbreaking, funny, encouraging, and enlightening, Smart Ass is a beautifully written story that questions our own stubbornness as a species and asks us to learn how to trust ourselves.”
— Ben Hart, animal behaviorist and trainer at Hart’s Horsemanship and The Donkey Sanctuary