Synopsis
Jane Smiley's panoramic novel is about racing--the jockeys, trainers, and fans, and, not least, the horses themselves, one of whom even handles part of the narration. Smiley has lived around horses all her life, and has written about them extensively; during the writing of this book was living on a ranch with 16 of them (plus her family) in California. A New York Times Notable Book for the year 2000.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2000-09-01 | | Series: | Thorndike Press Large Print Basic Series | | Edition Description: | Large Print |
| Size | | Length: | 915 pages | | Height: | 9.8 in | | Width: | 6.5 in | | Thickness: | 1.8 in | | Weight: | 44.8 oz |
Publisher's Note
A novel set in the world of thoroughbred racing follows a group of owners, trainers, jockeys, gamblers, and "track brats" on a two-year journey through the racing cycle.
Industry Reviews
"[Smiley] has produced a winner here, an intertwined, multicharacter narrative that has all the complexity, color, tragedy, comedy, romance and grit of the world she is describing."
Chicago Tribune Books - Amanda Vaill (04/09/2000)
"Odds are, even those who've never been to a racetrack and who don't particularly care for horses will nonetheless find Jane Smiley's new novel, HORSE HEAVEN, an absorbing read....Smiley pulls it all off by writing flawlessly..Instead of seeming cutesy--Mr. Ed in literary garb--the animals' point of view (like the humans') is complex, persuasive and thought-provoking..That we take the animals' thoughts, emotions and memories seriously is one of the real triumphs of the book..Coming into the home stretch, it's Smiley's insight into her characters' psyches...that makes this book so winning."
San Francisco Chronicle Book Review - Debra Spark (04/09/2000)
"In such a big, ambitious book, there are bound to be a few slow spots. With so many characters in action, it's inevitable that some stories will be more compelling than others....And the novel, as a whole, is so sunny that a realist...might wish for a splash or two of darkness to even out the canvas. But this is HORSE HEAVEN, after all, and a heaven of any kind implies a happy ending....There's a benign deity at the helm in Smiley's world. Her final chapters have a wonderful restorative quality, filled with grace notes and epiphanies that offer a fitting close to this smart, warmhearted, winning book."
New York Times Book Review - Bill Barich (04/02/2000)
"Jane Smiley, whose considerable range has thus far stretched from Shakespearean tragedy to campus satire, has produced a remarkable literary achievement: a resolutely unsentimental horse novel....Throughout, Smiley's pellucid style brings poetry to the dust and greed of the track while establishing firm analogies between the mania of the racing world and the runaway reveries of her human protagonists."
Salon - Emily Gordon (04/17/2000)
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