Horse Heaven

Name: Horse Heaven
ISBN: 9780804119436

Jane Smiley

1999·640 pages

Literary Fiction

satire satirical social commentary

“ONE OF THE PREMIER NOVELISTS OF HER GENERATION, possessed of a mastery of craft and an uncompromising vision that grow more powerful with each book . . . Racing's eclectic mix of classes and personalities provides Smiley with fertile soil . . . Expertly juggling storylines, she investigates the sexual, social, psychological, and spiritual problems of wealthy owners, working-class bettors, trainers on the edge of financial ruin, and, in a typically bold move, horses.”
— The Washington Post

“WITTY, ENERGETIC . . . It's deeply satisfying to read a work of fiction so informed about its subject and so alive to every nuance and detail . . . [Smiley's] final chapters have a wonderful restorative quality.”
— The New York Times Book Review

“A NOVEL OF PASSION IN EVERY SENSE . . . [SHE DOES] IT ALL WITH APLOMB . . . WITH A DEMON NARRATIVE INTELLIGENCE.”
— The Boston Sunday Globe

“A WISE, SPIRITED NOVEL . . . [IN WHICH] SMILEY PLUMBS THE WONDROUSLY STRANGE WORLD OF HORSE RACING.”
— People

“RICHLY DETAILED, INGENIOUSLY CONSTRUCTED . . . YOU WILL REVEL IN JANE SMILEY'S HORSE HEAVEN.”
— San Diego Union-Tribune

"It's not true," says a character in Jane Smiley's novel of horse racing, "that anything can happen at the racetrack," but many astonishing and affecting things do -- and in Horse Heaven, we find them woven into a marvelous tapestry of joy and love, chicanery, folly, and the dark-horse phenomenon -- human or equine -- that eludes all rational prediction. The denizens of Horse Heaven -- including Justa Bob, a calm claimer who simply enjoys running; Residual, an intelligent gray filly; and Epic Steam, a two-year-old who has the talent but not the temperament for racing -- are among the most delightful fictional creations in recent years. Their human counterparts -- trainers, jockeys, breeders, and owners -- are no less vivid. Through the course of a two-year racing season, Horse Heaven follows these fascinating characters on a journey that will include the Breeders' Cup, culminating in a series of events that echo with both Shakespearean comedy and the manic energy of a Marx Brothers film. Horse Heaven captures the beauty and the blood sport, the sordid big business and the heartfelt love, the laughter and the tears of the extraordinary world of thoroughbred racing, in a novel that is irrepressible, tender, and supremely entertaining.

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Horse Heaven

Jane Smiley

Year

1999

Pages

640

Literary Fiction

Praise

“ONE OF THE PREMIER NOVELISTS OF HER GENERATION, possessed of a mastery of craft and an uncompromising vision that grow more powerful with each book . . . Racing's eclectic mix of classes and personalities provides Smiley with fertile soil . . . Expertly juggling storylines, she investigates the sexual, social, psychological, and spiritual problems of wealthy owners, working-class bettors, trainers on the edge of financial ruin, and, in a typically bold move, horses.”
— The Washington Post

“WITTY, ENERGETIC . . . It's deeply satisfying to read a work of fiction so informed about its subject and so alive to every nuance and detail . . . [Smiley's] final chapters have a wonderful restorative quality.”
— The New York Times Book Review