A Year at the Races - Reflections on Horses, Humans, Love, Money, and Luck

Zusatztext “Exuberant . . . witty! completely delightful. . . . A kind of National Velvet for adults.” – San Francisco Chronicle “Smiley is arguably America’s foremost author on the subject of love. . . . And love imbues this memoir.” –The Washington Post “Smiley has flung herself headlong . . . into horse racing. . . . Enough good horse stories to keep any reader happy.” – The New York Times Book Review “Invigorating . . . thought-provoking. A delightful book filled with arcane horse knowledge. . . . It could easily become the bible of the barn.” – The Baltimore Sun Informationen zum Autor JANE SMILEY is the author of numerous novels, including, most recently, Good Faith, as well as a critically acclaimed biography of Charles Dickens. She is the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize and was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2001. Smiley owns several horses and lives in Northern California. Klappentext "Every horse story is a love story,” writes Jane Smiley, who has loved horses for most of her life and owned and bred them for a good part of it. To love something is to observe it with more than usual attention, and that is precisely what Smiley does in this irresistibly smart, witty, and engaging chronicle of her obsession. In particular she follows a sexy filly named Waterwheel and a grey named Wowie (he "tells” a horse communicator that he wants it changed from Hornblower) as they begin careers at the racetrack. Filled with humor and suspense, and with discourses on equine intelligence, affection, and character, A Year at the Races is a winner. Leseprobe Chapter 1 Two Gals, a Horse, and the Baby Jesus I was riding in a Manhattan cab downtown, from 48th Street to Hudson Street, and I was talking on my cell phone to my racehorse trainer at Santa Anita. I was not unaware that this was a rather worldly thing to be doing, but we weren't kvelling or counting our millions. We were autopsying the race of the day before, my four-year-old maiden's first race back after a long layoff. He had trembled in the gate ("McCarron said he was shaking like a leaf," said Alexis, not a good sign). "Then, when they came to him, he folded." He had finished second to last; I hadn't seen it, because, after the sixth or seventh race, races from Santa Anita weren't broadcast in OTB shops in Manhattan. I had listened the night before to Alexis's glum report of the race in another cab-heading uptown-alone in the dark, all dolled up for a fund-raiser. Now she said, "The Baby Jesus thinks McCarron's the wrong jockey for him." "He does? Why?" "He doesn't push them. If they want to run, he encourages them, but if they don't want to, he doesn't motivate them." I said, "Who does the Baby Jesus think would be better?" "Oh, he didn't say. They never do." I reflected on Chris McCarron, a great jockey, and just the sort of kind, sensitive, tactful rider I wanted my maiden to do best with. I reflected on the Baby Jesus. I said, "Well, ask him, just to see. Just tell the Baby Jesus to close his eyes, put the heel of his hand on his third eye, and come up with a name." "I'll try it," said Alexis. "Has the Baby Jesus ever ridden him?" "Oh, sure. He loves him." "Well, I think we should just ask the Baby Jesus. Just once." "Well, anyway," said Alexis, "he came out of the race fine. Ate up every oat and looked for more. His legs are cool and tight. No problems. I just worry about that trembling thing. We'll see. You know, that horse we had, Golden Post, he shook like mad before every race. He was psyching himself up because he didn't have much talent. He really wanted to win. We tried for years to relax him, and the only time he ever went to the post relaxed, he ran last. He won five hundred thousand dollars all in all. You never know with these horses."

Product details

• Authors: Jane Smiley
• Publisher: Anchor Books USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 19.04.2005
• EAN: 9781400033171
• ISBN: 978-1-4000-3317-1
• No. of pages: 304
• Dimensions: 131 mm x 203 mm x 17 mm
• Subject: Guides > Nature > Horses, riding