A Year at the Races - by Jane Smiley (Paperback)

About the Book

A Pulitzer-winning author presents a charming, funny, and a bit outrageous exploration of the abiding bond between humans and horses, told with panache, intelligence, and humor.

Book Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Thousand Acres comes an irresistibly smart, witty, and engaging chronicle of a novelist's lifelong obsession with horses. - "Exuberant...witty, completely delightful.... A kind of National Velvet for adults." --San Francisco Chronicle

"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

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.

Review Quotes

"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

About the Author

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.