Author(s): Jane Smiley

SECONDHAND BOOKS | Literary Fiction

Read by Mary Beth Hurt Four Cassettes, 6 hours Spanning two years on the circuit, from Kentucky and California to New York and Paris,Horse Heavenputs us among trainers and track brats, horse-obsessed girls, nervy jockeys, billionaire owners and restless wives.  Here is the trainer of dazzling integrity and his opposite: a wicked prince of the tract, headed for still another swindle;  here are the gamblers and hangers-on.  And in an amazing feat of imagination, here are the magnificent Thoroughbreds themselves, from the filly orphaned at birth to the brown horse who always wins by a nose, a lovable "claimer" who passes from owner to owner on a heartwrenching journey down from the winner's circle. All the constant excitement of racing courses through a novel that opens up a fascinating world even as it moves us with its exploration of wanting, loving, and striving; of our mysterious bond with animals; and, above all, of our profound desire to connect-emotionally, sexually, spiritually-with each other.

2001. A paperback copy that is well read but still in good condition.