Horse Heaven

By: Jane Smiley

Narrated by: Shelley Thompson

Many astonishing and affecting things happen at the racetrack, and the mysterious universe of horse racing, passionate, cold-hearted, pure, corrupt, is woven into a marvelous tapestry of joy and love, chicanery, folly, greed, and reckless courage. Spanning two years on the circuit, from Kentucky and California to New York and Paris, Horse Heaven, puts us among trainers, nervey jockeys, billionaire breeders, and restless track wives.©2014 Jane Smiley (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Wonderful story

What a wonderful storyline. The characters just came alive and the narrative was so well done the horses and folks were vivid and just came alive before my eyes. I highly recommend this book and am looking into getting another by her. Hopefully I’ll get lucky and get the same reader. She did a fantastic job.

Heaven indeed

I love this book so much that I just listened to it three times in a uccession. The characters are so real, and Jane Smiley understands the horse world because she is a horseman. One of my favorite books of all time.

Horse Heaven=Pure Heaven

Jane Smiley demonstrates her brilliance in this book, illustrating similarities between the horses and the people who own, breed, train, and race them. And Shelley Thompson is a truly engaging narrator. It was a great experience!

Loved this so much - but I'm a horse nut

I cannot tell you how this book influenced my life! An absolute sensational read. Love Shelly Thompson, love Just A Bob, what a fabulous book. Bless you Jane Smiley!!! I love horses, so I suppose why I love this.

This book gallops home!

As a person involved in competitive horse events who used to be involved in the sport of thoroughbred racing, I found this book both factually accurate and enjoyable. It is factually accurate in that many of the things described in the book, horse care, the way owners treat their animals etc, are true to life for the time of the book. Most of the characters were likeable, though a few ere sometimes annoying. The animal characters were portrayed very well, but not overly humanised. Incidentally, Mr. T, the telepathic horse, is featured in the nonfiction book written by the author called A Year At the Races, also available on Audible.

Wonderful book, full of heart.

If you are a fan of thoroughbred horse racing (especially for you if it's all about the horse), then you will love this book. The author knows the sport and she obviously loves the horses (just ask "Just a Bob"). It was a fun, heartfelt read and I highly recommend it.
Paul Couch, M.D.
Winter Springs, Florida

Great read as well as a great audiobook!

I read the book several years ago & truly enjoyed it. Just recently remembered how much I enjoyed the book & decided to get the audiobook.
I don’t know if Jane Smiley is a “horse person” or a good researcher. I’m from the Chicago area & was involved with the Chicago & Arlington Park Race Tracks.
I was also very familiar will the equine hospital in Naperville. Jane’s attention to detail really impressed me. I’m glad I purchased the audiobook. Now I get to listen to the novel as often as I want. I highly recommend this book to anyone! You don’t have to be a “horse person” to enjoy it. This book is both a good read and just as good to hear as an audiobook.

Great narrating....bad editing!

As a horse person, and a former exercise rider, who lived and worked on racetracks all over the south, I must say I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I listen to it at least once every year or so.

The plot is true to racing and horses in general. The author truly knows what it is like...the feelings and complexities one has and deals with, when owning, caring for, or training horses of any kind and Thoroughbreds in particular.

I would like to make one comment on the narration and some of the reviews thereof... Yes, the Narrator did mispronounce some place names, and yes, this is annoying in the extreme to the perfectionists among us. However, that being said, it is the audio book editor's job to catch such mistakes and correct them, so I think the blame of the narrator is slightly misplaced. When people have never been to a particular place, eaten a particular food, or heard those names pronounced, it is unfair to expect them to automatically know how to pronounce such words. I'm sure many of us were told in schools to read and spell like words sound. And, as for the pronunciation of Maryland as "Mary-land," that would technically be correct and is a common pronunciation by those who live there, since the state was named for Queen Mary and it was her land, hence Mary-land...

Oh! Wait, I'm not done!

One more thing about reader Shelley Thompson! How does someone get to be an audiobook reader without knowing how to pronounce "pico de gallo," "La Jolla," or "Maryland"?

Horse Heaven

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, It's a tediously long stroy. I want the Reader's Digest Condensed version.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Too many characters introduced that are not mentioned other than their set up, which I consider a loss lead. Don't introduce me to someone that will go away and I really didn't care about any of them.... any of them.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Learn properly how to pronounce American words.

Did Horse Heaven inspire you to do anything?

Nope. Maybe not to bet on horses since there is so much crap going on.

Any additional comments?

Author needs to concentrate on, Who's stroy is it anyway? I still don't know. Eileen is the only character completely developed, and I liked when she was the focus.