HORSERACING AND LITERATURE
Once upon a time in Simland it was here that I usually heard news related to horse racing in some way at first: Laura Hillebrand writing the biography about Seabiscuit, then the film adaption, Jane Smiley’s “Horse Heaven”, the film about Secretariat’s life…
And nowadays? If it is not the seemingly infinite debate about awards pro or contra Zenyatta, then there is a lots of silence going on, even so a dark horse won the National Book Award in the fictional category.
So your personal reporter from Germany has the hard task to spread the news – about a book he does not have a chance to hold in his own hands at present – that Jaimy Gordon received the NBA 2010 for her novel “Lord of Misrule”, in which horse racing and life at the race track plays a major role.
The author herself groomed horses at a race track, so I have the impression that she knows very well what she is talking about.
“She even chose to attend graduate school at Brown University — over the prestigious writing program at the University of Iowa — because of its proximity to a race track.” (Read the whole portrait by Chris Fusciardi here)
Unfortunately, the book is hardly available here at the moment, so I am unable to provide you with a book review. Ironically, I could walk into two bookshops here with a wide range of English books and buy all four of the runner-up from the shortlist, immediately, but have to wait approximately 4 – 6 weeks till the eagerly awaited and wished book will ship in.
Reducing my waiting period I bred my own Lord of Misrule by Tapit this week.
I hope I encouraged some people to pick up the book, and we will read some reviews here soon.
Maybe it is even possible to start a group read, which could attract some new faces to our game.
Furthermore high on my wish list is a video review in case Doc Lip has the chance to read the book.
Here are a few quick links to the new chapter on horse racing and literature:
excerpts: the opening of the novel and one more here
reviews: by Jane Smiley and by Andrew Beyer
interview with author Jaimy Gordon: here
more on the publisher’s homepage