Rating: 
Summary: I usually love Smiley
Review: Although I have been a huge fan of her work in the past, I have to say that this book has been disappointing. Hoping that the confusion with characters and animals would dissipate within a hundred pages, I read on. Unfortunately, the story only got increasingly convoluted and I finally surrendered.
Rating: 
Summary: I Tried...I Really Tried
Review: I love Jane Smiley. I love horses and dogs. I love to read a big, rolling story. I REALLY wanted to love Horse Heaven. But I could barely get through it, and did so only because I paid full price for the book the minute it came out! I could not keep the characters straight...I was totally bored by race-talk. With so many characters it was difficult to really care about any of them (though I did have more interest in the four-leggeds than in the two-leggeds.) I was glad to shelve this and dive into Joyce Carol Oates' BLONDE (so far so wonderful)
Rating: 
Summary: wow what a cast of characters!
Review: For horse-lovers this is a fabulous story, Jane Smiley really knows of what she writes! The detail in her cast of characters is facinating, love, sex, soul and life abound!
Rating: 
Summary: Horse H-E-Double Hockey Stick
Review: I was beside myself when Jane Smiley's latest book hit the shelves. I broke one of my golden rules, "Never by Hardback!" I have always enjoyed her tales of Midwestern angst. But, I have never been so disappointed in a book by such a seasoned author. Although I finished the five-hundred plus pages, I am still waiting for the character development to end. I found the narrative sloppy and cliche and the characters contrived. Ho Ho Ice Chill-please.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: This is a great book! Jane Smiley manages to get into the minds of her horses and the mind of Eileen, a Jack Russell terrier. It seems as if she really knows how they think. Her human charaters are also very good, marvelously complicated and conflicted. You really care.
Rating:
Summary: Constant run-on
Review: I enjoyed the first couple of books from this author, but it sounds like she has run out of good ways to write a book. Not since 19th century British lit have I seen someone take so long to say nothing. The story was a great idea, but it was simply executed poorly. This book reads more like contract fulfillment than a true work of heart.
Rating: 
Summary: A rousing gallop through the horse world
Review: I blow hot and cold on Jane Smiley. "Liddy Newton" was okay, and (blasphemy!) I really didn't care for "A Thousand Acres."But I loved "Moo," that astute and funny take on Midwestern ag academe. So now there's "Horse Heaven," a book bound to boost race track attendance nationwide. Smiley takes two years in the lives of horses and horse people, and weaves a brisk and bright book about the racing world. The character list includes the gamut of racetrack regulars-the trainers, the hyper-rich owners, the gamblers, the jockeys, horse-crazy teenage girls-and best of all, the horses. Jane's a risky writer and takes a chance on working the horses' perspective into the narrative, which is a kick. The horses are wonderfully imagined, and it's great fun to find out just what they think about racing, and how well they might do betting on each other. The narrative needed to be pulled in a little, however. Toward the end, the various stories are reeled out a little too far to be tied up in a manner clever enough to do justice to the rest of the book. Overflowing with imagination, "Horse Heaven" needed a bolder editor to bring it over the finish line a winner by more than a nose.
Rating:
Summary: Heavenly
Review: As a rider and owner myself, I usually shy away from horse related novels because the inaccuracy annoys me. This book was extensively researched, and a pleasant relief for those who actually are familiar with how the horse industry operates. At the same time, I'm sure it can be understood and enjoyed by those with just a simple interest in horses, rather than a working knowledge. Understandably, the seemingly endless parade of characters can be a little confusing, but it serves a point. In the circle of the horse industry, there is rarely a simple tale to be told of a horse, rider or owner. The dysfunctionally enmeshed lifestyle in which we lead puts us in a clique where everyone does thread to everyone else somehow, even when they don't know it. This work is not a light read, but well worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Perfecta
Review: There are parts of this book that are just so well put together that I will return to it from time to time. Jane Smiley is a fine writer and she spins a horsey "tail" (sorry) that will involve you even if you never go to the track and think of a daily double as a happy hour special. Her cast is large, but every character is distinct and finely drawn. And the horses! They are the stars of this show. She brings them alive as individuals. I don't think I'll ever look at horses the same way again. The story is truly moving, but never pretentious, melodramatic or patronizing. The race sequences were breathtaking. She got her facts right too. The whole tempo of racing life. The circuits, the training, the track. I don't like animal stories as a rule, but this book is a rewarding exception. Smiley's style is so smart, and her intelligence so insightful that I did that thing that only books can let you do, I read my favorite passages over, and paged back from time to time to examine a point well made or to just enjoy the luxury of excellent writing. If you like horses, want to like horses or just enjoy first class writing, this book is a winner.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful read
Review: Beautifully written, humane, quirky, and utterly engrossing. I don't know horses from hoarseness, but still was captivated by this novel.
I always read for two hours every night in a big armchair and "Horse Heaven" was a big treat I looked forward to after a long, hectic day with three kids. Thank you, Jane Smiley, for this superb book.
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