Rating: 
Summary: A Betrayal of Her Writing
Review: "Good Faith," "Barn Blind," "Horse Heaven," "Moo," "Ordinary Love and Good Will," "The Age of Grief," "A Thousand Acres" - these works by Jane Smiley are all populated by "red state" residents.
Jane Smiley has made a living, won a Pulitzer prize and gained fame from writing touching descriptions about the kindness, realness and intelligence of the people who live in these states. And now she says "it's time to be honest about our antagonists...ignorance and bloodlust have a long tradition in the United States, especially among the red states...red state types love to cheat and intimidate...they are borne of hubris and hatred."
She also says "[t]he blue state citizens make the Rousseauvian mistake of thinking humans are essentially good, and so they never realize when they are about to be slugged from behind." Just who is it that that slugged who from behind?
http://slate.msn.com/id/2109218/
Rating: 
Summary: from what I read here
Review: ....I doubt I'm going to finish the book. Obviously, the annointed Ms. Smiley can do no wrong in the critics' eyes, but even before I learned about the conservative-bashing that awaits me further on, I did not have a high opinion of this book. I found much of it dull, disjointed and vaguely annoying. Perhaps she should have chosen her equine anecdotes a bit more carefully. It's cute the first time she consults a horse psychic for her steed; the third or fourth time, you start getting this picture of a spoiled owner with way too much time and money. I love horses and horse literature, I just didn't like this book.
Rating: 
Summary: It's about Horses, Humans, Love, Money and Luck
Review: As a non-racing horse person, I really enjoyed this book. I thought that author did a great job of explaining the perspective of the amateur horse owner. She did it without apologizing for how much she invested (finacially and emotionally) or how she chose to spend her resources (like animal communicators). Amateurs keep the horse industry going in racing and other sports. I enjoyed reading a book that described how she tied her hopes and dreams to her young horses and how emotionally invested she became. I enjoyed learning about her relationships with her trainers and her other horses. I would recommend this book to horse people of all disciplines and folks who are interested in exploring the emotional lives of animals.
If you are looking for a rags to riches racehorse story pick a book about a famous horse. Seabiscuit and the Funny Cide book are great books about horses, racing and the people who were part of their greatness.
Rating:
Summary: Jane Smiley does it again!!!
Review: Author Jane Smiley does it again with this one! I have been a Smiley fan since reading Horse Heaven and have read just about everything she's published. Ms. Smiley writes with such passion about her subject matter that you don't need to be a part of the "horsey-set" to relate (if you are you'll love it even more). She also spells out her methods with equines in such a manner that even if you don't agree with her use of less tradationally believed practices, you can still respect her right to her opinions. You find yourself to the point that you can only ask "is this SO far fetched after all, it's not hurting anyone?" (i.e the use of an equine communicator). Nothing is ever forced on the reader in any of Smiley's works. As the reader, you come to appreciate her writing style with every turning page. I had to put myself on rations with this one, only allowing a few chapters a day so as to savor the entire work. Like Horse Heaven, it was another book that made you wish there was just one more chapter left...you don't want it to end!
Rating:
Summary: My Little Pony
Review: Basically, the nonfiction version of the utterly moronic Horse Heaven. Jane Smiley bought a couple of thoroughbreds who couldn't run worth a damn. This book is her attempt to recoup her losses off of you. If you're clueless enough to pay for it, that's your issue.
Rating:
Summary: If you from a red state this woman thinks you are stupid
Review: Here's what Ms. Smiley recently had to say about you.
..."The election results reflect the decision of the right wing to cultivate and exploit ignorance in the citizenry. ..."Ignorance and bloodlust have a long tradition in the United States, especially in the red states... "The worst civilian massacre in American history took place in Lawrence, Kan., in 1862-Quantrill's raid. The red forces, known then as the slave-power, pulled 265 unarmed men from their beds on a Sunday morning and slaughtered them in front of their wives and children. The error that progressives have consistently committed over the years is to underestimate the vitality of ignorance in America.
"Listen to what the red state citizens say about themselves, the songs they write, and the sermons they flock to. They know who they are-they are full of original sin and they have a taste for violence. The blue state citizens make the Rousseauvian mistake of thinking humans are essentially good, and so they never realize when they are about to be slugged from behind."
..."The history of the last four years shows that red state types, above all, do not want to be told what to do-they prefer to be ignorant. As a result, they are virtually unteachable."
..."Progressives have only one course of action now: React quickly to every outrage-red state types love to cheat and intimidate, so we have to assume the worst and call them on it every time. We have to give them more to think about than they can handle-to always appeal to reason and common sense, and the law, even when they can't understand it and don't respond. They cannot be allowed to keep any secrets. Tens of millions of people didn't vote-they are watching, too, and have to be shown that we are ready and willing to fight, and that the battle is worth fighting. And in addition, we have to remember that threats to democracy from the right always collapse. Whatever their short-term appeal, they are borne of hubris and hatred, and will destroy their purveyors in the end."
If you are considering this book, maybe you should consider reading her work at the public library for free. I would not buy anything from a person that feels this way about me. She say's these things about us and then wants our hard earned money, no thanks.
Rating:
Summary: Wish I hadn't bought it
Review: I am a big J.Smiley fan as well as a racing fan, and I anticipated a pleasurable read when I bought this book. If I was still 16 years old, I would have loved it. Since I'm not...
The book is amusing in places and presents a few interesting ideas, but the reader has to wade through some dull patches to get to them. I wasn't expecting quite so many anecdotal passages about Ms. Smiley's non-racing horses, and some of these seemed repetitive or irrelevant. And I was annoyed by the way she figuratively holds her nose when she goes into the racetrack grandstand area, characterizing racing fans as a bunch of chainsmoking sleazes who aren't safe to be around. Grow up, Ms. Smiley: the fans are no different than the people on the track backside, and without them the sport of kings would be as dead as Henry VIII. As a horse owner, racing fan, and someone who has loved thoroughbreds all my life, my opinion is that she did not do the sport any favors by writing this book. And from the viewpoint of someone who loves a good book, I found this one disjointed, a bit naive, and far below her usual literary performance.
Rating: 
Summary: This is NOT a book about horse racing!
Review: I disagree with J. Standiford's review (see below) of "A Year at the Races." I suppose if the reader is looking for detailed information on how much it costs to shoe a racehorse, etc., that reader will be disappointed. However, if that reader takes the time to read the preface (or even the book jacket), s/he would understand that "A Year at the Races" is not about *racing*. Rather, it is about *racehorses*.
Jane Smiley never presents herself as an authority on racing, or even on horses. Rather, she sets out to examine the emotional lives of horses -- for example, whether they have hopes and dreams, and what those hopes and dreams might be. Smiley draws on her own experience as an amateur horse owner, using anecdotal evidence about her own horses to illustrate her theories. Readers who enjoyed "Horse Heaven" not only will recognize some of the characters from that book (such as Mr. T), but will also remember the richness with which Smiley portrays all of the characters -- human and equine alike. Smiley does acknowledge her tendency to anthropomorphize her horses, but she tends to stop short of overdramatizing what she guesses their motives and feelings to be.
A particularly interesting chapter is "Reality," in which Smiley discusses the Myers/Briggs/Kiersey personality profiles (ISTP, ESFJ, etc.). She proposes a similar system for profiling horses (dominant/submissive, curious/afraid, friendly/aloof, and energetic/phlegmatic). She then discusses how an examination of individual horses within such a framework could benefit them, such as by matching particular horses with trainers whose approaches and expertise might better address their needs. It has really got me thinking about such a system, and whether it would need to be modified to address the difference in horses' dealings with humans vs. other horses.
In general this is not a book that I "just can't put down" (thus only four stars), but it is an interesting and thought-provoking read. I would recommend it for anyone who has an interest in horses, or in animals in general.
Rating: 
Summary: Only for horse people......
Review: I found the majority of this book fascinating - Smiley's accounts of her experiences with her animal communicator made me curious enough to consider contacting one just to see what my horse has to say. I found myself skipping over other parts - too much background information and theory and not enough anecdotal "stories".All in all, it's definitely worth reading for the horseperson, non-horsepeople just won't get it.....
Rating:
Summary: A fun read, especially if you like horses!
Review: I had read Horse Heaven and was impressed at how much research Jane Smiley must have done to get the tone of the horse racing world just right. I did not know until seeing this book that she owned horses, both for racing and for her own riding efforts.
Ms Smiley relates her adventures in horse racing, breeding, and coming back to riding after many years away from it. She gives tidbits from horse experts of all disciplines and training philosophies, as well as from human psychologists and sociologists. Then she proposes her own theories from her voracious reading of all viewpoints and from her own astute observations.
She writes all of this in an easy and witty style that allowed me to gallop through the book. I was especially amused by the wryness of her horses as expressed through their horse communicator. Whether you believe such things or not, it's still great fun to imagine horses making suggestions on what they should be named, for example.
If you like horses and like to ponder the nature of their relationship with humans, you'll enjoy this book.
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