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A Year at the Races
A best-selling novelist and an award-winning photographer provide an insider's look at the sport of thoroughbred horse racing, from morning walks to the owner's box
- GenresNonfiction
120 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1991
About the author
Robert B. Parker
496 books2,361 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database named Robert B. Parker.
Robert Brown Parker was an American writer, primarily of fiction within the mystery/detective genre. His most famous works were the 40 novels written about the fictional private detective Spenser. ABC television network developed the television series Spenser: For Hire based on the character in the mid-1980s; a series of TV movies was also produced based on the character. His works incorporate encyclopedic knowledge of the Boston metropolitan area. The Spenser novels have been cited as reviving and changing the detective genre by critics and bestselling authors including Robert Crais, Harlan Coben, and Dennis Lehane.
Parker also wrote nine novels featuring the fictional character Jesse Stone, a Los Angeles police officer who moves to a small New England town; six novels with the fictional character Sunny Randall, a female private investigator; and four Westerns starring the duo Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch. The first was Appaloosa, made into a film starring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen.
Robert Brown Parker was an American writer, primarily of fiction within the mystery/detective genre. His most famous works were the 40 novels written about the fictional private detective Spenser. ABC television network developed the television series Spenser: For Hire based on the character in the mid-1980s; a series of TV movies was also produced based on the character. His works incorporate encyclopedic knowledge of the Boston metropolitan area. The Spenser novels have been cited as reviving and changing the detective genre by critics and bestselling authors including Robert Crais, Harlan Coben, and Dennis Lehane.
Parker also wrote nine novels featuring the fictional character Jesse Stone, a Los Angeles police officer who moves to a small New England town; six novels with the fictional character Sunny Randall, a female private investigator; and four Westerns starring the duo Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch. The first was Appaloosa, made into a film starring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 4, 2019
Didn't expect non-fiction.
February 1, 2021
Nonfiction, Bob and Joan spend and describe their time at the horse track and behind the scenes. Their humor shines through.
January 20, 2008
Robert B. Parker, Joan H. Parker, and William Strode, A Year at the Races (Morrow, 1990)
Spenser author Robert Parker and his wife Joan met horse trainer Cot Campbell through some friends, and Campbell invited them to see the sights. They took along Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer William Strode and someone from the publicity office. This book documents what they experienced.
From a racing standpoint, Parker couldn't have had this opportunity at a better time; the year Parker spent with them spanned the yearling and two-year-old season of the best horse Campbell ever trained, Summer Squall. Yet the statement with which Parker opens the book, "I know nothing about racing," rings loud and deep here, and reverberates throughout. At the end of the year, Parker still knows nothing about racing, and it shows. The most interesting thing about the text is how much Parker describing Joan sounds like Spenser describing Susan. But I should have expected that.
The value of this book lies in the fact that the Parkers brought William Strode along for the ride. Strode's photography here is dazzling, often amusing or thought-provoking, never boring. Strode does know something about racing, and about racing culture, and his many wonderful pictures here are testament to that.
So in other words, buy it for the pictures. ***
Spenser author Robert Parker and his wife Joan met horse trainer Cot Campbell through some friends, and Campbell invited them to see the sights. They took along Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer William Strode and someone from the publicity office. This book documents what they experienced.
From a racing standpoint, Parker couldn't have had this opportunity at a better time; the year Parker spent with them spanned the yearling and two-year-old season of the best horse Campbell ever trained, Summer Squall. Yet the statement with which Parker opens the book, "I know nothing about racing," rings loud and deep here, and reverberates throughout. At the end of the year, Parker still knows nothing about racing, and it shows. The most interesting thing about the text is how much Parker describing Joan sounds like Spenser describing Susan. But I should have expected that.
The value of this book lies in the fact that the Parkers brought William Strode along for the ride. Strode's photography here is dazzling, often amusing or thought-provoking, never boring. Strode does know something about racing, and about racing culture, and his many wonderful pictures here are testament to that.
So in other words, buy it for the pictures. ***
February 14, 2015
Author Robert B. Parker (Spenser, Jesse Stone, Sunny Randall, et al. series) and his wife Joan H. Parker chronicle a year in the thoroughbred horse racing environment.
799.4 The Parkers narrate a year spent visiting the Dogwood Stable organization of Cot Campbell. From the yearling sales at Keeneland and Saratoga, to the training in Aiken, SC, the steeplechases at Fair Hill, MD and the flat races at Gulfstream, Saratoga, Churchill Down and Pimlico this view of the racing world is accompanied by William Strode's fabulous photographs.
799.4 The Parkers narrate a year spent visiting the Dogwood Stable organization of Cot Campbell. From the yearling sales at Keeneland and Saratoga, to the training in Aiken, SC, the steeplechases at Fair Hill, MD and the flat races at Gulfstream, Saratoga, Churchill Down and Pimlico this view of the racing world is accompanied by William Strode's fabulous photographs.
August 14, 2011
A wry look at the races, when I was 12 years old this book was all I would look at (in between re-reads of The Black Stallion's Courage, of course). This gorgeous coffee-table book follows a year behind-the-scenes with Dogwood Stables, including their purchase of champion colt Summer Squall up to his two-year-old debut, and remains the only thing I have ever read or ever will read by Robert. B. Parker. A must for the racing fan.
June 16, 2009
If you love horses, the racetrack & Robert Parker, this book is a must-read. It highlights his wonderful relationship with his wife, Joan, while sharing his wit & enjoyment of time at the track. Beautiful pictures, too!!!
March 5, 2016
Lovely photographs -- interesting comments by Robt.B. Parker. I guess you have to be a horse person to fully appreciate it. Best part was when Summer Squall won his first race - exciting!!
April 17, 2017
I would have given this book a higher rating, but it is basically a coffee table book about horseracing along the Eastern seaboard, and particularly following the training farm of Cot Campbell set in Aiken, South Carolina. Remarkably, Mr. Campbell is still alive and "semi-retired." A lot of pictures, many repetitive, and little text. Parker gained access to the rarified air of horse breeding, selling and training for the major events of the horse season, ending in this case with the Preakness. Amusing to see how fast clothing dates within two decades. I had to get this book through an interlibrary loan--not easily acquired.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews