Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Hellsmouth, an indomitable Thoroughbred with the blood of Triple Crown winners in her veins, runs for the glory of the Forge family, one of Kentucky s oldest and most powerful dynasties. Henry Forge has partnered with his daughter, Henrietta, in an endeavor of raw obsession: to breed the next superhorse, the next Secretariat. But when Allmon Shaughnessy, an ambitious young black man, comes to work on their farm, the violence of the Forges history and the exigencies of appetite are brought starkly into view. Entangled in fear, prejudice, and lust, the three tether their personal dreams of glory to the speed and grace of Hellsmouth.
A spiraling tale of wealth and poverty, racism and rage, The Sport of Kings is an unflinching portrait of lives cast in shadow by the enduring legacy of slavery. C. E. Morgan, who received a 2016 Windham Campbell Prize for Fiction, has given life to a tale as mythic and fraught as the South itself a moral epic for our time.
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Synopsis
"IN ITS POETIC SPLENDOR AND MORAL SERIOUSNESS, THE SPORT OF KINGS BEARS THE TRACES OF FAULKNER, MORRISON, AND MCCARTHY. . . . IT IS A CONTEMPORARY MASTERPIECE."--SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Hailed by The New Yorker for its "remarkable achievements," The Sport of Kings is an American tale centered on a horse and two families: one white, a Southern dynasty whose forefathers were among the founders of Kentucky; the other African-American, the descendants of their slaves.
It is a dauntless narrative that stretches from the fields of the Virginia piedmont to the abundant pastures of the Bluegrass, and across the dark waters of the Ohio River; from the final shots of the Revolutionary War to the resounding clang of the starting bell at Churchill Downs. As C. E. Morgan unspools a fabric of shared histories, past and present converge in a Thoroughbred named Hellsmouth, heir to Secretariat and a contender for the Triple Crown. Newly confronted with one another in the quest for victory, the two families must face the consequences of their ambitions, as each is driven---and haunted---by the same, enduring question: How far away from your father can you run?
A sweeping narrative of wealth and poverty, racism and rage, The Sport of Kings is an unflinching portrait of lives cast in shadow of slavery and a moral epic for our time.
Synopsis
A Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
Winner of the Kirkus Prize for Fiction - A Recipient of the Windham-Campbell Prize for Fiction - A Finalist for the James Tait Black Prize for Fiction - A Finalist for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction - A Finalist for the Rathbones Folio Prize - Longlisted for an Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence - One of New York Times Book Review 100 Notable Book
Named a Best Book of the Year by Entertainment Weekly - GQ - The New York Times (Selected by Dwight Garner) - NPR - The Wall Street Journal - San Francisco Chronicle - Refinery29 - Booklist - Kirkus Reviews - Commonweal Magazine
"In its poetic splendor and moral seriousness, The Sport of Kings bears the traces of Faulkner, Morrison, and McCarthy. . . . It is a contemporary masterpiece."--San Francisco Chronicle
Hailed by The New Yorker for its "remarkable achievements," The Sport of Kings is an American tale centered on a horse and two families: one white, a Southern dynasty whose forefathers were among the founders of Kentucky; the other African-American, the descendants of their slaves.
It is a dauntless narrative that stretches from the fields of the Virginia piedmont to the abundant pastures of the Bluegrass, and across the dark waters of the Ohio River; from the final shots of the Revolutionary War to the resounding clang of the starting bell at Churchill Downs. As C. E. Morgan unspools a fabric of shared histories, past and present converge in a Thoroughbred named Hellsmouth, heir to Secretariat and a contender for the Triple Crown. Newly confronted with one another in the quest for victory, the two families must face the consequences of their ambitions, as each is driven---and haunted---by the same, enduring question: How far away from your father can you run?
A sweeping narrative of wealth and poverty, racism and rage, The Sport of Kings is an unflinching portrait of lives cast in the shadow of slavery and a moral epic for our time.