Racing My Father: Growing Up with a Riding Legend

By Patrick Smithwick

Book Overview

Becoming a steeplechase jockey takes great courage, especially when following in the footsteps of a legendary father. Growing up, Patrick Smithwick idolized his father, A.P. Smithwick, considered the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1581501404
• ISBN13: 9781581501407
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Eclipse Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.8" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Couldn't put it down

Knowing some of the real-life characters peripherally, living in the area, and having been an avid Dick Francis reader, I thought I knew what to expect- a testosterone heavy, adrenaline rush, winning at all costs type of sports-hero book, set in a familiar location. I found, instead, an honest, open, gentle, yet exciting and riveting story of a boy's relationship with his famous father, and how his father's career, successes, injury, and death affected his son and the extended family. The writing was understated and unaffected, and the subject completely compelling and spellbinding. I look forward to more from Mr. Smithwick in the future- fiction or nonfiction.

A masterpiece on all levels

Suppose you are a young boy in ancient Rome. Suppose your father is a gladiator, the preeminent gladiator of his time, known and adulated everywhere you and he go. His steely nerve, his unwavering sublimation of all creature comforts to the task or winning, his stoic self discipline, the sublime artistry with which he practices his craft - all these things distinguish him from his fellow gladiators, render him much larger than life in your eyes, and the eyes of the whole world. In his relationship to you, though, it comes naturally to him to treat you as his equal. You are his friend, his partner, even though you are only 12, 14, 16 years old. One day you will inherit his heroic mantle. He is gently preparing you. You show much promise. Others look on, understanding this will happen. It is spoken of openly. But you see and nurse him through the terrible injuries which are part and parcel of the gladiator's life. You see the strains the long separations which being a gladiator necessitates put on family life. You see his health waning from it all. Because you are a thoughtful person, you see that, however glorious a life his may be, it is a life sacrificed...sacrificed to something you are not sure you understand. And, inside, you are torn and tormented. Patrick Smithwick is the only son of legendary steeplechase jockey Paddy Smithwick, who died in 1973 at age 46. RACING MY FATHER is, on its broadest level, a story of the author's coming to grips with and resolving such torments. But on another level it is an engrossing portrayal of the life of steeplechase jockeys and the world they inhabit, a world aptly described by a critic on the book's dust jacket as Faulknerian. It can be read with pleasure on either level. Taken together, it is a masterpiece.

Saddle Up

An intelligent, fun-loving,sentimental account of a priviledged yet gruelling lifestyle of the east coast thoroughbred horse racing industry. Smithwick,as jockey, author and loving son of a legend recounts memories of racing the great steeplechase events -- head to head with his own father's records of wins, losses,injuries with tributes to close relationships in both his family of origin and family of equestrian choice. The memories recounted are so clearly depicted, the reader is as close as the tack,itself, over jumps, beside the rail, under the wire and into the winner's circle. It's as close to the rush of horse racing that the armchair jockey will ever get, right down to the scent of the bourbon.

A beautiful book

"Racing My Father" by Patrick Smithwick is a book I loved. His writing style has what I experience as a kind of poetic freedom where he leaps forward by a slight change in subject in mid paragraph, a style I felt excited by. Equally as important I love the depth and breath of the content that so vividly brings out the character of the individuals and the unique culture of the steeplechase community. Most moving is the hero worship of a child being carried in the wake of a living legend, a child lost in the limelight always wanting more love and less light. This book speaks to the struggle of so many young boys and girls whose parent is made a legend whether in a large arena or a small village. It is so hard to feel OK when the bar is set at a mythological level. Frequently this book moved me to tears. My brother died at a young age, and I'm sending a copy of this beautiful book to each of his two sons.

A GREAT READ - This new author has a great voice - Buy it

I purchased this book because I have an interest in horse racing. I did not expect much other than the usual memoir. NO! The book author has a wonderful voice. A wonderful, fascinating book.