The Dick Francis Treasury of Great Racing Stories

by Dick Francis (Editor), John Welcome (Introduction)

Overview

The master thriller writer and world-renowned champion steeplechase rider has selected these fourteen classics of short fiction to represent the most enthralling of all stories about horse-racing.

Inside, you'll find a stableful of thrills and a few surprises from such famous authors as Arthur Conan Doyle and J.P. Marquand, Beryl Markham and John Galsworthy, Sherwood Anderson and Edgar Wallace. Brimming with color, excitement and atmosphere, here are compelling tales of dreams and treachery, horses and horseplay, Holmes and Watson, love and death, and a full complement of riders, rogues, and the fascinating royalty of the turf.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393337860
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	11/01/1990
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

One of the most successful post-WWII steeplechase jockeys, Dick Francis (1920-2010) won more than 350 races. After retiring from horse racing, he turned his hand to writing mystery novels set against the thrilling background of his beloved sport. He went on to publish more than 40 books and is regarded as one of the top mystery writers of all time. His son, Felix Francis, continues his father’s legacy with suspense filled thrillers set in the racing world.

Hometown:

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, British West Indies

Date of Birth:

October 31, 1920

Date of Death:

February 14, 2010

Place of Birth:

Tenby, Pembrokeshire, southwest Wales

Place of Death:

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, British West Indies

Education:

Dropped out of Maidenhead County School at age 15.

Editorial Reviews

This 14-story collection of horseracing stories by British and American writers will provide pleasant reading for fans of the ``sport of kings.'' Represented here are such familiar names as Arthur Conan Doyle (``Silver Blaze,'' the story in which Sherlock Holmes makes his famous pronouncement about ``the curious incident of the dog in the night-time''), Edgar Wallace (``The Coop,'' in which the prolific mystery writer's series character, race track tout Educated Evans, turns a surprise profit) and Sherwood Anderson (``I'm a Fool,'' the first-person narrative of a young man trapped in his own deceit, entertaining despite its outdated racial attitudes). Francis, as might be expected, has a bit of crime at the heart of his ``Carrot for a Chestnut,'' a story of the fixing of a race with an O. Henryish twist. Welcome ( Grand National ) spins a tale of the unlikely racing triumph of an Oxford student over his untrustworthy best friend in ``A Glass of Port with the Proctor.'' The volume opens with Richard Findlay's ``The Dream,'' a nicely done tale of premonition and disaster, and closes with E. de Somerville and Martin Ross's ``The Bagman's Pony,'' an offbeat, amusing story of a race against the clock in Colonial India. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The editors have compiled 14 British and American horseracing stories from the famous (Hemingway, Conan Doyle, Sherwood Anderson), the obscure (Colin Davy, Molly Keane, Richard Findlay), themselves, and others. Particularly well crafted are Beryl Markham's ``The Splendid Outcast'' and Welcome's ``A Glass of Port with the Proctor.'' Conan Doyle and J.P. Marquand provide mysteries; others create slice-of-life vignettes, some with a moral. Many contain British colloquialisms and settings; none are little girl horse stories. Recommended for libraries with strong short story collections.-- Susan Hamburger, Virginia State Lib. & Archives, Richmond

Library Journal

YA-- Horse lovers and racing fans will enjoy this collection of 14 stories chosen by an outstanding writer as well as a champion rider, but it should also interest other short-story readers since the race track, the betting tables, and the stables attract a fascinating cross-section of high and low life, sharpsters, and splendid rogues. The arcane vocabulary and the track lingo, some of which is outdated by today's standards, flavor the stories and heighten their spirit of adventure, mystery, or humor. Included are selections by Conan Doyle, Beryl Markham, Edgar Wallace, and Dick Francis.-- Mary T. Gerrity, Queen Anne School, Upper Marlboro, MD

School Library Journal