Rent The Sport of Kings: A Novel

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.

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