Horse Show

by Jess Bowers

From the tale of Lady, the mare who read a Duke University psychologist's mind, to television palomino Mr. Ed' s hypnotic hold over Wilbur Post, the thirteen short stories in Horse Show explore how humans have used, abused, and spectacularized their equine companions throughout American history. Wrestling with themes of obsolescence, grief, and nostalgia, Bowers guides us through her museum of equine esoterica with arresting imagery, unflinching intensity, and dark humor.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

180 pages, Paperback

Published April 9, 2024

About the author

Jess Bowers lives in St. Louis, Missouri, where she works as an Associate Professor of English at Maryville University.

Her short fiction has appeared in The Portland Review, cream city review, Redivider, StoryQuarterly, The Indiana Review, Zone 3, Oyez Review, and other journals. Her work has been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, Sundress Publications’ Best of the Net Award, and other honors. She won Laurel Review‘s Midwest Short Fiction Prize and the Winter Anthology Prize.

Bowers holds a B.A. in English and creative writing from Goucher College, an M.A. in the same from Hollins University, and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Missouri, where she studied fiction writing, film, and 19th-century literature and visual culture.

In her free time, she thinks about the hungry ghosts of silent Hollywood while riding her little yellow pony through the woods. She also watches far too much T.V.

Reviews

[Luke Rolfes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning, inventive, lyrical, and, at times, heartbreaking. These horse stories will stick with me long after I put this book down. A fantastic debut collection!

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took this one slow because, like a box of fine chocolates, each story deserves to be savored. Bowers takes things readers are familiar with, or at least things that readers could be familiar with, and makes them shimmer such that it is hard to tell what pre-existed her contemplations about them on the page and what those contemplations conjured into existence. A book whose every story had me googling at least one thing afterward, it crosses genre lines such that while, yes, you’re reading fiction, you’re also also reading history and essays and sometimes flat out poetry. This is not a book JUST for “horse people,” though they will heartily enjoy it. It is a book that somehow distills human experience over time and through a variety of media by isolating and meditating on the way humans have related to, treated, loved, and sometimes abused our equine friends. No review can do it justice, frankly. An entire feed bucket of stars for this one!

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This is a fantastic read. Interesting, educational, and... haunting. I'm not a horse-lover, and was half-thinking this might be a sentimental love letter to horses that I wouldn't relate to, but NOPE. It is a friggin' awesome collection of fascinating essays/short stories that shine a light on the horse/human dynamic in the U.S. through the years... and the human/human dynamic. There is not a boring moment in this book. Read it!

[Casie Bazay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book wasn't what I expected, but in the very best way. A collection of horse-themed short stories, each is smartly written and intriguing, sucking you in with quirky historical content and a flair for the macabre. I sped right through the whole book and will be thinking about it for some time.

[katie zimolzak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part equine love song, part cinematic history, and part carnivalesque spectacle, Horse Show is a beautifully executed collection. With vaudevillian showmanship, Jess Bowers draws from obscure wells of knowledge to create a series of stories that are dry and dark in their humor, while also being exquisitely human and nostalgic. Absolutely required reading for horse lovers and cinema buffs alike.

[Jayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10 I am a horse girl now

[Tim Paggi · Rating 5 out of 5]

“But please…indulge an old showman one last time. Take a moment to picture the noble crest of the neck, the scent of horseflesh and gaslight…and try to remember that golden age between the horse and the automobile, when we still had wonder.”

I’m undecided if the short stories of “Horse Show” are *about* horses as much as they use horses as a lens to examine the myth of a wild, untamed America. Throughout, horses are used, abused, loved, paraded about and made spectacles of, and the lines between truth and tall tales blur into a hazy understanding of the American dream, augmented by Bowers’ extensive research and meticulous descriptions. Collection highlights include shocking opener “The Mammoth Horse Waits” (quoted above) and the macabre “The Lost Hoof of Fire Horse #12.” The real standout is “Based on a True Story,” which provides a scene-by-scene summary of the 1970’s Jon Travolta film “Bubble Boy” with so much decadent detail I’m still laughing/cringing. Definitely some DFW vibes, but wholly unique!

[Marjorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this little collection of horse-themed stories. The stories range from whimsical to dark, often with an historical bent for you historical fiction fans. Well-written and a little quirky, these stories will change the way you look at horses and, just maybe, at life itself.

[Jennifer Pullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A spectacular short story collection, that appeals to my inner history nerd, the little girl I used to be who read EVERY horse book she could get her hands on, and to my current writer self, through its looping allusive prose.

[K.E. Semmel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful collection of short stories, rich with historical detail and interesting characters who come to life on the page. Bowers creates incredibly believable stories out of her material. I anticipate (and hope) that we'll be seeing more of her work in the coming years.

[Joyce Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of short stories (non-fiction) about real horses and the people who stripped them of their horse-hood in side-shows, rodeos, movies, film and television. Super interesting...especially the story entitled 'Of Course, Of Course' a new take on Mr. Ed.

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a wonderful debut collection! Imaginative and fun. Loved it!