Hazard Lepage, the last of the studhorse men, sets out to breed his rare blue stallion, Poseidon. A lusty trickster and a wayward knight, Hazard’s outrageous adventures are narrated by Demeter Proudfoot, his secret rival, who writes this story while sitting naked in an empty bathtub. In his quest to save his stallion’s bloodline from extinction, Hazard leaves a trail of anarchy and confusion. Everything he touches erupts into chaos necessitating frequent convalescences in the arms of a few good women–excepting those of Martha, his long-suffering intended. Told with the ribald zeal of a Prairie beer parlor tall tale and the mythic magnitude of a Greek odyssey, The Studhorse Man is Robert Kroetsch’s celebration of unbridled character set against the backdrop of a rough-and-ready Alberta emerging after the war. Winner of the Governor General’s Award for Fiction.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Recognized as a classic when it first appeared, the novel's status as one of the finest pieces of Canadian fiction has only grown over the last three decades.... The Studhorse Man, now 35 years old, has far more intoxicating vigour, structural muscularity and dervish-like linguistic brilliance than almost anything being published in Canada today." Christopher Wiebe, VUE Weekly
"Always original, at times wickedly funny, and told with unrestrained enthusiasm framed by a post-war, rough-edged Alberta, The Studhorse Man showcases and documents Robert Kroetsch as one of Canada's best living writers." Wisconsin Bookwatch
Listed in Best of the West Comparisons list (between Alberta & Saskatchewan) under category “Classic Scene Setters” against W.O. Mitchell's Who Has Seen the Wind. Canadian Geographic, January/February 2005
"In its comic energy, The Studhorse Man recalls Rabelais, Bakhtin and the carnivalesque....This University of Alberta Press publication includes a very fine introduction by Aritha van Herk. Sharply attentive to the novel's patterns, reference field and detail, she situates it with respect not only to Edmonton, the Saskatchewan river valley, local history and literary conventions of the quest and the trickster, but also to her own experience of the local....Kroetsch's writing in The Studhorse Man is typically vital and generous; its presentation of the priapic wanderer and his odd rake's progress through a changing Albertan landscape is marked by comedy, affection and nostalgia." Brian Edwards, Australasian Canadian Studies Journal, Vol. 22, No.2, 2004 and Vol. 23, No.1, 2005
"Always original, at times wickedly funny, and told with unrestrained enthusiasm framed by a post-war, rough-edged Alberta, The Studhorse Man showcases and documents Robert Kroetsch as one of Canada's best living writers." Wisconsin Bookwatch
Listed in Best of the West Comparisons list (between Alberta & Saskatchewan) under category “Classic Scene Setters” against W.O. Mitchell's Who Has Seen the Wind. Canadian Geographic, January/February 2005
"In its comic energy, The Studhorse Man recalls Rabelais, Bakhtin and the carnivalesque....This University of Alberta Press publication includes a very fine introduction by Aritha van Herk. Sharply attentive to the novel's patterns, reference field and detail, she situates it with respect not only to Edmonton, the Saskatchewan river valley, local history and literary conventions of the quest and the trickster, but also to her own experience of the local....Kroetsch's writing in The Studhorse Man is typically vital and generous; its presentation of the priapic wanderer and his odd rake's progress through a changing Albertan landscape is marked by comedy, affection and nostalgia." Brian Edwards, Australasian Canadian Studies Journal, Vol. 22, No.2, 2004 and Vol. 23, No.1, 2005
From the Inside Flap
The Studhorse Man is a classic Canadian odyssey--a story told by a madman who works naked in a bathtub. It is the tale of Hazard Lepage, last of the studhorse me, and owner of a superb blue stallion named Poseidon...the sole survivor of its breed. Hazard's maniacal search to find the perfect mare for this magnificent horse is opposed by his fiancée of thirteen years, Martha Proudfoot, so much so she refuses him both herself and her Arab mares. This is a compelling saga that will move all readers.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Always original, at times wickedly funny,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Studhorse Man (New Press Canadian Classics) (Hardcover)
When Hazard Lepage sets out to breed his rare blue stallion Poseidon in the hope of saving his horse's bloodline from extinction, he creates a trail of anarchy, confusion, and chaos -- as well as encountering the charms of a few good women. The narrator of Hazard's idiosyncratic adventures in pursuit of his obsession is a maniacal, naked writer who works in his bathtub. Always original, at times wickedly funny, and told with unrestrained enthusiasm framed by a post-war, rough-edged Alberta, The Studhorse Man showcases and documents Robert Kroetsch as one of Canada's best living writers at work today. Also part of the University of Alberta Press "Canadian Literature Series" and very highly recommended reading are Robert Kroetsch's earlier works: What The Crow Said (0888643039, $14.95); The Words Of My Roaring (0888643490, $16.95); Completed Field Notes (088864-3500, $19.95: and The Hornbooks Of Rita K. (0888643721, $16.95).
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Inside This Book
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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studhorse man, blue stallion, beer parlor, one mare Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Coulee Hill, Sister Raphael, Hazard Lepage, Uncle Tad, Miss Boxer, Martha Proudfoot, Robert Kroetsch, Eshpeter Ranch, Uncle Timothy, Eugene Utter, Old Lady Eshpeter, Tad Proudfoot, Wildfire Lake, Legislative Building, Cree River, Marie Eshpeter, Our Visitor, Nicholas Melnyk New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
studhorse man, blue stallion, beer parlor, one mare Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Coulee Hill, Sister Raphael, Hazard Lepage, Uncle Tad, Miss Boxer, Martha Proudfoot, Robert Kroetsch, Eshpeter Ranch, Uncle Timothy, Eugene Utter, Old Lady Eshpeter, Tad Proudfoot, Wildfire Lake, Legislative Building, Cree River, Marie Eshpeter, Our Visitor, Nicholas Melnyk New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
16
books
cite this book:
See all 16 books citing this book
- The Wacousta Syndrome: Explorations in the Canadian Langscape by Gaile McGregor on 7 pages
- Difference And Community.Canadian and European Cultural Perspectives. (Cross/Cultures 25) by Peter Easingwood on page 243, page 244, and page 248
- Someone Like K.: Kafka's Novels by Herbert Kraft on page 52, and page 54
- A Theory of Parody: The Teachings of Twentieth-Century Art Forms by Linda Hutcheon on page 81, and Back Matter
- A Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Theory, Fiction by Linda Hutcheon on page 139, and Back Matter
See all 16 books citing this book
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