Blister Jones

Foote, John Taintor, 1881-1950Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 262K words
Chapters: 27

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Blister Jones by John Taintor FooteAuthor: Foote, John Taintor, 1881-1950,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Aug 14, 2006

Editor's review

Blister Jones is a novel by the American writer John Taintor Foote (1881–1950), belonging to the category of American and Canadian literature and now circulating as a public-domain e-book. Foote himself was closely associated with subjects such as horse racing and hounds, and this work is often placed in the narrative tradition of racetrack and stable life. The novel is character-centered, its language colored by early twentieth-century American colloquial speech and trade jargon, with a brisk pace and strong sense of scene. Its reading value lies not in profound social critique but in its presentation of the characters, everyday language, and professional ethics of the racetrack world of that era, making it useful to readers studying American popular literature, racing culture, or the colloquial style of the early twentieth century. As a public-domain book, it serves well as light reading and as material for stylistic observation, but its plot and characterization bear clear period limitations, and readers should note how it represents animals, race, and class.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy early twentieth-century American popular fiction and horse-racing subjects
Students and teachers studying American colloquial speech, trade jargon, and popular-literary style
Hobbyists who want light reading in public-domain e-book form and a feel for racing culture
Digital libraries and collectors of early American popular literature

Not a good fit for

Literary readers expecting serious social critique or complex psychological portraiture
Readers entirely unfamiliar with horse racing, horses, and related jargon who are unwilling to look things up
Readers sensitive to the stereotypes that may appear in works of an older era

Reading tips

Read the first few chapters first to get used to the narrator's voice and racing jargon; when you meet unfamiliar words, guess from context rather than looking up every one.
Keep a list of characters and horses, noting relationships as you read, so that nicknames and jargon do not confuse you about who is who.
Read it as a period text, noting colloquial expressions and the depiction of professional ethics while viewing its stereotypes critically.
If using it for research, read it alongside materials on American racing history and early twentieth-century popular-literary background.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What kind of story does Blister Jones tell?

According to the available information, it is an American novel by John Taintor Foote, classified under American and Canadian literature. The author often wrote about racing and stable hands, and this book likewise centers on racetrack figures and daily life; it belongs to the tradition of early twentieth-century American popular fiction rather than the serious social-problem novel.

Do I need racing knowledge to read this book?

No specialist knowledge is required, but the book contains a good deal of racing jargon and colloquial expression, which may feel unfamiliar at first. It is best to read several chapters first to get used to the style and look up key terms as needed; if you know nothing at all about racing, a little basic background will make the reading much smoother.

Is this book suitable for Chinese readers to read directly in the original English?

The original English is mainly dialogue and colloquial speech and is on the whole not very difficult, but it contains considerable jargon and period slang, which poses some challenge for non-native readers. Readers with intermediate or better English reading ability who are willing to look things up can try it; those who only want the story may first look for a translation or read the two side by side.

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About the author

Foote, John Taintor, 1881-1950 Author · American · 1881–1950

John Taintor Foote (1881–1950) was an American author and screenwriter. Public information about his early life and education is limited; what can be confirmed is chiefly his direction as a writer and his representative works. He wrote fiction centered on hunting dogs and outdoor life, and his stories usually revolve around the relationship between people and animals, combining lively plots with a strong sense of everyday life, which earned him a place in early twentieth-century American popular literature. His representative work Blister Jones is set against the world of horse racing and training, and creates vivid characters, reflecting his familiarity with and fondness for horses, hounds, and similar animal subjects. Besides fiction, he also worked as a screenwriter, and his works were adapted for the screen. One of his works is currently included in the collection, offering readers a glimpse of his writing style.