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THEY SHOOT HORSES,

DON’T THEY?

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by Horace McCoy (1935)

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Robert and Gloria are two young people trying to make it in the Hollywood moving picture industry during the Great Depression. Jobs are hard to come by and money is scarce, and a young person’s sense of security is more reliant on attitude than material comfort. Robert is naturally upbeat about life and luck and opportunity; Gloria is morbid and wants her life to end, but lacks the courage required for a second attempt at suicide. Meeting by chance, and getting along with one another despite their different dispositions, the pair decide to enter the local marathon dance contest. Who knows, maybe they can win the cash prize! But as the gruelling test of physical and psychological endurance drags on for days, and as some contestants are disqualified unfairly whilst others collapse on the dancefloor from exhaustion, Gloria’s weighty presence and gloomy reasoning begins to affect Robert. By the end of the dance contest, Robert has come around to agreeing with Gloria. Fiction. 124 pages.

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DETAILS:

Title: They shoot horses, don’t they?

Year: 1935

Author: Horace McCoy

Pages: 124

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Book review by Keith Salter