The Red Pony
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The Red Pony is a short 100-page, four-chapter story written by John Steinbeck in 1933. The stories in the book are tales of Steinbeck's childhood recounted by a ten-year-old boy named Jody Tiflin. The book has four different stories about Jody and his life on his father's California ranch. Other main characters include Carl Tiflin - Jody's father; Billy Buck - an expert in horses and a worker on the ranch; Mrs. Tiflin - Jody's mother; and Jody's grandfather - Mrs. Tiflin's father and an enthusiastic storyteller. Along with these stories, there is a short story at the end of the book titled "Junius Maltby." It is often considered one of John Steinbeck's worst books ever. John Steinbeck once said that it was, "a pointless book".
Lewis Milestone produced and directed a 1949 motion picture of the same name for Republic Pictures in Technicolor, starring Myrna Loy and Robert Mitchum along with child actors Beau Bridges and Nino Tempo. The music for the movie was composed by Aaron Copland, who also arranged a suite for orchestra from the film score. Copland recorded this music for Columbia Records in London in 1975.
