Rating: 
Summary: A Book for Everyone
Review: This book is great. I normally don't read non-fiction as entertainment but this is definitely the exception. Hillenbrand's terminology is excellent. She uses the everyday "language" of a horse person. She explains the "language" so that non-horse people will understand yet keeps the explanation from being redundant for readers who are horse people. The movie is also excellent and really stays true to the book. Both the book and the movie are awesome stories of second chances and the power of someone believing in something.
Rating: 
Summary: Crowdpleaser
Review: Perhaps if I had read Seabiscuit before the hype, I would have thought more of it. Here is my take on it.
Pluses: gripping action writing, characters well developed.
Minuses: history is simplified, prose often over-heated.Liked the movie better!
Rating:
Summary: Clone Seabiscuit!
Review: Don't have much to add to all the other 5-star reviews except this: I loved this horse right after I learned he looked funny, loved to sleep, and had a weight management problem.
Rating:
Summary: So Entertaining
Review: This book is wonderful. Although the movie is great, it still does no justice for this book. There are so many other stories and characters that the movie just does not cover. This is the kind of book that because it is so unbelievable and true at the same time, it is nearly impossible to put down. I would've been happy with about 200 more pages. Fantastic read. If you read the book first, it will ruin the movie for you but the book is so much better anyway, you don't need to see the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Moving in Many Ways
Review: Whether or not you've seen the movie, you should read this book! As one who knows nothing about horse racing and had never heard of Seabiscuit before reading an article by Ms. Hillenbrand in the New Yorker, I was enthralled by the book. The book is certainly moving: it is fast paced throughout, though rich in detail and horse racing lore; the racing scenes are exciting and clearly depict this thoughbread's blazing speed; the story of the horse and the people who enabled him to succeed as a race horse is intensely human; the author's depiction of the horse itself makes him such a sympathic figure that you tend to forget he was just a horse--but, what a horse! I must admit that I became familiar with Ms. Hillenbrand's own inspirational story in reading her aforementioned article entitled "A Sudden Illness." Since she was a young college student she's been afflicted with chronic fatigue syndrome, a rare malady that has exhausted her for more than fifteen years. Despite her prolonged exhaustion which kept her bedridden for much of that time, she was able to build on her previous experience with horses, do the extensive research, and write this inspiring book. Seabiscuit was an initially discarded, overworked thoroughbread and a grandson of the great Man 'O War. However, his bearing was not as regal as his sire's or grandsire's and he was relegated to very low purse races until he was discovered as a three-year-old by an extremely intuitive trainer who appeared to to read horses' minds, and purchased an enterprising owner with the instincts of a first class showman. This was during the Great Depression, and over the ensuing three or four years, Seabiscuit inspired a nation forever supportive of the underdog (or horse). I haven't seen the movie yet but, whatever I think of it, the book was a first class experience and a wonderfully good read. I'm sure Ms. Hillenbrand's mind pictures are more vivid than any special effects designed to portray these exciting characters, including the horse.
Rating: 
Summary: A stellar work
Review: It took a while to warm up to this book, but I was drawn in as Seabiscuit was introduced more and more. The book touched my heart, made me feel I knew the horse, made me dream about him. It inspired me to get the old racing records of my thoroughbred, who was given away at the track after he consistently landed at the middle or toward the end of the pack as a 2- and 3-year old. (Thank God.) This book emphasized hardships experienced by jockeys making tough choices, but glossed over the brutality toward horses that characterizes this cruel, greed-driven sport--a sport that relentlessly pounds the soft,immature, vulnerable bones of young horses in order to avoid paying to feed them and care for them until their bones mature. There was little mention of the crippling, auctions, and suffering ex-racehorses endure, if they survive, or of the trauma of the gate. One effect of the book is, therefore, to glamorize a brutal, cruel sport that has been losing popularity the world over. I can only hope that the author's personal suffering deepens her empathy for suffering equine creatures further, and that she will investigate and speak out against the awful aspects of "claiming races," traumas to horses from gate injuries, & abuse of young horses. In the meantime, racetracks are capitalizing on the success of her book, while the uninformed public gets far less than the full story.
Rating:
Summary: Summer of Seabiscuit
Review: Think "Rocky" meets Steinbeck with a little rib tickling humor thrown in for good measure. The result is a brilliantly written masterwork that I'm finding very difficult not to root for. And it's not just the little knobby-kneed horse that becomes worthy of hope and praise. I root for the story itself. I open the NY Times bestseller page and hope above all hopes to see that it's still #1. It isn't often that a book has that kind of effect on you. Thanks to Laura Hillenbrand's skillful rollicking prose and exhaustive reasearch, Seabiscuit can now take his place in the pantheon of American underdogs alongside all others whose chronicles seemed too unbelievable for non-fiction.
Rating:
Summary: I'LL NEVER FORGET THIS STORY
Review: This was my first horse novel of any kind. I love horses & racing, and this novel opened my eyes to the pitfalls & glories of jockey, horse, trainer and owner. It is amazing how all were so passionate, & even more amazing how these obscure, talented individuals (& horse)came together. They played their parts in raising the countrys' spirit in a time of need, and gave their all though many obstacles; thus, bringing out the best in themselves & Seabiscuit-who was phenominal! So many emotions...by the end of the novel I loved them all and didn't want it to end. This is one of my favorite novels of all time, and one of the few I can think of that I'd LOVE to read more than once! A must read!! Preferably before seeing the movie. Laura Hillenbrand wrote a superb account of this true story! She is so talented...I hope she writes another novel.
Rating:
Summary: Enthralling story about a small horse and an unlikely team.
Review: This masterfully written book tells the enchanting story of a undersized horse named Seabiscuit and his racing career that held the attention of an entire nation. This book wonderfully describes the time period when the "Sport of Kings" was the number one attended sport in the country, and the hopes of many blue-collar, down-on-their-luck underdogs had a true working class hero in Seabiscuit, his owner Charles Howard, trainer Tom Smith, and jockey Red Pollard. I used to joke that horses were only good for glue and violin bows, but now thanks to this book I have a greater appreciation for these magnificant horses and the sport of horse racing.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT BOOK
Review: This was a great book. The beginning section was alittle boring but other wise A WONDERFUL BOOK to read before the movie!
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