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Summary: a great read, but
Review: Seabiscuit: An American Legend is as exciting as the best kind of mystery novel, and readers will not be able to put down its accounts of how this undersized horse became one of the greatest performers in American sports history. The book has all the drama and romance of "Chariots of Fire." Its only drawback in fact is that the story it tells takes place in a vacuum. If there is a Depression or a looming world war, characters here never seem to sense it. The few times that Hillenbrand does sketch out a larger historical context (e.g., when Santa Anita becomes a detention center for Japanese-Americans in the early 1940s) make readers recognize what they're missing the rest of the time. So this is an great read, but part of its story is missing: the relationship between the horses, their owners, trainers, and riders-and the larger American culture.
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Summary: I read it in three days!
Review: Unbelivable book. I couldn't put it down. I have been a horse racing fan since I was a kid, thanks to a dad that brought me to the track as a young girl. I actually bought this book for my dad for Christmas, but decided to read it first before I gave it to him. This book is rich with detail you feel like you know the characters and have a front seat at all the races. The research that went into this book is exhaustive and you can tell Laura truly cares about her subjects. For anyone on the fence about getting this book b/c they don't know about horse racing, let me assure you this book is simply not about a horse, but instead about amazing people that came together for the love of horses, racing, and the American dream. You will not be disappointed.
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Summary: All of which are american dreams
Review: I immediataly became hooked on this book! The first few pages were a little slow, but once i got passed that I was unable to put the book down! This is a Cinderella story in which four creatures, united for a brief period of time (1936-47), spark the imagination of an entire country. Hillenbrand combines the horse's biography with a social history of 1930s and 1940s America and incisive portraits of the team around Seabiscuit. Charlie Howard, a car dealer, bought the crooked-legged, scruffy little horse; Tom Smith, a man who rarely spoke to people but who communicated perfectly with horses, became its trainer; and Red Pollard, a half-blind jockey, rode Seabiscuit to fame. Hillenbrand's extensive research compares favorably with that of Alexander MacKay-Smith's in Speed and the Thoroughbred (Derrydale, 2000). This story of trust, optimism, and perseverance in overcoming obstacles. I highly recommend Seabiscut, An American Ledgend. Big Truck
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Summary: Michael Jordan of Horses
Review: I'd never heard of Seabiscuit but something about the book or the horse made me immediately want to read it. And I was mesmerized by it. Seabiscuit was this horse that looked like a cowpony and was incorrigibly lazy. All he wanted to do was laze around and eat. He had an weight problem his whole life. Now that endeared me to him right away! Seabiscuit kicked around for a while, was sold, but one trainer thought there was something about him. They taught him to love to run and compete, and Seabiscuit turned out to be one of the greatest competitors that ever raced. The book isn't only about the horse, but also about his trainer and owner. Sometimes things seem set up in heaven, and that's what it seems like about this threesome: horse, owner, and trainer. Seabiscuit was a Western horse. He wasn't the highest rated horse because he didn't run the Triple Crown. And he didn't win all his races till late in his career he won it all. It's a really American story, and you have to stretch to personages as high as Michael Jordan to find true comparisons. Seabiscuit is one of a kind. You'll never find another book exactly like this one. This is truly a gem. I loved the descriptions of the races so much I made a list inside my front cover so I could go back and find and read them whenever I needed a fix. Seabiscuit is truly a lovable horse. This is a wonderful book.
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Summary: A Book To Treasure
Review: I don't often read sports-related books, much less books dealing with horse racing. I grew up in horse country, but only had a passing interest in horse racing. It was only as I got into college that I began going to the races (especially at Keeneland, the most beautiful track in the U.S., IMHO). Still, I had not heard of Seabiscuit until I began reading reviews of this book. When it hit the bestseller chart, I thought I'd give it a shot. I am so glad I did. "Seabiscuit" is an amazing book, meticulously researched by Hillenbrand. It's not just about the horse. We get in-depth portraits of the owner, his trainer and the two jockeys who rode him most in his glory years. The book reads like a novel and you really begin to care for these "characters". The end will bring a tear to your eye, not only because of how you know it must end, but that the book ended at all. I am so glad that this legendary horse, forgotten by history, is back in the public eye and given the place in history he so deserves. Pick this one up; you won't regret it.
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Summary: Sleepless in Texas
Review: It has been a long time since a book kept me up late into the morning of a work day. This book is a rare combination of excellent writing directed at an excellent story. Thanks, Laura! I will read your next books, whatever the story, which puts you on a very short list.
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Summary: Little Cowpony with a heart of gold!
Review: Seabiscuit, the racehorse with the unlikely physique, had the right stuff. He had the heart, the determination, the trainer and jockey to bring him to glory. The story is fascinating and heartwarming. The author went to a great deal of work to learn about the people who made Seabiscuit a superstar. This is a wonderful compelling read. You can't help but root for "the Biscuit".
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Summary: wow
Review: I did not know the story of Seabiscuit, and a fine story it is, but the writer's skill in making the characters, places, and events surrounding the story come alive set this book apart as terrific entertainment.
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Summary: Exciting book even if you're not a horseracing fan
Review: SEABISCUIT: AN AMERICAN LEGEND by Laura Hillenbrand is the true story of how three men and a great racehorse captivated the world . . . I'm not a horseracing fan, but you don't have to be to enjoy this exciting book . . . Seabiscuit was an unlikely champion . . . his racing form was all wrong and for two years, he fought his trainers and floundered at the lowest level of racing . . . only when he was purchased by a former bicycle repairman (who introduced the automobile to the American West) and then teamed-up with a failing jockey and enigmatic trainer did he begin to succeed . . . by the end of his career, I found myself practically cheering his every race. That's probably because the writing was so excellent . . . there were many memorable passages; among them:
For Smith, training was a long, quiet conversation. He was baffled by other people's inability to grasp what he was doing. "It's easy to talk to a horse if you understand his language," he once said. "Horses stay the same from the day they are born until the day they die. . . . They are only changed by the way people treat them." He believed with complete conviction that no animal was permanently ruined. Every horse could be improved. He lived by a single maxim: "Learn your horse. Each one is an individual, and once you penetrate his mind and heart, you can often work wonders with an otherwise intractable beast." Most jockeys took a more straightforward approach: the radical diet, consisting of six hundred calories a day. Red Pollard went as long as a year eating nothing but eggs. Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons confessed that during his riding days a typical dinner consisted of a leaf or two of lettuce, and he would eat them only after placing them on windowsills to dry the water out of them. Water, because of its weight, was the prime enemy, and jockeys went to absurd lengths to keep it out of their systems. Most drank virtually nothing. A common practice was to have jockeys' room valet open soda cans by puncturing the top with an ice pick, making it impossible to drink more than a few drops at a time. The sight and sound of water became a torment; Fitzsimmons habitually avoided areas of the barn where horses were being washed because the spectacle of flowing water was agonizing. Somewhere among the railways in the heart of the country, Seabiscuit slipped out of 1938. That year, no individual had known fame and popularity that was as intense and far-reaching. A study of news outlets revealed that the little horse had drawn more newspaper coverage in 1938 than Roosevelt, who was second, Hitler (third), Mussolini (fourth), out of other newsmakers. His match with War Admiral was almost certainly the single biggest news story of the year and one of the biggest sports moments of the century. "The affection that this inarticulate brown horse had aroused," journalist Ed Sullivan would write, "was a most amazing thing."
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Summary: MARRIED TO A HORSE TRAINER
Review: 25 years of being married to a thoroughbred horse trainer the last book I thought that I would enjoy was a book about the thoroughbred industry!!!Not being a "horse person" myself I was reluctant to pick it up, but I am so glad that I did . This is by far one of the best and well written books I have read in years.It captures your attention from the beginning and you won't want to put it down......enjoy
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