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Summary: heartfelt research turned rollercoaster narrative
Review: I bought this book around Preakness time here in Maryland after hearing Laura Hillenbrand doing a radio interview. I have never read another book like this. While it is an historical telling, or a biography of the three men, it reads like well crafted fiction. And what is more amazing is that ever word of it is true.(just glance at the voluminous "NOTES" section at the end of the book) The story is about the legendary, and now mostly forgotten, horse "Seabiscuit". A recounting of the events that brought together the three men responsible for Seabiscuit's raise to fame; gregarious owner Charles Howard, reticent trainer Tom Smith, and roguish jockey "Red' Pollard. Each leading ordinary lives until united by the unassuming horse Seabiscuit. The climax of the story is the race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral son of the great Man 'O War. The author turns painstaking research into pulse pounding storytelling of the races that pitted these two horses against each other. After the historical race there are still sixty pages that the reader will not be able to put down until the end. The reader is treated to a fantastic tale of horse racing in the early part of the 20th century. Nothing is left out; from the bothels of Tijuana to the upper crust of New York's horse racing elite. And although the book tells of the triumph of the three men. Sometime near the and of the story, either unintentionally or intentionally the reader starts to wonder about the fate of the ohter men who labored at this hard life and never had the taste of fleeting fame achieved by Smith, Howard, and Pollard.
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Summary: First Rate and A Must Buy
Review: I loved this book, I love horses, and I love gambling. I was there in every page. Ms. Hillenbrand is truly a gifted writer. I laughed and cried. One of the best summer reads ever! I highly recommend this lovely book.
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Summary: One of the Best Books I've Ever Read
Review: Laura Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit: An American Legend is one of the best books I've ever read. The author engages the reader so thoroughly that you feel like you are transported to the 1930s, experiencing events right along with the characters. As a 40-year old woman, my knowledge of the 1930s was limited to reading about the Great Depression -- I can't remember ever reading anything about the 1930s that didn't focus solely on the Depression -- yet Hillenbrand makes it clear that there was at least one bright light during that difficult decade. Seabiscuit, a horse with a big body and crooked legs, became the most celebrated horse of his era, for he gave America something to feel good about with his rags-to-riches story. Hillenbrand tells his story engagingly, weaving the details of how Charles Howard, the horse's owner, Tom Smith, a trainer with a storied past as a mustang breaker, and Red Pollard, a half-blind, failed prizefighter-turned-jockey, came together. Hillenbrand also explains many aspects of horse racing -- such as the lifestyle of jockeys (think: survivial), and how races are run (a jockey's game plan)-- that equestrians and non-equestrians alike will find fascinating. Seabiscuit: An American Legend will make you laugh, and cry, and invigorate you with its humanity. Like the horse, the book gives you something to feel good about.
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Summary: A great book about a game little horse
Review: Seabiscuit was a descendant of Man o War. He didn't inherit any of his famous beauty and bad temper, but he definitely inherited his speed. He wasn't a pretty horse, in fact people apparently often mistook him for a cowpony, but under the care of trainer Tom Smith, ownership of Mr. Howard, and ridden by Red Pollard, the homely little horse became a legend.
Ms. Hillenbrand brings you to the racetracks of the twenties and thirties. You see racing through the eyes of the trainers and jockeys of the time. You can almost smell the horses! Her descriptions of the conditions that the jockeys and horses had to deal with were vivid, and at times horrific. But most of all, this is the story of Seabiscuit, and his love of racing. All of his quirks, and he had quite a few, are described lovingly. I now understand why he was so popular that he was mentioned in the press more times than the president. This is a must read.
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Summary: Surprised to like the book
Review: I was surprised that I liked this book. I don't particularly care for horses, and picked it up only because I'd just read Dick Francis. While the book is undoubtedly primarily about horses and horse racing (and thus loses some steam about 2/3rds of the way through unless you REALLY care about horses and horse racing), it's also about the advent and success of the automobile and about the individual characters who were involved with this particular horse and its competitors. *That* I found interesting.
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Summary: Seabiscuit
Review: This book was enchanting! I read through it in one swoop, enjoying every minute of it and marvelling at the story. Sure, the story of Seabiscuit himself is very familiar to me, as an extremely avid racing fan, but I learned a million more facts that I never thought I'd know. Not only does Laura Hillenbrand show the trials and tribulations of Seabiscuit and his jockey, but she delves deep into the whole of racing in the 1930's and society as it was in relation to racing. I felt as though, by the end, I knew Seabiscuit as well as I know my own horse...and that I knew everyone associated with him. The writing was never boring...I could never use that word in association with this book. It was truly enchanting, and sometimes so amazing that it was hard to believe it was all true. I recommended this book to all of my friends, even those who aren't in to horses, and they all loved it. If you haven't read this, you're missing an awesome book.
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Summary: Adventure For The Mind
Review: If a great book means one which moves the reader to tears, to chuckles, to wonder and to thought, then this is the greatest book of all. I have never been so moved by any other author or subject as during each reading of this book. I first bought the audio version which has one fault: it's not unabridged. The reader, Campbell Scott, is superb. I wanted to know ALL the story, so I then bought the hard cover. If they publish an unabridged version read by Scott, I'll also buy that. This adventure in words and feelings is flawless.
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Summary: This book expanded my horizons -- beautifully written!
Review: There are already so many outstanding reviews of this wonderful book, that I am tempted not to add another. This is a book that I almost did not read. I would never have selected it at all as a topic about which I would have any interest had I not, by chance, heard the author's interview with NPR's Diane Rehm. I was driving from somewhere to my office and arrived about five minutes before the end of the show. I was so enthralled with her telling of the amazing story of this magnificent horse that I remained in my car listening to my car radio until the end of the show. Unlike some reviewers, as a Californian, I found the early part of the book covering the Bay Area's turn of the century history, as relevant to the rise of Seabiscuit's owner-to-be's automotive business empire, and other background information about trainers and jockeys to be very interesting as well as essential to the overall story of Seabiscuit's development into a champion racehorse. Laura Hillenbrand is truly a master storyteller and an unmatched wordsmith. What a literary tour-de-force she has created in this book! No one could have done a better job of telling this story.
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Summary: THE LEGEND OF SEABISCUIT
Review: I READ ABOUT SEABISCUIT AS A CHILD AND FOR YEARS HAVE REGRETTED NOT HOLDING ON TO THAT BOOK. THIS BOOK BROUGHT BACK THOSE MEMORIES FOR ME OF THIS WONDERFUL STORY. I FOUND THE BOOK TO BE WELL RESEARCHED, CONTAINING INTERESTING INSIGHTS INTO THE WORLD OF HORSE RACING INCLUDING JOCKEYS, TRAINERS, OWNERS AND THE PERSONALITY OF HORSES. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ALL.
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Summary: Thank you, Laura Hillenbrand
Review: I cannot begin to describe how good this book is. For those of us who know horses, it is simply a masterpiece. For those who don't, it is an absolutely thrilling account of a time in American history when there were real heros (an heroines), many of them found in the most unlikely places. It is the story of a funny-looking little horse and the triumverate who helped him channel his ferocious heart and tremendous energy into the best racehorse who ever lived. It is a story of the matchless courage and determination of the men and women and the horses they loved. Not merely a biography of a legendary horse, it is also a true and accurate picture of horseracing as it was in its glory days. Hillenbrand captures perfectly the incredible tension of the track; her accounts of the races themselves are so enthralling that the reader could well be one of the screaming thousands in the stands. Suspense at its best. At times both laugh-out-loud hilarious and also heartbreakingly sad, this is a book to own, to inspire, to give as gifts to even the most jaded among us. My only regret is that my parents, life-long lovers of horseracing, are no longer living. How they would have enjoyed this wonderful account of times and places they know so well. Seabiscuit should be on every high school reading list - it is a treat for all ages. It is the first time I have given a book five stars - and I would give it six, if that were possible!
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