Rating: 
Summary: Hurray for the underdogs!
Review: This book is a gripping read and an inspiring story, albeit at times a bit too melodramatic. I'm not sure if the actual events themselves were such a soap opera or if Hillenbrand's interpretation and style of writing make them come across that way. Whichever it is, it makes for exciting, entertaining reading, but it will also make even mildly cynical readers roll their eyes when Seabiscuit, for the umpteenth time, overcomes life-threatening injuries and insurmountable odds to achieve heroic victories.This is certainly a fascinating story, especially if you like to cheer for underdogs. There is something magical about how these four characters, three men and a horse, all started out with few advantages and rose to the top through hard work and believing in themselves and each other. The relationships that develop, both among the men and between man and horse, are quite touching. And Seabiscuit himself is a remarkable character, filled with personality and idiosyncrasies and charm. The writing is fluid and the story is well constructed. Hillenbrand has a gift for building suspense. I have to admit I was on the edge of my seat as I read the passage about the challenge race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral. The energy and excitement in the prose made me feel as if I were there watching the actual race. That's the definition of good writing. My only complaint is that I had this feeling throughout the book that Hillenbrand was playing with the readers' emotions, building us up for a big victory when she knew that disaster loomed around the corner, and preparing us for the worst in order to make Seabiscuit's successes seem that much more noteworthy. I lost count of the times that Seabiscuit or his jockey had some career-ending injury, only to race again days or weeks later. I also got tired of how Hillenbrand over-dramatized the amount of weight that Seabiscuit was required to carry in comparison to his competitors. The first time he carried 130 pounds was certainly a milestone, since no horse had done it before, but after he did it a dozen times and won more often than not, I think it was safe to say that the weight was fair.
Rating: 
Summary: SEABISCUIT one of the best books i ever read
Review: Amazing book! I whould give it a million stars* if I could!! The races in the book are so discriptive especilly the "Seabiscuit vs.War Admiral" race it was almost like you were there! Laura Hillenbrand did an amazing job on this book! I hope she will makes more books on famous horses in the next few years I know they'd be as amazing as Seabiscuit was.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic. Absolutely Fantastic
Review: My dad raved about the movie, so I bought the book. I have never been interested in horse racing, but the way my dad talked about the movie, about the story, I just had to read it.
It did not disappoint. In fact, it is one of the best books I have ever read: entertaining, informative, intellectually appealing, it had it all. As I read it, I was telling stories to my co-workers every morning: the agony the horses went through; the torment the trainers put themselves through; the odds overcome by Howell, Pollard, Smith and Seabiscuit.
Absolutely Fantastic.
Rating:
Summary: Losers Who Became Winners
Review: _Seabiscuit_ is the story of losers who became winners. Charles Howard, who became Seabiscuit's owner, arrived in California in 1903 with 21 cents in his pocket. Tom Smith, the trainer, once appeared to be an out-of-luck frontiersman nearing the end of his road. Red Pollard, the jockey, had been a boy abandoned at a makeshift racetrack in Montana. And Seabiscuit... Seabiscuit was an undersized crooked legged horse whose first two years as a racehorse brought more thumpings than winnings. By the latter years of the Depression, Seabiscuit had become a cultural icon whose adulation "transcended sport." His last race was witnessed by a crowd comparable to the Super Bowl. There were Seabiscuit wallets and hats. He was featured weekly in Time, Life, the New Yorker, etc. And that's why _Seabiscuit_ is an American tale, a story for and about every American. It's the story of folks who had nothing... and made something.
Rating: 
Summary: Like a history book
Review: I struggled to get into this book, and finally decided I could not continue. I'm sure it's great if you enjoy reading straight from history books, but I do not. It was written in third person (at least to the point I stopped, which wasn't that far in), which I don't enjoy. Others raved about this book...I guess I prefer something different.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Books I have ever read!
Review: I cannot believe how good this book was. It spent the first part talking about the lives of the three main human characters and I was pleasantly surprised how exciting that was. Then when it starts talking about Seabiscuit and her racing stories, I could not put the book down. I read the entire book in a day. The author did a lot of research and was excellent at writing an exciting story. I honestly could not read fast enough. Must have book to read, the movie was also very good.
Rating:
Summary: Hype, Hype and More Hype
Review: Unless you are fascinated with the the underbelly of racetracks, specically the exploitation of horse and human flesh, there is not much else to recommend this book other than a spectacular job of research by the author.
Rating:
Summary: Good book, very good history, from someone who knows racing
Review: I enjoyed the book, in fact, contributed to a tiny bit of it. My wife and her friends raved about it. And I am happy for the writer's great success. She worked hard in drawing together all aspects of this story. In the main she did splendidly.
One thing must be said: War admiral was a TINY colt. He was 15.2 hands NOT 18 hands as they said in the movie in order to hype the drama. I'm sure Ms. Hillenbrand was not responsible for that ridiculous, disengenuous spot of Hollywood legerdemain. Also thoroughbreds can run close to 40 mph, but not 55 as Hillenbrand suggests.
Still, the book was a boon to thoroughbred racing and for those of us who have spent years trying to teach today's star struck Secretariat/Cigar generations of the heroics of past thoroughbred champions like Round Table, Swaps, Dr. Fager, Armed, etc., etc.
Kudos, Lauren.
Rating: 
Summary: Way too much redundancy!
Review: I read this much-overhyped book after everyone I knew couldn't rave enough about it, but I found that I had to FORCE myself to finish it. I love animals and regard myself as a true "animal person", although I am not a fan of horse racing. With that said, I found this book so burdened with minutiae and redundancy that I was ready to throw it across the room! I kept telling myself that there must be SOMETHING that I was missing, so I plowed on through, disregarding my usual "100 page rule" (if I am not gripped by a book within the first 100 pages, I give up and go on to the next). Well, I did finish it, but I'm not sure I should have bothered. It never did grip me although I did find the details of the life of jockeys in that time interesting. I did not get the image of Seabiscuit as I had hoped - just a lot of the same thing over and over and over again to the point of total frustration. I would NOT recommend this book with so many really great books out there to read. Laura Hillebrand must really know some powerful people in the literary world that promoted this book to this level. I'm still totally mystified why it has been such a huge success - her writing style at best is tedious....
Rating:
Summary: Seabiscut an American Legend: Will this Book Become An Ameri
Review: Imagine yourself as a small squat horse standing next to a gigantic black horse practically double your size. Well this is a scene from Seabiscut:An American Legend By Laura Hillenbrand.
One day while going to the track attention-avoiding trainer Tom Smith sees a downtrodden horse named Seabiscut. Later that day he bet that if the horse won he and attention loving owner Charles Howard would pay for the horse and if the horse lost he would forget about Seabiscut. (Smith would later remark: "I looked right into that horse's eyes and he looked right back without backing down. Then I knew that horse was special.) After buying the horse Smith found a drinking, accident prone, half-blind, boxing jockey to ride Seabiscut, named Johnny "Red" Pollard.
I like this book for the reason that its' a true story however it seems to be fictional. The characters are hilarious and it's amazing how the story is true.
The book Seabiscut: An American Legend's theme is: Never give up.
This theme reminds me and Kentucky fans of a 1998 NCAA Championship team recognized as "The Comeback Cats". I remember one game in particular against Duke.UK was trailing by 17 with 9:00 to go and won. Just like Seabiscut the 'Cats were resilient.
I would recommend reading Seabiscut: An American Legend to anyone above age 10. Why above ten? Above ten since there is some obscene material and language. Boys would like this book better than boys because it has sports, although most girls would like too. Now go back to the scene...you're standing next to the same horse. The string in front of you pulls up... and you two are off...
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