Seabiscuit: An American Legend

I get really bored about halfway through; Ms. Hillenbrand's second book is amazing but this failed to deliver the same narrative suction.

I haven't seen the film adaptation, so I went into this delightfully blind. I've read (and thoroughly enjoyed) Unbroken, so I knew Hillenbrand can write some phenomenal nonfiction. Seabiscuit is no exception. As a competitive track runner, it was fun to see the parallels between horse racing and people racing that I had never considered before. And the history - so fascinating (if not disturbing) learning about the lifestyles the jockeys lead. Hillenbrand has a knack for creating well-rounded characters of historical figures that makes them so relateable - no doubt why her two bestsellers have gotten movie deals.

But truly, the writing is eqsquisite. I was entirely captivated by the race scenes in particular, and was impressed by how nervous and excited I became reading each one. Hillendbrand has a way of casting a visceral spell on the reader in these moments. I felt like I was on the racetrack, smelling the jockey sweat on a breeze, hearing the furious clopping of hooves, enraptured by the suspense that would build paragraph on paragraph.

I just re-listened to this book while working on endless home improvement projects. It's amazing, given my nonexistent knowledge of horse racing and complete disinterest in that subject, that Hillenbrand can weave a tale so compelling and moving as to utterly capture my attention.

I was told that this book was good even if you don't care that much about horses. Which was true, it's well-written and an interesting story. But when you get right down to it, I still don't care that much about horses.

One of the best nonfiction stories I've ever read.