Horse Crazy, Sarah Maslin Nir
Horse Crazy, Sarah Maslin Nir
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Horse Crazy

Author: Sarah Maslin Nir

Narrator: Sarah Maslin Nir

Unabridged: 8 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/04/2020


Synopsis

ONE OF USA TODAY'S “20 SUMMER BOOKS YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS”

In the bestselling tradition of works by such authors as Susan Orlean and Mary Roach, a New York Times reporter and Pulitzer Prize finalist explores why so many people—including herself—are obsessed with horses.

It may surprise you to learn that there are over seven million horses in America—even more than when they were the only means of transportation—and nearly two million horse owners. Acclaimed journalist and avid equestrian Sarah Maslin Nir is one of them; she began riding horses when she was just two years old and hasn’t stopped since. Horse Crazy is a fascinating, funny, and moving love letter to these graceful animals and the people who—like her—are obsessed with them. It is also a coming-of-age story of Nir growing up an outsider within the world’s most elite inner circles, and finding her true north in horses.

Nir takes readers into the lesser-known corners of the riding world and profiles some of its most captivating figures. We meet Monty Roberts, the California trainer whose prowess earned him the nickname “the man who listens to horses,” and his pet deer; George and Ann Blair, who at their riding academy on a tiny island in Manhattan’s Harlem River seek to resurrect the erased legacy of the African American cowboy; and Francesca Kelly, whose love for an Indian nobleman shaped her life’s mission: to protect an endangered Indian breed of horse and bring them to America.

Woven into these compelling character studies, Nir shares her own moving personal narrative. She details her father’s harrowing tale of surviving the Holocaust, and describes an enchanted but deeply lonely upbringing in Manhattan, where horses became her family. She found them even in the middle of the city, in a stable disguised in an old townhouse and in Central Park, when she chased down truants as an auxiliary mounted patrol officer. And she speaks candidly of how horses have helped her overcome heartbreak and loss.

Infused with heart and wit, and with each chapter named after a horse Nir has loved, Horse Crazy is an unforgettable blend of beautifully written memoir and first-rate reporting.

About Sarah Maslin Nir

Sarah Maslin Nir is a staff reporter for The New York Times. Nir was a Finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for “Unvarnished,” her more than yearlong investigation into New York City’s nail salon industry that documented the exploitative labor practices and health issues manicurists face. Before becoming a staff reporter, Nir freelanced for eleven sections of the paper, traveling to the Alaskan wilderness in search of people who prefer to live in isolation, and to post-earthquake Haiti. She began as the New York Times’s nightlife columnist, covering 252 parties in eighteen months, and continued on to a career that has taken her from covering kidnappings by terrorists in Benin, West Africa, to wildfires in California, and everything in between. A born and raised Manhattanite, Nir earned a masters at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, and graduated from Columbia University, where she studied politics and philosophy. She is the author of Horse Crazy. She loves horses.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Sarah

I wrote it! I hope you love it.......more

Goodreads review by Jenny

There are many people, self included who love animals. Witness the obsession with animal videos on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. In another category are the people who love animals but find an overwhelming affection for a particular animal or breed of animal. Horse Crazy is Sarah Maslin Nir's aptl......more

Goodreads review by Lyndy

I can’t tell if I hated the book or if I was just in a really sour mood the entire time I was reading it. On paper, I should love everything about this book. It’s nonfiction. About horses. By a New York Times Journalist. While it is charming and contains a mixture of light-hearted, childhood memories......more

Goodreads review by Darla

"It was a moment I will never forget; when three frightened horses looked at me and called me tribe." My seventy-something mother dearly loves horses -- still keeps two on her acreage. As a child I had my own pony, was obsessed with books like "Misty of Chincoteague" and Black Stallion books, drew......more

Goodreads review by Erin

Special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review. Expected pub date: October 7, 2020 Sarah Maslin Nir writes for the New York Times, and has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. She has traveled across the world rep......more


Quotes

"Sarah Maslin Nir has been obsessed with riding horses since she was 2, when her parents put her on a horse in a desperate attempt to get her to sit still. Nir's voice is lively and expressive, and she has marvelous comedic timing. Her joy and comfort in the company of horses is crystal clear. Horses provided her a lifeline when she was a lonely child—even the one horse that always spooked at the noise of a plastic bag. Her father, a Holocaust survivor, viewed every horse show victory as a defeat of Hitler. Horse Crazy becomes more than a memoir as Nir explores the curious world of plastic horse model enthusiasts, delves into the forgotten history of black cowboys, and exposes abusive horse trainers. A warmhearted book is raised another notch by an appealing performance."