Seabiscuit, Laura Hillenbrand
Seabiscuit, Laura Hillenbrand
11 Rating(s)
List: $22.50 | Sale: $15.75
Club: $11.25

Seabiscuit
An American Legend

Author: Laura Hillenbrand

Narrator: George Newbern

Unabridged: 13 hr 13 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/16/2010


Synopsis

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of the runaway phenomenon Unbroken comes a universal underdog story about the horse who came out of nowhere to become a legend.

“Fascinating . . . Vivid . . . A first-rate piece of storytelling, leaving us not only with a vivid portrait of a horse but a fascinating slice of American history as well.”—The New York Times

A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE CENTURY

Seabiscuit was one of the most electrifying and popular attractions in sports history and the single biggest newsmaker in the world in 1938, receiving more coverage than FDR, Hitler, or Mussolini. But his success was a surprise to the racing establishment, which had written off the crooked-legged racehorse with the sad tail. Three men changed Seabiscuit’s fortunes:

Charles Howard was a onetime bicycle repairman who introduced the automobile to the western United States and became an overnight millionaire. When he needed a trainer for his new racehorses, he hired Tom Smith, a mysterious mustang breaker from the Colorado plains. Smith urged Howard to buy Seabiscuit for a bargain-basement price, then hired as his jockey Red Pollard, a failed boxer who was blind in one eye, half-crippled, and prone to quoting passages from Ralph Waldo Emerson. Over four years, these unlikely partners survived a phenomenal run of bad fortune, conspiracy, and severe injury to transform Seabiscuit from a neurotic, pathologically indolent also-ran into an American sports icon.

About The Author

Laura Hillenbrand is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Seabiscuit: An American Legend, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, won the Book Sense Book of the Year Award and the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award, landed on more than fifteen best-of-the-year lists, and inspired the film Seabiscuit, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.  Hillenbrand’s New Yorker article, “A Sudden Illness,” won the 2004 National Magazine Award, and she is a two-time winner of the Eclipse Award, the highest journalistic honor in Thoroughbred racing. She and actor Gary Sinise are the co-founders of Operation International Children, a charity that provides school supplies to children through American troops. She lives in Washington, D.C.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Matthew on October 28, 2018

I have been known to bet a couple of bucks on a horse race or two. I lived in Kentucky for about 10 years where horse racing is king. Now I live within a couple of hours of close to a dozen horse tracks - including Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. Because of all this, I figured I might b......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on December 06, 2020

I make no bones about it. This is the book that inspired me to write The Boys in the Boat. It may be the most well crafted narrative nonfiction book since In Cold Blood and The Right Stuff.......more

Goodreads review by Stephanie "Jedigal" on September 09, 2011

Prior to November 2003, non-fiction only entered my reading choices on sporadic occasions. In November 2003, a pioneering member of my book club was the first to choose a non-fiction book instead of a novel. That book was Seabiscuit. Even though I have always loved horses, I had avoided reading Seab......more

Goodreads review by Nat on December 07, 2018

4.5 stars What a remarkable story! Brilliant once it got going, and wonderfully crafted by Laura Hillenbrand. I learned a lot about horses and racing. And that jockeys are badass! šŸ‡......more

Goodreads review by Dean on November 27, 2017

Welcome to the sparkling, colorful and vibrant world of racehorses and tournaments with his legends, dramas and passions.... located in the USA of the nineteenth twenties ....... Openly speaking, friends, let me say that I would never have pick up a book about racehorses and only because of the great......more


Quotes

“Fascinating . . . Vivid . . . A first-rate piece of storytelling, leaving us not only with a vivid portrait of a horse but a fascinating slice of American history as well.”The New York Times

“Engrossing . . . Fast-moving . . . More than just a horse’s tale, because the humans who owned, trained, and rode Seabiscuit are equally fascinating. . . . [Hillenbrand] shows an extraordinary talent for describing a horse race so vividly that the reader feels like the rider.”Sports Illustrated

“REMARKABLE . . . MEMORABLE . . . JUST AS COMPELLING TODAY AS IT WAS IN 1938.”The Washington Post