Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
After reading [b:Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption|8664353|Unbroken A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption|Laura Hillenbrand|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327861115s/8664353.jpg|12946965], I put this one on my list. It was ok. If you were to tell me that I'd want to read an entire book about racehorses during the Great Depression I probably would not have believed it, so from the perspective of learning something completely alien, it was great. But on the scale of everything I read, it was not my favorite.
Horse-racing during the 1920's and 1930's was a national obsession - to the degree that the NFL is today. People traveled around the country for races and more newspaper inches were dedicated to many of the heroes and the horses than to the wars and presidents of the time. I had no idea.
This book follows a particular horse, Seabiscuit, who is an underdog from the start. By carefully crafting a story around how horses are bred, groomed, and sold, the unlikeliness of Seabiscuit becoming a hero is made clear early in the book. Yet he does become a great racehorse, and Hillenbrand does a comprehensive job of describing all the people involved in getting him there - the handlers, jockeys, owners, competitors, and fans. The relationships among these people are fascinating too, and she dedicates significant word count to each of their backstories.
I am glad to have read this but can't say it was a page-turner. Some required reading never hurt anyone thought.
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