Laura Hillenbrand may be the finest writer of the 21st century. She is just amazing. You may remember my gushing review of Unbroken. It is seriously my favorite book of all time other than the Bible. I knew after reading it that I had to read Seabiscuit. I just wanted to see if it was the story or Hillenbrand's writing that made Unbroken so dang good. The answer, I discovered, was both.
Even if written in a straight, journalistic style, the story of Seabiscuit is pretty awesome. But Hillenbrand does ridiculous amounts of research and creates, in the end, a story that doesn't feel like nonfiction. A good example is her treatment of jockeys. She doesn't just give you a brief overview, she brings you into their world. You read about the ridiculous measures jockeys went through to keep their weight at unnaturally low levels. You see the dangers they face every time they head for the track. She does this with every aspect of the story and, yet, it's never boring.
Read Unbroken first, then read Seabiscuit. Do what I'm telling you!!!
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