Racing Reviews

Others have expressed these thoughts but I must chime in and support them. This is a great book for children. I first read it when I was nine and my sister and I re-read the entire series many times. There are women working the backstretch on race tracks who say that it all started with Walter Farley.

The movie, though gorgeous to look at, is an insipid version of the story--minus the sexiness, danger, and complexity of relationships. (In the movie the director neatly kills off the father and makes the hero much younger to remove all that troubling complexity!) Many years ago in Seattle I attended a screening of this film and had an opportunity to politely explain my feelings to the director, Francis Ford Coppola. Basically he said something like getting rid of all the talking made the film more mythic. Oh well: to some extent I can see his point. Films are difficult to make and have their own requirements--but why don't they make up their own stories instead of taking so much license with good books?

As at least one reader's review has commented, the decision to redo the illustrations for the early Black Stallion books was misguided. The originals have a wildness and excitement to them that later editions lost. If your child really likes these books, finding an old edition with those drawings would be a wonderful gift.

Like all good books for children, The Black Stallion contains undercurrents of troubling feeling and presents strategies for working those out, or at least living with them. Don't we all have something wild living in our back yard that occasionally jumps the fence? This notion was exciting to me as an adventurous little girl --and as a nearly 50-year-old who is still crazy for horses, it still works for me.

--A reader and parent from Olympia, Washington

My 8 year old daughter has read this book twice in about 6 months. She is a horse lover as well as an avid reader. She loves this book. She thought it was really exciting, and much better than the movie! She loves this book so much we made a deal. If she would continue with swimming lessons, I'd buy her a really nice hard cover version of the Black Stallion.

A boy named Alex was visiting his grandfather in Africa, and he was coming home while he was on the ship named THE DRAKE the ship went into a perfect storm and this was the first storm he had been in from the time Alex left his hometown in New York. THE DRAKE also had 1 very vicious animal on it and it was a 6 foot 10 BLACK STALLION and none could handle him except little 56 inch Alex, and the reason was Alex could almost under stand the BLACK as Alex called him.

The minute the drake was going down like the Titanic the BLACK broke free of the animal stall he bumped Alex of the ship with him and when Alex finally woke up from his unconsciousness he was being dragged from the rains of the blacks halter and had his life jacket on.

The nest morning after Alex's nightmare, Alex was making his breakfast and the black's breakfast of seaweed. Alex for the first time noticed he was on an island with just the black and him. There were no birds or animals, just he and the black.

The nest months Alex got used to the Black and started riding him until a group of men came to pick Alex and the black up on there ship. The ships that Alex was on toke a long time to get to New York were his parents were going to meat him. The minute Alex got home he spilled the whole story about how the black had saved him and Alex spilled the biggest news of all if he could keep the black and his mom and dad thought this over and decided it would be a good chance for Alex and maybe just maybe if he wanted to race the black.

For the whole winter Alex trained the black and raced him at night with a man named Henry, who was helping Alex get the black ready for the big race he entered into and so far this was the fastest horse Alex and Henry ever seen. It ran so fast it tore Alex's shirt right off of him! The day had come for the people of the world to see the fastest horse on the planet. The minute the black crossed the winning flag there was a swarm of reporters around Alex, but Alex did not care even if he lost, he just cared that his parents and relatives were here and he had his very own horse.

THE END

I'll let emotions guide me as they certainly did by the time I had finished the book... With all the hype surrounding Laura Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit: An American Legend (and a summer movie to boot), I was anxious to get my hands on a copy of this bestseller. Upon perusing one of my tack supply catalogs, I ran across a title about the legendary racing filly, Ruffian, and it became available to me before the Seabiscuit account.

I would recommend this book to any bibliophile, social historian and/or horse-lover because it exemplifies masterful writing, interesting real-life characters/time period and a legendary (and truly outstanding) Thoroughbred racehorse. By the time you finish the book, you will have released more than a few tears based on a tragedy that reads more like fiction.

The account of Ruffian would elicit emotion in the words of any story-teller. And Jane Schwartz proves herself a great story-teller here. Ruffian: Burning From the Start is, hands down, a "bestseller" in the non-fiction genre.

No offense, Laura Hillenbrand, but either you have a wonderful colleague to emulate or some serious literary competition.

When I was a child I picked up my first Ruffian book off a dusty bookshelf in my public library and since then her story has never failed to move me to tears. With this book Schwartz has managed to capture the true essence and beauty, the courage and the tragedy of the greatest filly that ever drew breath. Schwartz carefully crafts every facet of the filly's short life to her untimely death through the people and events surrounding Ruffian, and how she won the hearts of the world through her own unfailing heart and undefeatable love of the track she owned. This is indeed a superbly written book and is one of the greatest tributes that could be paid to Ruffian, the filly who broke the records and whose tragic, triumphant finish will continue to break our hearts for decades to come.

O MY GOD I LOVE THIS BOOK. IT IS SOOO GOOD. ITS VERY DEATAILED AND TELLS YOU EVER THING ABOUT HER LIFE. I FEEL LIKE IM ACTULLY IN THE RACES AND I CAN PICTURE EVERYTHING. I DONT NO IF YOU GUYS NO THE STORY OF RUFFIAN BUT IT IS SOO SAD! I CRIED. AND NO IM NOT JOKING I WAS LITTERLY CRYING!!!! I REALLY RECOMEND THIS BOOK AND IT WAS SO GOOD I THINK IM GONAN READ IT AGAIN!

Oh my gosh! This book was sooo good! It is one of my favorite books ever! Okay, first Brad and Lavinia get this million+ horse and think he is better than Pride. They think Pride is burnt out because of his injury. But then Pride beats their horse, Lord Ainsley. Lavinia and Brad are furious. They try all sorts of tricks to get to Ashleigh and she is getting married too. At Ashleigh's wedding Charlie has a heart attack and dies! :(!!! Charlie was soooooo cool! I miss him so much as I continue to read this series. Ashleigh doesn't think she can go on without him, especilly when B and L didn't tell Ashleigh that Jilly couldn't ride and put up a jockey from Mexico who listens to B and L's instructions but not Ash's. He holds Pride back and almost ruins him, then Pride breaks away and wins anyway. Lavinia and Brad are furious. When they go to the winner's circle Pride tried to bite L and they leave. Shows those snobby Townsend Acres brats that Whitebrook always comes out on TOP!

Mike and Ashleigh are finally getting married!!! But when Charlie, the old trainer, dies Ashleigh must take all of what he has taught her, but it won't be easy. Brad Townsend, the biggest jerk at Tonsend Acres, is on his father's case about letting Wonder's Pride be trained at Townsend Acres. But Ashleigh and Samantha, Pride's trainers already have a problem to face, Lord Ainsley. The big thoroughbred, owned by Brad Townsend and his snobby wife Lavinia Townsend, is picking up victory after victory. Lavinia and Brad will do anything to keep Pride from the winner's circle so their horse can win.

This is the most amazing book i have EVER seen( I like to read Books so imagine how many I have read)! Joanna Cambell is Amazing! I hope they come out with MORE,MORE,MORE!!!!!!!!!

I first read Man O' War in grade school. I'm still reading it now in college. The story of Man O' War moved me so much that I have researched his life in depth and am writing a report on what I fully believe was, is, and will be the greatest horse ever to breathe. I can't thank Walter Farley enough for bringing the past alive and sharing the beauty of racing.

Farley put everything into this book. I was struck by the different style that he had at the beginning of the book, but it captivated me. Man O War is the greatest horse that ever lived. After reading this book you might find yourself waiting to see horse races in the hopes of seeing another horse to match Big Red, but you will be disappointed. I read this book for the first time as a grade schooler and couldn't get the lump out of my throat for the whole day after I finished it. Farley puts the history down in a sensitive and deeply felt manner. He fills out the story with his knack for writing and developing plots and characters. A must read!

1970, the summer before my 3rd yr in high school I moved to work and live on a Thoroughbred farm in Ocala Fla. I was to exercise horses on a full size track. The farm was owned by Kodak Camera Company, Hobo Farms. There were several young woman in their early 20's at the barn I was to work in. I had missed meeting Walter Farley. The girls looked for themselves in his Black Stallion books and I always thought he had written about one of them, a spunky tiny thing who looked no bigger than a 5 year old on the big horses.
Needless to say we had read all Farley's books and Man 'O War was by far the best. I never understood why it never became a movie for Man 'O War was written with the brilliance of a Walt Disney story. Do you remember 'The Horse With the Flying Tail'?

Burt Levy is (I'm told) an accomplished Vintage racer who writes for a number of motorsport magazines covering that venue.

TLOR is set in 1952 and written in the first person. Protagonist and narrator Buddy Palumbo is just out of high school and working in a New Jersey Sinclair station for Old Man Finzio, much to the irritation of Buddy's father, who wants him to join his union at the local chemical plant. Finzio's Sinclair is a Warner Brothers cartoon come to life, with some mechanics so incompetent they actually drop cars off of lifts, all the way off so they land on the concrete on their sides.

Finzio's has one good mechanic, Buddy's mentor Butch Bohunk, but Butch gets permanently disabled while driving drunk. (Levy likes his characters' names to evoke a certain image--After Butch Bohunk, I started to expect to see Davy Dago, Sal Spic, and Pete Polack appear).

Buddy ends up becoming the head mechanic at the station, whose best customer is Big Ed Baumstein, a Cadillac-driving, cigar-chomping, oft-married, 350-pound scrap dealer prone to saying things like "Get a scratch on this baby and I'll use your head for a bowling ball." When Big Ed comes in one day with a new Jaguar XK120, his reliance on the station jumps to a new level. Buddy is the only one that can keep the XK running right, and when the Jag needs parts, Buddy goes to Westbridge Motors, the Manhattan importer where Big Ed bought the Jag. Here we meet owner Colin St. John and his parts manager Barry Spline. ...

The Last Open Road also reminds us that some things never change. There's always a little more horsepower to be had, a little weight that can come off, a little better airflow for a little more top speed, a little time saved on the next pit stop, another lap to be squeezed from the next fillup, and a little bit better shot at the brass ring, whatever form that brass ring may take.

This is an excellent book that captures the ssence of sports cars, early sports car racing and life in general. The first time that I picked it up I intended to read for a few minutes before falling asleep -- 270 pages later I had to force myself to put it down at 2:00 A.M. -- I had to get up in three hours and go to work. This is the best book that I have ever read -- I've read my copy (a signed first edition) five times now. I even bought another copy to lend to friends and family.

I loved this book for several reasons. It really captures the essance of being an auto enthusiast. It paints a great picture of the early days of sports car racing in this country. The book is honest - there are no added surprises, unexpected murders, unneccessary suspense, etc. It's just a good story. Any sports car enthusiast or racer should read it.

I enjoyed the book, in fact, contributed to a tiny bit of it. My wife and her friends raved about it. And I am happy for the writer's great success. She worked hard in drawing together all aspects of this story. In the main she did splendidly.
One thing must be said: War admiral was a TINY colt. He was 15.2 hands NOT 18 hands as they said in the movie in order to hype the drama. I'm sure Ms. Hillenbrand was not responsible for that ridiculous, disengenuous spot of Hollywood legerdemain. Also thoroughbreds can run close to 40 mph, but not 55 as Hillenbrand suggests.
Still, the book was a boon to thoroughbred racing and for those of us who have spent years trying to teach today's star struck Secretariat/Cigar generations of the heroics of past thoroughbred champions like Round Table, Swaps, Dr. Fager, Armed, etc., etc.
Kudos, Lauren.

I love books that give you a lift AND a life message! And Seabiscuit is one of the best! It shows you what is possible if you have a dream, perserverance, and the drive to beat the odds against you. This is a recipe that can make a winner out of anyone. Another great book and just as inspiring is the newly released book "Riding Into The Wind: On Horseback Out of Patagonia, A Life Journey." It is about a young couple's amazing horseback odyssey from Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, all the way to northern Canada, some 22,000 miles! It is jam-packed with their tales of both triumph and tragedy, of personal crisis and self discovery. An extremely intense read! As Ghandi said about himself: "My life is my message." This couple's life is quite a message!

You don't have to know a thing about horse racing or even care about horses to love this book. Laura Hillenbrand has written a book so good that it sets the gold standard for all racing histories and simultaneously transcends its subject and becomes a classic portrait of early 20th century America. This is the story of the miraculous meeting of 4 uniquely self-made men - the exuberant owner, the mystical trainer and two colorful jockeys - and one less than promising racehorse. Together they lived the greatest adventure in racing history. Hillenbrand makes the technical minutia of racing interesting to the layman through wonderful anecdotes. Not only will you learn the physical feats and tactical strategy a jockey must employ during a race, but you will also enjoy Hillenbrand's vivid description of the jockey's journeyman life. The tale of Seabiscuit's rise from obscurity is filled with so many twists and turns that I don't want say to much about it, but suffice to say, it will keep you on the edge of your seat. Be sure to read Hillenbrand's "Acknowledgements" at the end of the book. The story of how she researched the book and the interviews she conducted is fascinating. I don't care what Hillenbrand's next book is about - judging from how good this one was, I'll buy it sight unseen.

First, this is a one-day book, 250 pages of large type. So if you're looking for an in-depth tale of the Iditarod, look elsewhere. Second, the first 50 pages are some of the worst prose I've read in years. But after that Paulsen finds his pace, uneven as it is, and I started to thoroughly enjoy it. Paulsen paints an entertaining picture of his amateurish preparations and training for the race. But the pace shifts again as the race starts and he turns serious. From then on, the reader begins to feel both the stark beauty and the incredible harshness of the race. One can also feel the joy of the dogs who love to run, and sense Paulsen's decline into exhaustion, not so much from his words but from the fact that he writes (I suppose because he recalls) less and less as the race wears on.

This is an intensely personal book, full of downright foolhardy determination, and worth the short time it takes to read.

This is a good book--a fast read that introduces you to the grueling Iditarod, and keeps you interested from the first page to the last. I was disappointed, however, in the complete lack of background information about the author or what lead him to attempt such a seemingly impossible feat. I read a lot of nature-adventure true stories, and part of what brings depth and interest to a story is learning about what has motivated a person to act. You learn nothing about Paulson, except that he lived in MN and bought dogs and tied them to a sled. His wife is barely mentioned in passing--he devotes more energy to describing the people in his hallucinations--and you don't learn until near the end that he has a child. His viewpoint is so narrow and self-focused, that he also leaves out a lot of details you'd want to know about the race itself. His tale reads as a series of short vignettes rather than a travel journal. I am online now to buy a book by someone else who has run the Iditarod to help round out the story.

This book should not be read on an airplane. Your laughing loudly will disrupt others around you. This is one of the funniest books I've read. I've given numberous copies to friends and realized I don't have one of my own. Hence, my order.

Branigan's excellent book is a wonderful resource for anyone who has thought about adopting a Greyhound. Even for those with a passing interest in dogs, 'Adopting the Racing Greyhound' is very interesting reading.

Branigan gives the potential Greyhound owner a very clear, very readable account of the breed. The book includes a history of the Greyhound, what took place during their racing careers, and how it will affect the dog when he reaches you. The author also addresses special needs that Greyhound owners should know. Many organizations are listed so that you can contact them for further information. Highly recommended!

Adopting the Racing Greyhound is quite simply the best greyhound manual available (and I've read a lot of them!). I first read this book before we adopted our grey, and have referred back to it countless times since then. Ms. Branigan tells you everything you need to know about helping these special dogs make the transition from racing machines to loving pets. I have to disagree with the reviewers who are disappointed that the book glosses over the horrors of the greyhound racing industry. This book is not about that, and doesn't claim to be.

I just finished reading the new edition of Cynthia Branigan's Adopting the Racing Greyhound. For a book that was already the best one on the subject, it is now even better! I especially appreciated the updated, in-depth, veterinary information. I have a medical background and Branigan's explanations of various veterinary disorders is absolutely accurate. What's more, she dispels the rampant mis-information circulating about Greyhounds having underactive thyroids. I hope that nonsense is now put to rest once and for all! Mainly, though, what shines through each page is her dedication to the breed and her first-hand knowledge of adoptions--both as an adopter herself and as the head of an adoption agency. Bravo!

This book is absolutely wonderful! I sat down to read a few pages and a few hours later, I put it down after reading the last page. To be honest, I didn't expect to love this book in this way because I hardly know anything about NASCAR. But I quickly discovered that my lack of racing knowledge didn't matter at all because this book is about people, not cars and speeds. I bought this book because my husband loves NASCAR and I wanted to be able to talk about it with him. But I'm the one who got the treat. It's about the lessons that the author learns while working in the sport. Each chapter ends with a moral when the author sums up what she learned from that person and that event. It's one of those great books where you're entertained and you're inspired, a book where you don't feel guilty for putting off the laundry or dinner because, in the end, you reflect deeply and learn from someone else's experiences. The author is a sensational storyteller and writes the stories in a way that is easy and fun to read. In a way, it's like Tuesdays with Morrie but it's more fun and although there are a few sad stories, the other funny and engaging stories lift your spirits.
I highly recommend this book and don't think you have to be a race fan to enjoy it. I'm not and I can honestly say that I enjoyed it more than any book I've read in years.

This book has had the most profound impact on my life. At the time that I began to read this book, I had all but given up on myself and a goal that I had set out to accomplish about a year ago. This goal took me miles away from my friends and family, and at first I was dead set on acheiving it. But, after many setbacks and rejections, I was ready to call it quits. In reading Ms. Rich's book, I decided that the last thing I was going to do was quit. Her book is filled with such touching stories involving the greatest race car drivers, and also with wise advice following. This is not just a book that gives a glimpse behind-the-scenes of Winston Cup racing, but that also shares life lessons that Ms. Rich learned along the way. It takes not only a talented author, but a strong person, to be able to share such emotion and passion. I would recommend this book to anyone, NASCAR fan or not. It is a book I will not ever forget reading, and I cannot express my gratitude enough to the author for what it has done for me as a person. If you're looking for a book about your favorite drivers, this is it. If you're looking for a book about the good times and hard times in life, this is it. If you are looking for a book without any emotion, without a clear voice, without any meaning to it, this book is not for you.

I felt like I was sitting in Ronda Rich's living room and she was talking only to me as I read this book. It's so personal, warm, inviting and irresistible. There are no startling revelations in this book, except perhaps Dale Earnhardt's reaction to a race track incident with Bill Elliott, and I, for one, am thankful for that. I'm happy to see people who are heroes portrayed that way and not torn apart. This book is written in a way that I got the impression that if the author had crossed paths with bad people, she just didn't write that. Instead, she wrote of the good in people. Bless her for that. My 13-year-old son is a race fan and I have given him this book to read. I think he needs to know of the good that still lies in many people.

This book is really great! It's written well with so much information that is broken down in easy-to-understand chapters. It's exactly what I was looking for! I was a beginner at running, but not at exercising. This book is so informative and so inspiring. Whenever I have a question or concern, I always turn to The Complete Book of Running for Women... for answers. After 8 months of running, I feel more than ready to try my first 5K. Claire's book has so much information about racing that I feel ready and raring to go!

I am so glad I bought this book! Claire's advice is comprehensive and she covers virtually every subject that is of interest to women runners. She talks about training for different races, nutrition, special concerns for women, running safely, stretching, weight training, and more. I recommend this training guide for any woman who is interested in beginning a running program or is looking to improve her running. This is a great buy!

Truly comprehensive, covering all topics. I especially enjoyed reading the sections on weight loss and body image, and PMS. The author has so many good tips. I loved, loved, loved this book. It's worth buying for the extra motivation, and it really helps educate you as a female runner.