Racing Reviews

Wow, do I disagree with School Library Journal's review where it says this is not a necessary addition to a collection! Obviously that librarian does not read aloud to children very much! I have shared this title with over sixty schoolchildren and it never fails to elicit cheers. It goes beyond the moral of "slow but sure" and extends into the theme of friendship, a subject of interest to every child. The illustrations are bold and snazzy. Overall, this book was a real pleasure to share with primary children. I hope there will be more by this author/illustrator. if this debut is any indication, he's really headed for the stars!

My 16 month old daughter is still too young to appreciate the story line of this book, but she really gets into the illustrations, which are excellent. Actually, these pictures would make a fabulous coloring book (take note, Abrams!) Older kids will also get a big kick out of the sound effects and fun wording of the text!

I am a mother of a five year old boy and three year old girl and this book was great for the both of them. My son loved the race and space theme. My daughter loved the whimiscal illustrations. They both loved the words like Vroom, putt-putt, slowpoke, and of course superduper. Best of all they realized even though they were in a race trying to beat each other to finish they cared for each other. I think the Aesop's fable of staying focused is right on course with this modern retelling to reach children. We loved it -illustratons and story!!

Without question the best book ever written about the history of American cycling! If you could only own one book on the subject, this is it. Readers will be so amazed and proud of those early racers who laid the path for those that followed. Peter Nye makes this history come alive.

Peter Nye has brilliantly captured the almost forgotten past of the Bicycle. From crazy invention to America's most popular sport (at the turn of the century), Nye shares the stories and experiences that vividly illustrate the evolution of bicycling. Today the sport is growing and the book captures the stout spirit of those with "hearts of lions" both past and present.

Probably the best book on American bicycle racing. Every sports journalist should read this one. Since the history of bicyle racing is one of the most forgotten sports in American history, anyone reading this book will learn about the characters and nuances that shaped the sport. A must read for any cyclist and those interested in the sport. If journalists read this one (particularly TV reporters) they would not come across so ignorant when reporting on a cycling related event.

being a relatively new fan of nascar, and having family members that work closely with it gave me the incentive to read this book. after the untimely death of nascar great dale earnhardt, i found it difficult to watch the weekly races.they seemed to be missing an important member of nascar and my reason for tuning in every weekend. after reading this book,i have changed my mind.nascar is truly the junior johnsons,the kale yarboroughs, and the ricard pettys. they made nascar what it is today. they paved the road for the newcomers. i still miss dale,but now i find i really do have another reason to tune in. i enjoy watching. i no longer have a favorite driver. i just cheer on the front runner. the book was a good read. i reccomend it highly.

Tom Higgins of the Charlotte Observer and ESPN and Steve Waid of WC Illus. can tell a story like no one else can. Mix Tom, Steve and Junior together and you get lots of NASCAR history AND sore ribs.

To all outward appearances Jr Johnson was a country bumpkin, yet this book shows beneath that "good ole boy" veneer was a sophisticated mind and drive on which crowds cheered and engineers with PhDs came for advice, the latter not covered by Tom Wolfe's book. A quality presentation.

I'm not even finished with this book yet, but I got online to see what kind of response it has received. I'm staggered to see it is not ranked higher and had only a few reviews.

This is one of those books where every page brings insights so painful, or so beautiful, I shake my head in amazement. I'm reading it slowly, lovingly, and I'll tell all my friends about it.

I'm a writer, and have written a novel about horse racing. I've explored this same territory. I almost wish I'd written this book. It is filled with truth and sadness and many, many fine portraits of the people that hang around on the backside of the track.

This guy is a very honest type of writer who sets aside his ego to get at the truth.

The book tells the story of the author's attempt to make a go of professional handicapping, but he spends a lot of time on the backstretch getting to know the people and the horses.

There is the backstretch as your trainer describes it to you ("well-oiled machine operating at peak efficiency"), and the backstretch as Barich paints it (loosely collected ragtag assortment of people and horses trying to stay afloat). Even though luck is hard to come by for many of the characters in the book, they have an earnest dignity as Bill Barich depicts them, and love and respect for the animals is predominant.

If you like racing you will like this book; if you don't like racing or are indifferent to it, you will probably like the book anyway.

This unusual and beautifully written work gets right to the heart of its topics. OK, I happen to love racing and fine horses, appreciate Florentine art and culture, and enjoy fly fishing, but I believe "Laughing in the Hills" would appeal to all who enjoy good writing. I have read this book a few times since first discovering it, and have shared it with friends as well.

Of the 20+ horse racing books I have read in the last five years, Lightning in a Jar was a stand-out. The book provides an excellent overview of the horse breeding process leading to a racing career. The book gives some insight to the horse syndication process. If you are looking to purchase a horse or understand the horse breeding process, I highly recommend this book.

Unlike so many other horse racing books, there is not a lot of fill. There are a lot of high quality color pictures which were meaningful to the flow of the book. The quality of the paper the book is printed on was high as well. The book is an easy-to-read factual account of the history of Dogwood Stables. Several of the horses syndicated by Dogwood are discussed along with the trials and tribulations of the owner, Cot Campbell. Strong Buy!

EXCELLENT! I loved it so much I am reading it again. Lots of information that is plesently put together. Great read for anyone interested in horse racing.

"Lightning in a Jar" is a wonderful mixture of passion and infomation. It captures all the excitement, tension, magic and mystery of thoroughbred horse racing along with giving you a basic course in horse management. Cot Campbell, a former advertising executive, shares his personal journey and he is a real horseman, good trainer and peppery writer.I got involved with the thrills and disappointments of racing and wondered if I had the temperament (never mind the money) that Campbell says is essential for the "stretch run." Its a riveting book and the fine photos give an extra bonus.

Yet another excellent annual by Motocourse. Primarily covers the MotoGP tour but also includes SBK and some national racing.

This edition is particular important as Americans topped the 500cc Championship and the Superbike Championship which probably hasn't happend since the late 80s.

Excellent recap and photographs

This book is exactly what it claims to be, a good close look at the year's World Championship Roadraces. It focuses on Grands Prix, but also includes quite a bit of World Superbike (no Supersport, unfortunately). Background, riders, technical evolution of the bikes, and race by race accounts of the season, make for a great read. The photography is brilliant. This is my first Motocourse, but I'll be getting them every year now.

I've read these books for years. Each and every year I get the whole picture of what has happened on the World Gran Prix Motorcycle scene. The pictures are beyond words, and give a clear shot of what it's like to ride one of these bikes at speed. The technical information is very good, considering that all the major manufacturers take secrecy to the extreme making it hard for outsiders whom are interested in the technical aspects kind of shut outs. Overall, though....I can't wait to get my hands on the next edition.

The Offenhauser is arguably the most successful racing engine ever designed, and this book traces its earliest incarnation (when it was the "Miller") to the last turbo-charged days...Inbetween it powered an staggering number of conseutive Indy 500 winners, plus AAA/USCA sprint and midget champions, not to mention IMCA and amazingly even some road racing wins (not to mention possibly the least succesful grand prix car of all time, the Scarab) The "techie" will find loads of specs, cross-sections, and line drawings, the vintage race fans plenty of photos of the cars of the era. (Note to the author: a larger color section in the next edition please.)A really great addition to those of us interested in the history of auto racing....

I have just finished Gordon White's book on Offenhauser Racing Products, and fascinating is a word that comes to mind to describe the effort. Idid not attend the Indy 500 until 1994 and missed all those wonderful years when the Miller/Goosen/Offenhauser engines dominated the race. I was lucky enough to attend several years of Championship Car races at the old Sacramento Fairgrounds and witnessed the Offy in action. Gordon has done a fine job bringing back some of those memories, and making a strong case in my view that these individuals were American heroes! If you are at all interested in things mechanical, this is a must read!

Offenhauser tells the story of the engine that dominated American Championship, sprint and midget and even sports car racing for nearly a half-century. It is surprising that such a book was not written long ago, but the author has done an amazing job of research into racing's past. He tells both the human story of the men who built the Offy - Miller, Goossen, Sobraske, Meyer, Drake and Fred Offenhauser himself, and the technical and political story of the old four-banger's rise to victory at Indianapolis, its long domination there, its fall in 1965, rebirth with turbocharging and final demise in the 1980s. The collection of photographs is amazing - many I never saw before as well as those of well-known drivers such as Foyt who drove Offenhauser-powered cars. Anyone remotely interested in auto racing should definitely have this book.

I thought this book was an exciting book because in every part of the book there was something happening. I also liked it because it had a lot in it about biking and how to get started in biking with out showing it directly. It also showed that if your a kind of lazy person who just sits and watches television all the time that you can get out and do something to make yourself proud like doug did on the book.

Olympic Dream by Matt Christopher is an extremely amusing, in my opinion. This book takes place in a small town in the U.S., late 1980's. It is about an adolescent boy. Doug, who meets a man, Red, that completely changes his life. They become friends and Red teaches Doug to ride a bike. The reasons I am recommending this book are, that the author was very descriptive on every part including the characters and setting. He went into superb detail about each characters personality. He described the setting which was the town so that you could visualize it as you were reading it. For instance he described the arcade and old wooden shack with 6 arcade machines each costing a quarter to play. He also made this book have a wonderful moral. This book teachers a lesson that stuck in my head and sticks in others heads too. The moral was never give up and never stop trying. Even though he described the book well he didn't describe it enough to make it boring. Some people say that the problem with this book is that there wasn't a main character. That can be exceptional or miserable but in my opinion that is extraordinary. I think having more than one main character is remarkable because the story isn't focused on one person but on three or four people. This makes the story more absorbing. The three main characters lives all connect. One is the best man in Doug's sisters wedding. Doug is taught to ride a bike by Red (the best man) and they all support each other and it shows different points of view.

This book was fantastic! It really explains how to become a true Olympian. I really encourage people to read this great book!

I really enjoyed this book, and all the other Golden Filly Series. This book was unique because Trish isn't perfect, and niether is her life. Most other books go on and on about the perfect lives of young people, but this book was different. It's about a teen aged girl named Trish, who hasn't had it easy. I think the moral of this story was that Trish came "Out of the Mist" of a terribly broken heart that is on the way to the healing process, which will make Trish a better, and stronger person. This was an awesome book!! I recommend that you read the previous books in this series!!

Trisha has finally accomplished all she dreamed of, and lost the one thing that could tear her apart. After her father died she stays with friends in California to race, and take a summer school class in chemistry. Trisha is so lock up in her grieve, lost in her faith and struggling to make sense of her life that she takes chances and makes some bad decisions. This book is an excellent example of the trial and tribulations that occur when someone you hold very dear to you heart dies, and how one comes to heal the wounds of their heart and the wounds of their soul. Trisha is a wonderful charater, in a series that makes you laugh, cry, and wonder at the strenght in one girl.

Anyone who loved horses should read this book! It kept me up untill late at night. Better than any other horse series I have ever read! Go Trish!

FANTASTIC!!! It was amazing!!!
Everything that you want too know is in this book!!!
I LOVE Pharlap and anything too do with him!!! So read Phar Lap as soon as you can it ROCKS!!!

What a wonderful book - great photos and narrative. It fully explained what was probably the reason for his untimely death. This book will someday be a collector's item, but I won't part with it!

I knew I was in trouble the moment I saw the cover of this book with the beautiful chestnut horse named Phar Lap. I knew I just had to have this book. I knew because I had seen the movie, Phar Lap, years ago and had fallen in love with this incredibly beautiful and gifted animal that had a heart and soul big enough to affect those that loved him and those that knew him from afar.

This beautifully crafted book does not disappoint as it unravels the life and mysterious death of this beloved racehorse while revealing a darker side of greed and jealousy that surrounded him.

Filled with incredible black & white photos and memorabilia, this book will draw you in and keep you there. It will amaze you, it will disturb you but it will always remind you of the winning spirit and courageous heart that was Phar Lap. A name you will never forget...