Racing spirits.('Seabiscuit: An American Legend')

Seabiscuit: An American Legend By Laura Hillenbrand Ballantine Books, 399 pages, $15

In the last issue of TAE (LIVE), university president John Silber cites his favorite definition of an intellectual: "a person who has a commanding knowledge of a field that's really none of his business as a professional." One might extend that to say that the mark of a great non-fiction writer is someone who uses "commanding knowledge" to rivet lay-men to a subject they know (and think they care) nothing about. Judged on those grounds, Seabiscuit: An American Legend, an artfully crafted story about a legendary thoroughbred racehorse of the 1930s, is a masterpiece. Laura Hillenbrand has enticed millions of Americans into territory they hadn't dreamed could interest them. I myself picked up the book as someone who didn't know a furlong from a forelock, yet was drawn in to the point where I now breathlessly anticipate my first trip to Saratoga to watch the ponies.

Most fitting for an installment of TAE devoted to "American Originals," this book profiles a wondrously fresh and authentic series of individuals. Not only the horse, but also Seabiscuit's owner, trainer, and jockey captured the hearts of Americans during a particularly harsh moment in our country's history--the final years of the Great Depression. In 1938 there were actually more newspaper column inches devoted to a crooked-legged horse named Seabiscuit than to Hitler, Roosevelt, or Mussolini. Hillen-brand's absorbing account of the colt's rise to fame will take you on an unforgettable journey through America's golden age of horse racing, and introduce you to the remarkable collection of men who brought it to life.

In 1903, just as the era of the horseless carriage was dawning, Charles Howard's restless spirit and intense ambition carried him from New York to San Francisco. Applying his entrepreneurial zest and skills as a bicycle mechanic, Howard set up a Bay Area shop working on those cranky, newfangled automobiles, then became a mechanic and driver at the first primitive auto races. Soon, Howard met Buick Automobiles mastermind Will Durant, and talked his way into running one of the first Buick dealerships on the West Coast. When Durant went bankrupt, Howard had become wealthy enough to bail him out. Durant repaid him with General Motors stock and a percentage of the company's gross sales, for life.

With his mushrooming wealth, Howard purchased a ranch and a stable of thoroughbred racehorses. He eventually wound up with a ragged, low-built colt called Seabiscuit, who led him on the ultimate ride. Howard escorted his prize from coast to ...