ONE OF USA TODAY'S â20 SUMMER BOOKS YOU WON'T WANT TO MISSâ
In the bestselling tradition of works by such authors as Susan Orlean and Mary Roach, a New York Times reporter and Pulitzer Prize finalist explores why so many peopleâincluding herselfâare obsessed with horses.
It may surprise you to learn that there are over seven million horses in Americaâeven more than when they were the only means of transportationâand nearly two million horse owners. Acclaimed journalist and avid equestrian Sarah Maslin Nir is one of them; she began riding horses when she was just two years old and hasnât stopped since. Horse Crazy is a fascinating, funny, and moving love letter to these graceful animals and the people whoâlike herâare obsessed with them. It is also a coming-of-age story of Nir growing up an outsider within the worldâs most elite inner circles, and finding her true north in horses.
Nir takes readers into the lesser-known corners of the riding world and profiles some of its most captivating figures. We meet Monty Roberts, the California trainer whose prowess earned him the nickname âthe man who listens to horses,â and his pet deer; George and Ann Blair, who at their riding academy on a tiny island in Manhattanâs Harlem River seek to resurrect the erased legacy of the African American cowboy; and Francesca Kelly, whose love for an Indian nobleman shaped her lifeâs mission: to protect an endangered Indian breed of horse and bring them to America.
Woven into these compelling character studies, Nir shares her own moving personal narrative. She details her fatherâs harrowing tale of surviving the Holocaust, and describes an enchanted but deeply lonely upbringing in Manhattan, where horses became her family. She found them even in the middle of the city, in a stable disguised in an old townhouse and in Central Park, when she chased down truants as an auxiliary mounted patrol officer. And she speaks candidly of how horses have helped her overcome heartbreak and loss.
Infused with heart and wit, and with each chapter named after a horse Nir has loved, Horse Crazy is an unforgettable blend of beautifully written memoir and first-rate reporting.