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Recovering from golf course food attack by reading more chapters of Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken. In many ways the author is a character in this harrowing but fascinating, energizing even recounting of the 'impossible' survival of WW II aviator, Louie Zamperini.
Hillenbrand, the author of the award-winning Seabiscuit, has a way of weaving true history onto the page so that you feel you are witnessing the event - or at least watching a movie of it. Certain chapters can actually be breathtaking. Her ability to capture and describe life force is all the more amazing because she has suffered from debilitating Chronic Fatigue Syndome since 2008 and is largely confined to her home.
According to Wikipedia, on the irony of writing about physical paragons (Zamperini was an Olympic runner and Seabiscuit's physical prowess is widely known) while being so incapacitated herself, she has said: "I'm looking for a way out of here. I can't have it physically, so I'm going to have it intellectually. It was a beautiful thing to ride Seabiscuit in my imagination. And it's just fantastic to be there alongside Louie as he's breaking the NCAA mile record. People at these vigorous moments in their lives - it's my way of living vicariously."[
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