September 1, 2008
Poole's biography of seminal 1920s football legend Red Grange draws inevitable comparison to John M. Carroll's fine "Red Grange and the Rise of Modern Football" (1999). Carroll's book was more academically oriented and allotted more attention to Grange's postfootball life. Poole takes more of a journalistic approach and devotes special focus to Grange's manager, duplicitous showman C.C. Pyle, in depicting Grange and the world gone by in which he starred. Poole is eminently readable, and the accent on Pyle is a real bonus. Even libraries with Carroll's work should welcome this new biography of a giant in American sports and pop culture.
Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
September 1, 2008
There are other books to be found on legendary running back Red Grangeincluding Granges own autobiography (1953) and a biography by Lamar University historian John M. Carroll (1999)but Poole draws on more recent sources and, more important, puts Granges great career in the context of its colorful time. That careers centerpiece was Granges singular performance for the underdog University of Illinois against powerhouse Michigan in 1924he ran for five touchdowns, threw for one, and intercepted two passesand Poole re-creates the upset in vivid detail. From there, he weaves Granges classic American riches-to-rags narrative, conveying the style of football played then (Grange wore a leather helmet and no face mask), the deification of Grange by the press and public, Granges career with George Halas fledgling Chicago Bears, his defection to an outlaw league, and his financial demise thanks to agent-huckster Charlie Pyle. Style is not Pooles strong suit, but his workmanlike study pays worthy tribute to a legend and is well timed for the 2008 football season.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)