Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

The Galloping Ghost

Red Grange, an American Football Legend

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
In the 1920s four athletes defined American sports: Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, Bobby Jones, and Red Grange. They were the country's first athletic pantheon, its Mount Rushmore, and for a few brief years Red Grange outshone them all. The Galloping Ghost tells the remarkable untold story of this fleet-footed college football player who inspired poetry, dazzled fans as he felled opponents on the field, and, with the help of an unscrupulous and utterly brilliant manager (the first real-life Jerry Maguire), helped launch and legitimize professional football, changing American sports forever.
In this first major biography of Red Grange, Gary Andrew Poole draws on exhaustive research and interviews to evoke the golden age of sports in all its splendor and outrageousness. He transports readers from college football rallies to barnstorming tours, from the locker room to the White House to Hollywood, as he recounts Grange’s rise and tragic fall. And he lays bare the fascinating and psychologically complex relationship between a star athlete and the nation’s first real sports agent—a relationship that encapsulated the good and shadowy sides of sports and how they inevitably intersected.
For fans of Cinderella Man, The Devil and Sonny Liston, and The Devil in the White City, The Galloping Ghost is a provocative, character-driven, atmospheric sports history that gives us a new understanding of a seminal sports figure, from raw and innocent athletic talent to mortal American icon. A symbol of rebellious manhood and virility, Red Grange is a reminder of the fleeting nature of fame, youth, and physical dominance.
  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      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.

    • Booklist

      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.)

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Loading
The Beehive Library Consortium is a consortium of member libraries and the Utah State Library Division.Funds for this program were made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Parents should be aware that children have access to all materials in the online library. The Beehive Library Consortium does not monitor or restrict your child's selections. It is your responsibility as a parent to be aware of what your child is checking out and viewing.