Crazy Good: The True Story of Dan Patch, the Most Famous Horse in America
by Charles Leerhsen
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Book Summary Information
Author: Charles LeerhsenEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-06-02
ISBN: 0743291786
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Book Reviews of Crazy Good: The True Story of Dan Patch, the Most Famous Horse in America
Book Review: A Job Well Done
Summary: 5 Stars
As if this book isn't good enough just being the great biography of a stellar animal athlete, it surprised me many times over for the great cultural history it is as well. While thrilling to all that Dan Patch accomplished, I was also given a look at what was transpiring in the beginning of the last century, when we started getting dyspeptic and needing asprin (invented just in time for our growing cultural malaise it would seem). Here I was thinking we were crazy just lately, only to be reminded that we, as Americans, have taken an incredible cultural trip in a very short time, and it was truly eye opening to have Leerhsen outlining the course of this. And there was Dan Patch, right at the crossroads of time changing forever with the onset of automobile travel, but we loved him best then, and he deserved it too. What a horse. The sad part is he seems to me to have lacked only in the right people. Puts me in mind of the Thoroughbred Big Brown who won both the Derby & the Preakness in 2008. I remember thinking, "this horse is so much better than the people around him." I felt the same way reading about Dan Patch. After Dan leaves the innocence of his youth in Indiana (perhaps,as Leerhsen alludes to, under not so veiled threat of his life) I had a strong urge to close the book. As to M.W. Savage the "entrepreneur" who took him exploitatively to his greatest fame and accomplishments,he seemed colossally insensitive to the great horse in terms of consideration of his needs as he aged, and though I myself am a transplanted Minnesotan, Leerhsen's portrayal left me feeling no fondness for this man, or another major player in this story, Myron McHenry, "the Wizard of the Homestretch".Though Dan's best driver, he seemed a real piece of work as a human being. Leerhsen brings it all alive in the pages of this book, as though it were just as recent as yesterdays news, rather than more than a century ago now. What a great revival he's given Dan Patch. My husband and I are driving to Savage this year to take in our first Dan Patch Days, to see his legacy continued in the town where he lived most of his life.
Summary of Crazy Good: The True Story of Dan Patch, the Most Famous Horse in America
Now in paperback, the book that Newsweek calls ?wonderful, witty, and wise,? vividly recounts a time 100 years ago when a racehorse thrilled America and became a legend.
? A great underdog story: Born with a bad leg and nearly destroyed at birth in 1896, Dan Patch became the greatest champion racehorse of his day, lowering the record for the mile by four seconds, an astounding achievement that stood for decades. Put to work pulling a wagon, he was entered in a race as a lark, but won it?and never lost throughout his long career.
? A bygone American era: Crazy Good is the story of America in simpler times, when the automobile was a novelty and most people preferred horses; an era when horse racing? pacers and trotters?was a dominant sport of the day.
? Colorful writing, colorful characters: Leerhsen populates his story with great characters, from the entrepreneur owner who made Dan Patch into a household name, to the alcoholic gambler who drove the horse to his greatest victories.
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