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Native Dancer: The Grey Ghost: Hero of a Golden Age | 
 enlarge | Author: John Eisenberg
Publisher: Warner Books
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy Used: $1.60
You Save: $24.35 (94%)
New (12) Used (33) Collectible (3) from $1.60
Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 632640
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 0446530700
Dewey Decimal Number: 798.4
EAN: 9780446530705
ASIN: 0446530700
Publication Date: May 1, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: EX-LIBRARY; used item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned for refund.
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Product Description
In the early 1950s, a rising star flickered across millions of black-and-white TV sets. Nick-named 'The Grey Ghost,' Native Dancer was a blue-blood thoroughbred with a taste for drama, courtesy of his come-from-behind running style, and impressive credits: He finished first in 21 of his 22 career starts, his only loss by a nose in the 1953 Kentucky Derby; was named Horse of the Year-twice; and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame. His popularity was so great, Time magazine put him on its cover, and TV Guide named him one of America's top three TV stars, along with Ed Sullivan and Arthur Godfrey. Legend says his ghost haunts Churchill Downs. Set against the nostalgic events of an America long past, NATIVE DANCER is the definitive account of one of the greatest champions of horse racing's golden age.
Download Description
In the early 1950s a star was born. Native Dancer captured the imagination of millions of Americans as his grey image flickered across their black and white television sets. He was aptly nicknamed the Grey Ghost, a name that would quickly gain a permanent place in the nation's vocabulary. A thoroughbred champion with blue-blood roots and a knack for drama courtesy of his come-from-behind running style, Native Dancer would finish first in 21 of 22 races in his career-his only loss coming by a nose in the Kentucky Derby. This book is the definitive look at the life and times of Native Dancer set against a nostalgic journey back to the golden age of horse racing, and our nation's history.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
good historical horse book May 18, 2008
A good little work of history regarding the horse Native Dancer. A horse that became even more famous because of his gray coloring and the contrast that gave him on the new fangled device in the early 1950's that we call television. Despite having lost the Kentucky Derby and having a reputation of being a lazy horse toward the finish once he knew he had the victory, his record crunchy times and his later huge winning progeny definitely make him one of the better horses of the last century, some accounts placing him as high as 3rd (even without a triple crown). Good backgrounding for where America is and what is going socially and such at the time too. Only thing I would say is, maybe written at a bit of an elementary level at times.
 A Romping Good Read! April 15, 2008
Native Dancer's story is well written and reminded me of the Seabiscuit movie.
The writer goes into the people around Dancer as much as he does the horse.
Horse people will find enough horse fact and "normal" people will enjoy learning a little more about a fascinating species.
As an owner of a Thoroughbred stallion, Charlie Rudolphi, who was a decendent of BOTH Polynesian AND Dark Star, we felt our Charlie was a neatly bred boy.
One other very odd fact was we named our farm Dark Star Farm,(back in 1973),
as I had always had an admiration for the one horse who kept a nose in front of Native Dancer...
We acquired Charlie a decade later as a boarder then as our own horse.
This book shed light on a great horse and the remarkable folks who knew and loved him.
One of the greatest.... June 29, 2007
Native Dancer was a monstrous animal with a light grey, almost white coat. He had a mind of this own and some thought that it was almost human. In his heyday, only losing one race, was at the birth of American TV so everyone knew the Dancer. Thousands loved him. He had the popularity of the Beatles but in the early 50's. This book is a must read for anyone mildly interested in horses or horse racing. I am so inspired that I am going to make a trip to see his burial sight this summer just north of Baltimore. Man. What a horse!!!!!
 Good facts but not much story October 13, 2006
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
Forgive me if I forget details, as it's been a year since I read this book. Eisenberg presents pretty straight facts and so forth, as far as I know (unlike "Seabiscuit" which has a bit of embellishment in some places), but it is not very exciting reading. Thankfully, it is not as big a book as "Seabiscuit". It's so-so story-telling and seems to drag on in some ways. I got some info out of it, but that's about it. Nothing against "the Dancer" (that was one annoying thing - Eisenberg always referring to the horse as "the Dancer" as if it was cute, but it was monotonous and pretentious after 10x on 1 page, with no pronouns or actual name used), but the writing just doesn't quite thrill me.
Good, but no Seabiscuit January 15, 2006
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Eisenberg does a very good job of the research on this project and accurately puts the reader on the scene for some of the Grey Ghost's memorable moments. Through no fault of his own, however, the people around him aren't overly interesting. It's nice to have the backgrounds and bio's of the team, but there is something that falls short of making them memorable. There are several horse bio's that I have read recently, and the Ruffian, Secretariat, and Seabiscuit stories just seem to keep you turning pages.
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