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Totally entertaining initially, but it flags in the second half. The biographer can't be faulted--Brammer wrote an amazing novel early in his life and frittered away his talent in an ever worsening spiral of drug addiction in the second half of his life. Like Malcolm Lowry and Frederick Exley, Brammer was a one-book writer (although Lowry and Exley wrote other books, they are each known for only one. Brammer never wrote another novel after The Gay Place.) Interestingly, because there have been s...
Amazing bio and modern history of Texas literature and writers.
Anyone who has read and loved The Gay Place (and if you've read it, you loved it, and if you haven't read it, you should), will easily be drawn into this biography of Billy Lee Brammer. Because The Gay Place is so autobiographical, the first half of the book with its liberal Austin journalists, Texas legislators, LBJ intensity, pills and drinks, Scholz Garten gab fests, and marital infidelities will seem very familiar. Where things take a turn is after the publication of the novel. The book was
This is a literary and cultural biography of the first order. Billy Lee Brammer is not exactly a household name, but he was a close friend and confidante to a wide array of history-makers such as LBJ, Janis Joplin, and Ken Kesey. He wrote one of the most highly-regarded novels of his time, was at ground zero for the Kennedy assassination, distributed LSD to a new hippie movement in Austin, and took so much speed that he averaged 3 hours of sleep per week. Daugherty's portrayal of this quiet, tho...
Obviously, this book will be more enjoyable if you've read Brammer's masterpiece, The Gay Place, first, but should still be enjoyable to anyone interested in Lyndon Johnson, the '60s, or Texas culture.I was introduced to The Gay Place at 22 by a Texas political consultant and fell in love with the book. All I knew of Brammer was that he died of an alleged overdose in an Austin hotel in 1978 and didn't further fulfill the literary promise set forth by his only book. So I thoroughly enjoyed this b...
Surprisingly good
A comprehensive, if rambling,...elegy to a writer who produced only one book but managed to be on the scene of major cultural and political change during the 50s, 60s, and 70s. The rambling suits and is almost necessary to tell the story of the sad, disjointed life of a gifted writer with a self-destructive streak a mile wide. One is left with the deep sense of so much potential unfulfilled. A must read if you have read The Gay Place.
It's probably not a stretch to say that Billy Lee Brammer is legendary in Texas. Primarily because of his 3 linked novellas featuring the larger-then-life politician Arthur Fenstermaker, modeled on Lyndon Johnson and published in a single book, The Gary Place. His sybaritic lifestyle, particularly his dependence on drugs, is also part of his legend. He's perhaps not as well-known outside Texas. He's certainly not as well-known as he should be. Tracy Daugherty has taken a giant step toward remedy...
Interesting life story.. speed kills.. another good old boy from Oak Cliff.
