I just finished my advanced copy of "My Life With Bonnie and Clyde." It has been 36 hours since I got it from the mail box. Sorry I took so long. Why the rush, you might ask. One reason. In the small world of serious researchers and writers who deal with the famous Texas Depression Era outlaw lovers, Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, there are only two groups - John Neal Phillips, and all the rest of us. On this subject, anything with John's name on it automatically becomes "required reading." Nobody has studied them longer. Nobody knows them better.
In the spirit of full disclosure, let me say up front that I consider John Phillips a friend, and I hope he considers me a colleague. Many Emails have passed between us, beginning during the time I was preparing my own book "Bonnie and Clyde: A 21st Century Update," for which his first book, "Running With Bonnie and Clyde" was a absolutely essential source, and later as John was trying to unravel Blanche Barrow's manuscript and answer some of the questions that arose from it. We share a love of the process of research and a desire to solve more of the little mysteries that may help make some sense out of a story that seems like a senseless tragedy. John has taught me to be tenacious in research, meticulous in documentation, and generous in sharing the results. But enough of this personal testimonial! Is the book any good?
Those who know and appreciate the level of scholarship of John's first book will not be disappointed. The voice is that of Blanche Barrow, writing from her prison room, and trying to come to terms with her life - particularly the 107 days she spent running for her life with Bonnie and Clyde which ended with four men dead - three lawmen and finally her own husband - and herself in prison. Editor Phillips doesn't interfere with Blanche's occasional bouts of self pity and rationalization that run through her account, but he does add a substantial layer of commentary, both at the beginning of chapters and in the end notes, to keep the reader from getting lost. This is vital with a story as convoluted this one.
Bonnie and Clyde's life bordered on the chaotic. They planned little and moved almost constantly. Many times, they themselves couldn't remember where they were or what they had done a few weeks before. In explaining how Clyde managed to drag his brother Buck, and with him Blanche as well, into he and Bonnie's life as hunted criminals, Phillips quotes another gang member as saying "He [Clyde] didn't mean to do Buck no harm. He just couldn't see no further ahead." Well, neither could the law. That's how Clyde and Bonnie managed to live as long as they did. Nobody knew where they would turn up from one day to the next. Many times not even themselves.
Blanche's story is fascinating, since it is one of the few accounts we have of the people of the "Barrow Gang" from the inside, but following it is hard work. It takes someone with Phillips' skill and encyclopedic knowledge of the subject to guide us through. Thanks to Phillips' efforts as editor, Blanches' heart and soul are in the text, but much of the story is in his notes. Whether you are new to the subject, or an old Bonnie and Clyde hand, you MUST read the notes as you go. That's where everything is tied together. To give you some idea of what you'll miss if you neglect them, Phillips' appendices, notes and bibliography make up fully one third of the entire work.
Many people have waited for this book for a long time, and I, for one, think it was worth it. It is a look at the lives of the famous outlaw lovers and their families we've never had before. If you haven't read "My Life With Bonnie and Clyde," you don't know the whole story.
Jim Knight
Certified "Gangster Geek"
and author of "Bonnie and Clyde: A 21st Century Update"
