Customer Reviews

Doc Halliday the Gunfighter

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Have read several other books by Matt Braun and enjoyed most of them. I did not really like this one. Not much in it was the real life of Doc Holliday. It seemed like several chapters were a repeat of the previous one. Doc would get up, dress, go eat breakfast, go play poker, shoot somebody and then go back to his hotel. The next chapter he would be in a different town, get up, dress, go eat breakfast, go play poker, shoot somebody and then go back to his hotel. The towns changed and Doc always had to agree to show up at a hearing the next morning to explain the shooting. Was really disappointed in the book, started just skimming pages as it was so much like previous pages.

Although some of what is contained within the pages of "Doc Holliday: The Gunfighter" is fact, most of the book's 312 pages contain fiction. I would equate Braun's book with the Hollywood tales told over the past several decades: truth hidden within "dramatic license" including the great film Tombstone. It is unfortunate that Braun does not tell readers that this is a work of fiction because, much like in the 1880s, people will believe that what is detailed-yet-not-substantiated is true thereby continuing the "legend" of Doc Holliday being a cold-blooded, gambling killer.

Braun's novel is a great read for those who have researched Doc Holliday (read the Holliday Tanner book) and know before opening the book that the forthcoming tales were drawn from a Wild West imagination and sources of long ago that did not verify the facts before being printed.

Just one example of miscontrued facts is the infamous sanatorium. Braun says in the closing chapter that Doc admitted himself to a sanatorium in Glendwood Springs (as is also referenced in the Tombstone film); however, a sanatorium never existed in Glenwood (Doc died at the Glendwood Hotel).

An interesting view of Holliday, but obviously alot of it was made up. You do feel like you know him a little better after reading this book, but don't rely on it as being that factual. It also only covers a brief period of his life -- read the Tanner book for more.

Many Matt Braun novels are biographies of notable Western figures and they have become less revisionist and debunking in tone with the passage of time .Earlier works like Tombstone and Manhunter were quite savage in their treatment of men like Wyatt Earp but time has seemingly mellowed Mr Braun and the works have become more respectful ,while thankfully never becoming mere hagiographies . They have however become more formulaic and less interesting in tone .
This is an instance for the book romantices Holliday the shootist and gambler whom we first encounter when he is diagnosed with the consumption that was eventually to kill him .Leaving his native Atlanta and his betrothed , his cousin Mattie ,he sets out for the West hoping the climate will prolong his life .From town to town he drifts building a reputation as a mankiller and a gambler and Braun is at pains to point out his killings were always in self-defence and at the expense of cardsharps and cheaters .
The novel develops a repetitive quality as the incidents are remarkably similar and the middle part of the books is laboured and faintly tedious enlivened mainly by his sparky relationship with the saloon girl Katie Elder ,an unregenerate prostitute and with the loyal Lottie a faro dealer whose love and regard for Holliday are neatly and unsentimentally etched .There is an effecting passage dealing with the severing of his engagement to Mattie that is quietly moving .
Overall while the setting changes --Cheyenne .Texas , Dodge City -the pattern of building a reputation , killing in self -defence and moving on ,does not and eventually becomes a tad wearisome .
In the final part of the book we read of his growing friendship with Wyatt Earp but the book ends before he links with Wyatt in the most famous incident of his careeer ,the O K Corral shootout .It ends with Doc in transit for Tombstone and that notable if over hyped fight .
Doc is well drwan by Braun -a romantic ,doomed and erudite man with a penchent for Shakespeare ( a scene where he defends a classical actor from the drunken saloon patrons is pure My Darling Clementine ) .The dry sardonic graveyard humour of the man is compelling and the aura of death surrounding him comes from within as well as being based on his proficiency with guns

Plain and unfussy style is placed at the service of a fictionalised chronicle rather than a novel

Its okay but too long and the author has done better.

WHEN I BOUGHT THIS BOOK I WAS LOOKING FOR SOME HISTORIC INSIGHT INTO THE LIFE OF DOC HOLLIDAY. MR. BRAUN HAS PUT TOGETHER A FAIRLY GOOD BOOK OF FICTION. IT IS NOT AN ACCOUNT OF HOLLIDAY'S LIFE, BUT A STORY ABOUT A GUNMAN WHO HAPPENS TO BE NAMED DOC. IT IS GREAT IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A BIT OF OVER SIMPLIFIED READING, OF A MAN WHO WAS MORE INTERESTING IN FACT, THAN HE WAS IN MR. BRAUN'S FICTION.

I found myself not wanting to put it down. Page after page I felt like I was there watching the poker game, and smelling the smoke from the gun that just went off. I liked the way that Matt made you think about how each day Doc suffered with his illness and he kept on going. I highly recomend this book. A must read. I bough it three years ago and have read it several time.

Doc Holliday by Matt Braun is one of the best fictionalized treatments I've read regarding this subject matter in a long, long time. Except it has one fatal, and one has to add unforgivable, flaw.

It ends before the gunfight at the O.K. Corral takes place, when Holliday is still in Prescott, AZ.

Everything else about the novel clicks. Characterization is dead on, pacing, imagery, the writing itself is very good. Braun often ends the chapters on a little philosophical note which gets tiresome, and sometimes he changes POV in midstream, but the overall story of human tragedy/romance/brutality is handled very well.

I almost can't recommend this novel because of the unbelievable choice not to include the famous gunfight. Frankly, it's stupefying. I'm reading Braun's earlier work right now, Wyatt Earp, which I'm assuming delves into the fight at the O.K. Corral at some length. At least one hopes. Still, it would have been nice seeing that famous battle through Doc's eyes as Earp's. It really is unconscionable.

But aside from that I admit the overall impact of this story, though lessened, remains with the reader for some time. Braun really brings this world alive. You can do a lot worse than his novel about this famous gambler/shootist.

Give it a peek.

I think this book was outstanding. If you like westerns, you should definitely read this. The book is detailed and it puts you right there by Doc Holliday himself. A must read!

The book offers a sideways glance at Doc Holliday without any pretence at pure biography. Many of the historical facts about the towns, hotels, streets, etc. added a very nice element to this very different treatment of Doc. I enjoyed the book for exactly for its lightness. It captured the gentillity and education of Doc in a way that was neither snobbish or condescending.

I enjoy Matt's books immensely though I am a harsh star rater. I would have assigned the book 3.5 stars if the option had been available.

This is the first Matt Braun book I have ever read and I just loved it. I do not however know much about the historical background of Doc Holliday but I did find the book enjoyable. Matt Braun is a wonderful author.